Need a strop that works...or diamond dust?

Sonnydaze

Sonnydaze

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Jul 6, 2009
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I have an 8" green leather strop from Knives Plus that is a good tool...I think. I have used some olive oil occasionally, rubbed in, but I have yet to improve the edge on any new production blade with it. I have watched ALL the videos and understand the do's and don'ts, but... Thinking that I'll need to go to DMT and get some three-micron DiaPaste to rub into my strop. Would appreciate some help with this.
Sonnydaze
 
even 3 microns diamond will be too fine to do much good on a coarse factory edge. you either need to polish the edge a little on stones or get a coarser compound.
 
Not sure about using diamonds on a strop as I haven't got there yet (I just got setup with compound on the strop) but there's also the diamond spray route.

Is there a reason you don't want to use compound and go straight into diamonds? Other than you have to much money?
 
What steel will you be stropping? You might not need diamond at all, if the edge is fully apexed from the stones. If it is, stropping gets a lot more effective with most ordinary compounds on most steels. If not, stropping by itself likely won't improve the edge much anyway. As mentioned, if it's just a factory edge, chances are it could use some additional honing on stones first, before stropping will improve it.


David
 
If I were you, I'd do as other's have suggested and refine your edge before you start stropping. Stropping a factory edge isn't going to be as effective as if you polished it on a stone before you went to the strop.

From my experience, the strop is more for refining an already correctly apexed edge rather than creating a correctly apexed edge. At least in the way that my sharpening routine works out that's the role stropping plays for me.

I don't even go for the strop until my edge has been worked shiny from whatever grit I need to get the right geometry/smooth out the machining marks up through 1000 grit stone and deburred gently at a high angle.
 
Sonnydaze said:
I have an 8" green leather strop from Knives Plus that is a good tool...I think. I have used some olive oil occasionally, rubbed in, but I have yet to improve the edge on any new production blade with it. I have watched ALL the videos and understand the do's and don'ts, but... Thinking that I'll need to go to DMT and get some three-micron DiaPaste to rub into my strop. Would appreciate some help with this.
Sonnydaze
Click to expand...

You have a few choices, but ultimately you need to either do more stone work first, use a coarser abrasive, or use a harder backing. The mindset that says you can only strop on leather glued to a board is very limiting. Wrap a sheet of paper around your stone and apply compound to that. It will be more forgiving and allow you to do more work than you can do on leather without rounding the apex. Stropping on leather has many variables and is more sensitive to pressure and loading variations.

Also possibly helpful, the thread linked to my signature is for a board that functions as (among other things) a finishing hone as well as a strop. I am still waiting for negative feedback but have received only positive. The videos should be helpful even if you have no intention of taking the plunge.
 
Thank you all for your responses. I believe the posts that recommend that I need to use stones to refine the factory edge BEFORE I go to the strop. I haven't done that. I appreciate your help.
Sonnydaze
 
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