Need some help and or advice.

K

KRAZYKOZMETICS

Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Messages
45
So I decided to make a strop to sharpen up some knives. Its rough now just to see how it does. It isn't going well. I am very new to this and it may be my strop but most likely me and my technique or lack of. thanks in advance.
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pictures of my homemade strop
 
You'll get better help over the MT&E sub forum, I've already asked a mod to move this.


-X
 
Biggest mistake I see people make who are new to using strops is their exit from each stroke. It is very common for people to want to roll the knife, lifting the spine and flick the wrist. All this does is round the edge over, dulling the knife.

It will be very slow and tedious until you gain better control and form, but focusing on each stroke in three parts helps tremendously. Entry: lay the knife with light to moderate pressure flat on the strop and rotate up to the correct angle and pressure on th edge. Pass: draw the knife methodically and steadily across the strop paying close attntion to blade angle and pressure. Exit: stop the knife at the end of the stroke without changing angle or anything. Just stop in its track. Lift the knife straight up and roll it over its spine to the other side. Repeat.

I like to work in pyramid steps, say 20 strokes on one side, then 20 on the other. Next set will be 15, then 10. Once I get to 10 I decrease each step by one until zero. Each step also lightens in pressure.

Number of steps/strokes depends on edge condition, steel type and strop compound.


-Xander
 
Thanks for the advice, I wasn't sure where to post it at. I have not loaded it with anything yet, I wast sure if it had to be loaded with compound or what to do. I will try that, I have been practicing on old beat down knives. Just cheap ones, because I didn't want to ruin the edge on my Becker. I did try a small dab of flitz on it, thought I got one edge to sharpen up, but not sharp like I think the strop should make it. Any other recommendations on loading compound? Just polishing compound ? Thanks again for all the help.
 
Have you considered compressing the leather so as not chance convexing your edges with too much pressure?
If the surface of the leather is soft enough to dent with a fingernail's pressure, it's soft enough to roll over the edge of the blade if you are pressing down on it. Perhaps not enough to see with the naked eye, but certainly enough to round off the flat bevel of the apex.


Stitchawl
 
stitchawl said:
Have you considered compressing the leather so as not chance convexing your edges with too much pressure?
If the surface of the leather is soft enough to dent with a fingernail's pressure, it's soft enough to roll over the edge of the blade if you are pressing down on it. Perhaps not enough to see with the naked eye, but certainly enough to round off the flat bevel of the apex.


Stitchawl
Click to expand...

How would one go about doing this? Though I would like to convex the edge on my Becker.
 
KRAZYKOZMETICS said:
How would one go about doing this? Though I would like to convex the edge on my Becker.
Click to expand...

Frankly, I don't know how well it would work on a piece of leather that has already been glued down to a backing, but it couldn't hurt to try...

Assuming that you haven't already rubbed either compound or leather conditioner into the leather, wet it by running under cold water for just 2-3 seconds, then set it aside to dry. Because it's already sealed up on one side, you might have to wait 2-3 hours, but by that time you will see the color returning almost to it's original shade. Now using something like a kitchen rolling pin, bear down hard on the leather and roll for 10-20 minutes. Longer is better, but longer is boring. The leather will compress to 1/4 its original thickness. Now let the leather dry slowly and naturally. No heat. Again, because of the sealed back, this may take 3-4 days to dry completely. After it's dry rub in a few drops of ordinary leather conditioner such as Lexol or neutral shoe cream (NOT wax shoe polish! Shoe 'cream.' You can find it in just about any shoe store, department store, discount store, Dollar Shop, etc. A couple of pea-sized dots rubbed into the leather is all you need. Should you feel the need to spend money, you can always order some special strop dressing. It's basically the same stuff but costs more cuz it's 'special.' Some folks like to use a few dabs of 'SnoSeal' instead. That works too, but shoe cream is better as it's absorbed into the leather a little easier. You really have to 'work' SnoSeal to get it into the hide. Let the strop sit overnight, wipe off any excess, and you're all set. Use it either with compound as a semi-final step, or bare as the finishing step to your sharpening process.

Stitchawl
 
Fast14riot makes a good point about rolling the edge with your stroke. Using a strop, especially a fairly soft one, takes a light and even touch. One thing I do to help avoid rounding m edges is strop tip first. KSF has a couple of vids from Bark River that show this technique. I've found that I strop more consistently even if I use this technique for stropping. Otherwise, I do just what we're trying to avoid and lift the spine while I'm still on the strop. Also remember... light touch. I assume this is fine tuning we're talking about, not sharpening. If you want to sharpen on a strop, you'll need different strops and loads for that.
 
fast14riot said:
Biggest mistake I see people make who are new to using strops is their exit from each stroke. It is very common for people to want to roll the knife, lifting the spine and flick the wrist. All this does is round the edge over, dulling the knife.

It will be very slow and tedious until you gain better control and form, but focusing on each stroke in three parts helps tremendously. Entry: lay the knife with light to moderate pressure flat on the strop and rotate up to the correct angle and pressure on th edge. Pass: draw the knife methodically and steadily across the strop paying close attntion to blade angle and pressure. Exit: stop the knife at the end of the stroke without changing angle or anything. Just stop in its track. Lift the knife straight up and roll it over its spine to the other side. Repeat.

I like to work in pyramid steps, say 20 strokes on one side, then 20 on the other. Next set will be 15, then 10. Once I get to 10 I decrease each step by one until zero. Each step also lightens in pressure.

Number of steps/strokes depends on edge condition, steel type and strop compound.


-Xander
Click to expand...

Thanks for this post, you described exactly what I've been doing wrong.
 
To the OP: You've said it isn't going well, but you haven't said what you're trying to do with the strop. IMHO a strop is good for removing the remnants of burr that's been reduced and almost eliminated by other means. It's also good for a final polish when loaded with fine compound. With more coarse compounds, a leather strop can do some level of actual metal removal, but it's nothing compared to a "real" stone in my experience (in terms of removing metal).

You mention "beat down" blades, which implies very, very dull. A strop isn't going to touch a blade with dings, nicks, or a flat edge. You'll just be polishing a turd, so to speak.

Tell us a little more and maybe you'll get some great advice. :)

Brian.
 
Ok, so being honest, I am very new to the knife world. Well as far as good quality knives go. I have a few nice knives and a few hunting fixed blades. But I am finding myself more and more intrigued with all the customizations of these knives. I got a bk7 and love it. I am just trying to learn as much as I can. So to the strop, in watching videos, talking to people reading and so on. I was under the impression that the strop is the best sharpening tool, was not aware it was for fine tuning an/or polishing. I guess I missed something or misunderstood. That's why I am asking the professionals. I sometimes get ahead of myself and learn more hands on with trial and error. That's why I mentioned I used old knifes just because I didn't want to mess with the edge on my bk. So I guess to answer I am looking to adopt a sharpening regime and sounds like I have a lot of work. Thanks for all the great responses.
 
Sounds like you got some incorrect information. I agree with bgentry. A strop is not for a maintenance strategy it's more for burr removal or refining the current edge. I've used my knife and getting it alittle dull cutting cork sheets. Then took it to a strop with coarse slurry on it. After 200 strokes it was starting to get better but still couldn't easily cut a sock for a bore patch. So, I took it to a dmt fine stone 1X3" and in less than a minute it could easily cut me some patches. Now, I don't waste time I take it to the stone first. For maintaining an edge on a strop one needs to be OCD and strop some after a short use. DM
 
Stropping is the final step in refining and edge. Read the stickies above for some good info.

In short, set the bevels with coarse grit, then sharpen in progessively finer grits, strop to final edge and removal of burr. Stropping isn't always wanted, my knives for cutting cordage get "only" a 400 grit edge.



-Xander
 
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