Need strop compound advise so I can sharpen up so W&SS passaround knives

C Bryant

C Bryant

Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
3,143
I am in on a couple of passarounds from some of our fine W&SS makers. Having just finished with Stomper's awesome bushcrafter passaround and not being able to get it as sharp as I'd like before sending it on, I have a strop compound questions.

First off I have only stropped on leather with no compound before, so I figure using some couldn't hurt. My convex sharpening skills are slowly getting better, and I think I need to throw some good stropping skills in too.

My question is: Is all buffing and stopping compound the same?

I know Bark River sells a box of compound with black, green, and white bars. Sears sells buffing compound of different colors including black, green and white. Is green compound green compound no matter who makes it, and so on and so forth? Meaning if I get the buffing compound from sears in black, green, and white is the the same color/grit respectively as the compound from bark river or anyone else?

In simpler terms, I guess I'm asking is the color of a compound uniformly representing of the grit?
 
Go to Sears and get the white compound. That will work fine. It takes several applications to get it loaded up good.
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
Go to Sears and get the white compound. That will work fine. It takes several applications to get it loaded up good.
Scott
Click to expand...

Exactly what Scott said. The more expensive stuff is a waste of money. Make sure you cut the white compount with baby oil and work it into a paste. You won't be able to spread it around dry.

Different colors do represent different grits. However, some can be very slow for sharpening steel.


God Bless
 
Thanks guys, mr. richard j told be to get the white from sears too. I was just curious for future reference if I came across compounds elsewhere, if it was safe to assume white or any color is always going to be the same grit.

As far as the other colors are concerned, what is the order of grit? I'm guessing since white seems to be the consensus thus far as all I really need, are the others a lot finer or courser than white?
 
If you need a full set up - and want something that will last - get a Strop Bat from JRE or the Knives Ship Free stop kit with compound.

If you are industrious. Sears sells black, green, and 'pink' or white compounds - build a strop with all of those and leave one plain. Run your knife from black to green to pink to no compound and you will be wiping away hair.

The above paragraph explains the order of compound as well.

TF
 
Thanks TF, I was planning on making a few stops today if time allows. I have some really thick leather that I am not going to use for sheaths so I figure they will be perfect for strops.
 
Anyone have a link to a good tutorial on stropping with compounds? I'm sure some of us could use a refresher course.
 
There are literally hundreds of different compounds on the market, designed to do things as varied as cutting hardened steel to polishing soft metals like gold or even materials like plastic.

From course emery to fine rouge, the colors don’t really tell the whole story.

Some are specialized for high speed and some won’t take the heat that may generate.

Be careful what you use, and don’t think they are all the same.

I probably have 20 different compounds in my shop, but I have come to trust the Bark River Compounds for stropping and buffing my blades; the black will cut, the green will lightly cut and color, those are the only two I really need when working on knives.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top