Case very commonly leaves some pretty big honkin' burrs on their edges, and you'll occasionally see them on the shoulders of the bevels as well. Sometimes, stropping alone on leather with or without compound won't clean them up. I've used some medium/high-grit sandpaper (wet/dry type, in the 400 - 1000 grit range) to clean them up. Same as stropping, but with more aggressiveness. If using this method, start with a higher grit first, and only step back down in grit if it's not working quite well enough. It's better to fix the sandpaper in place with temporary adhesive, on hardwood or glass or other hard backing. That'll minimize the rounding of the edge's apex, as might otherwise happen on softer backing. It also makes it easier to avoid scratching the sides of the blade above the bevels, when the backing is firm and the paper is firmly affixed.
BTW, the sandpaper stropping is a great way to maintain Case's stainless (Tru-Sharp) blades, if/when regular stropping (leather w/compound) isn't enough. They respond very nicely to it. :thumbup:
The damascus in your knife should also respond to the sandpaper (it's carbon steel with extra nickel content, which is what shows up in the damascus' patterning on the blade).
David
