Sharpening with a strop

J

Josh Wilson

Joined
Aug 3, 2000
Messages
232
I know that the sharpening of khukuris has been discussed many times before. However I noticed that most people use a stone (or modern gadget) that produces a flat beveled edge. Does anyone here still us a strop to produce the convex bevel on their khuk?

If so could you give me some pointers (Im too young to remember straight razors)? Most important how do you hold the khuk and strop to get a consistent angle?
 
I use a mill bastard file; same as an axe. Stropping is not required, unless you want to shave with it; good luck.
 
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Osiyo Josh!
I am fortunate to have one of the Knife Belt Grinders from Grizzly.
That makes it very easy to maintain and even put a complete true convex grind on any edged tool. And most of my knives now support a convex edge. These are true convex with No secondary bevel even if the secondary bevel is convex.

I have 2 of the new Marbles 52100 steel knives and they seldom need anything except a touch on a tripoli and then a jewelers rouge strop. The khukuris are the same way if used on soft targets!!
To really complete the edge I use a piece of material like soft leather or styrofoam that will give to maintain the convex edge with a piece of printer paper on it.
The paper seems to remove any remaining burr that may be left on the edge no matter what kind of knife you are sharpening.

Now to try to answer your questions.
I have 2 strops. One is tripoli and the other jewelers rouge. They are about 1 3/4" wide and that's pushing it for the reverse curve on the khukuris. I am in the process of making some more, of which I am going to bring one set to Reno with us. These are around an inch wide. I believe that will be about an optimum size for a khukuri strop. Oh and by the way these strops are good 9-10 Oz. leather glued onto wood and not like the old razor strops.

If a khukuri is very dull you can use sandpaper of the grit of your choosing and a piece of stryofoam to maintain the convex edge. Just do it like all of the sharpening FAQ's tell you and get a burr running down the whole length of the edge before going to the other side. I usually finish up with 400 silicon carbide paper unless I have it on the belt grinder. Grizzly has a 6,000 grit belt and I finish up with it.
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Then I hold the khukuri still and push the strop away from the edge. With the convex edge already established by the sandpaper you aren't apt to change it much with trpoli and jewelers rouge.
I do hold the strop where it covers most of the edge trying to maintain
a single bevel.
This would work even better if you did it like Will Kwan does it and clamp the knife down to a table's edge.

It's late or early, depending on how you look at things and the Drum is still singing in my ears.
If this doesn't answer your questions to your satisfaction, holler and I will try to make it more clear when I am not as tired and full of music and the aftermath of Very Wonderful dancing.
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
 
I used the strop on a couple of my khukuri's with eventual success just as Yvsa suggested. I use a Lee Valley double sided strop (leather on opposite sides of a wood paddle). On one side I glue onto the leather sand paper (600 grit). The opposite side is loaded with Lee Valley's green abrasive compound (0.5 micron).

With the heavier khukuri's I have to lift on them a bit. The full weight will deform the leather so much that it will round the edge.

Will

 
Yvsa,

How do you think 3M abrasive pads work for maintaining a convex edge. I have been meaning to try them.

Will
 
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Will I only use the pads to clean up the blades on my users.
I tried to maintain the edge with one once, but it is like the heavy khukuris deforming the leather and rolling the edge.
I learned early on not to rub the bevel lengthwise because it will hit the edge and dull it. When I rub it carefully towards the edge for cleanup it works okay. The key is to really watch what you're doing.
You might have better luck however.
Give it a try and see what happens in your experiment.

------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"There's no trick in being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

...............Will Rogers......

Khukuri FAQ
 
I will get around to it eventually. I like the idea of having cleaning, rust protection (soaking it in a food safe rust preventative), and sharpening in one package.

Will
 
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