Recommendation? Strop compound concern

[Hayden9]

Hi, I'm new here and new to the EDC knife world. I own 3 pocket knives and realized I need to be able to maintain them. I have a Work Sharp Precision Adjust sharpener.
I just purchased a leather strop from Amazon that came with a suede and a smooth side and a green compound.
My question is: Should the compound smell like diesel? And, based on my reading of other threads here, I assume I should toss the stuff that came with the strop and get something better?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chalby]

The stuff that comes with the strop would probably be OK for basic low alloy/low carbide steels. No idea about the smell; it's probably just some petroleum based wax that holds the compound together. These waxy compounds are generally something like aluminum oxide and they usually don't advertise the abrasive size.

You would be better off using a diamond emulsion if you are using any of the higher carbide steels like PM steels etc. I use Jende emulsion and have always been happy with the results. Gunny Juice is also a very popular emulsion that gets a lot of praise although I haven't tried it yet.

For general burr management and refinement I would go with something in the 3 -> 9 micron range for EDC knives. If you are looking to polish then you would probably be better off with a progression to under 1 micron.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Green compound is likely chromium oxide or sometimes a blend of chromium oxide and (maybe) aluminum oxide. As mentioned, if might be decent for simpler steels in carbon/non-stainless like 1095, CV, etc, and low-alloy stainless steel like 420HC. Depending on what steel types you're stropping, there may be more useful alternatives out there as suggested above. And don't worry too much about the smell of it, unless you just find it intolerable.

When I've been uncertain as to the quality or usefulness of inexpensive compounds, I've always refrained from immediately applying them to my favored strops. Try them out on something else for awhile, like a simple piece of leather scrap. Use it for some time before deciding if it's worthwhile for your 'good' strops.