strop confusion?

U

USAbred

Joined
Jan 1, 2014
Messages
13
after reading a ton of posts I'm still unclear about what strop set up I should get/make. my question is what strop set up worked for you when you first learned to strop? Iv seen recommendations for the strip block by knives plus, any thoughts? thanks guys
 
That depends. What are you using leading up to the strop? DMT , Sharpmaker , EP?

In any casr i use roo or nanocloth as the substrate. Compound will depend on your sharpening routine. Whats the finest stone you have.
 
I started out using pretty soft leather on a piece of MDF, I used an old belt from the thrift store. Looking back I would of picked up stroping a lot quicker if I would of used some nice hard leather.

My recommendation is either buy some good leather or find some old tack leather (stirrup straps work great) and a 5-gal paint stir stick. That or buy a pre made strop.
 
Hmmm.. Well the "fine" gatco stone is rated for 320 grit. I would get the sharpmaker first.

However you can get a strop now and add the sharpmaket later. It just wont be as effective.
I would get 1u CBN and use it on Roo. Tbis will play with the UF stones for the sharpmaker. In the meantime it will help polish the edge up a bit.
 
Wrap a sheet of copy paper around the fine side of a combination stone, apply compound of choice, and use that. You can recycle the paper when it loads up, and its tough to find a more firm surface that will still take and hold abrasive compound. If you need to go harder, a sheet of baking parchment is about the extreme. When doing convex or Scandi grinds, you can use two sheets of paper to "soften" the surface a bit - it will still be very unyielding compared to most other alternatives. And, you can use the combination stone (Norton India or Crystalon) to put on the initial grindwork. There's no need to spend a lot of $ on a strop unless its a top shelf horse hide strop that you don't intend to use with compound. Even then, you'd do well to get a good feel for things before learning with the basics. Plain paper or newspaper can do a very nice job as a final polish/burnish on most steels.

If you're looking to upgrade your sharpening set-up in general, I make a sharpening block that works great for finish work using copy or writing paper, and also works very well with silicon carbide sandpaper and lapping films. The link is in my signature, many videos, PDF copy of the user's manual, text description, testimonials etc. Is freehand, but the way the block works can help quite a bit learning good angle control.

Martin
 
It's very easy to get so caught up in refinements that it becomes hard to make a choice. I make my own paddle strops. If you buy a decent stop with flat wood and decent cowhide, you will be at a good starting place. I strop all my edges with green compound, chromium oxide. Every knife in the house will shave slivers of paper, including a WWII Kabar I carried all through Viet Nam.
 
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