Strop equipment?

Sharky1528

Sharky1528

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Joined
Sep 12, 2017
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Guys picked up a few knives and wanted to have some stuff to Strop with, is there any recommendations on equipment / Strops & Diamond liquid and or paste ? I have blades with K390 , MagnaCut , Rex 45 , S30v

Any help with recommendations where I can get a good Strop and emulsions / pastes from ?? Your favorite vendor ??

Thanks
 
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After reading about denim strops I made up one for my Edge Pro ; aluminum blank with old worn / washed denim stuck on with double back tape (not the foam tape ) just thin tape .
I only use it for the "softer" blade alloys . Might work with your REX 45 . Not saying anything against REX 45 ; I love the stuff . I just put Gold Carver's strop abrasive on mine .
After using that I go to hard , finish side , leather with diamond emulsion . Mine is "50,000" what ever that works out to in Microns.
I have recently bought a couple of premade leather strops for the Edge Pro and some "better" diamond to put on those but have not busssed 'em out yet so can't comment on them . If I ever dull my REX 121 or one of my 15V blades I'll let you know how those turn out .:rolleyes:

PS : dang it I ment to EMPHASIZE that I am convinced that when it comes to sropping LESS IS MORE and that I only do a couple of passes per side to refine an already stellar edge ; pretty much totally deburing on the stones before stropping .
I am convinced that for the best cutting edge / geometry it is a mistake to strop and strop and strop .
 
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I've always done better with diamond paste instead of spray. Don't over think the material too much - there are all kinds of leather for example. Just a consistently supported flat surface.
 
I use a 3" wide cowhide paddle strop with the smooth surface on one side and rough on the other. I have the rough side loaded with 4 micron diamond emulsions (Gunny Juice). It's amazing how a few passes on a strop can bring back a sharp edge.
 
I haven't found stropping to be very effective on today's steels. If anything they remove that sticky sharp edge.
 
I use a 325/1200 Diamond plate for initial sharpening, then go to stropping. One of my strops is a 14 diamond micron paste on rough leather, 3 micron on smooth leather, the other is 40 micron diamond and 1 micron diamond paste, both on rough (I glued the wrong side down when I made the strop 🤷‍♂️). I use the coarser sides for deburring, especially on super steels, and then the finer side for that last touch up. I was surprised at how the 40 micron diamond felt; it doesn't feel rough/gritty, but removes material quickly! The edge is pretty smooth off of the 40 micron. I use the 40/1 strop and the 14/3 strop on Magnacut and S90V, no issues with those 2 steels!

Most people use very fine compounds with strops, but I went the other way and wanted a coarse side for deburring/quick touch ups and micro chip removal and then a finer side. My favorite water stone combo was a 1000 and 5000 stone, so I went with those grits for my strop. I have a lot of Japanese kitchen knives and the 14/3 removes micro chips and leaves a sticky sharp edge, so it's great for a quick mess less touch up! The diamond works very fast, so not much is needed!

I took a 60 HRC AEBL blade with a visible flat on the entire edge and got it shaving sharp in under 4 min with the 14/3 strop.
 
You're welcome! I use the Venev Strop Paste. I smear it on the leather with a popsicle stick, melt it in with a heat gun. I tried CBN and diamond sprays before, but I like the diamond paste better. I was using the CBN until I started making Shechita in S90V (18" x 2.5" wide blades) and wanted something to polish the edge better. Diamonds work so much faster!
 
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