strop progression?

D

DREW78

Joined
Feb 23, 2006
Messages
755
Hey everyone!

Leather strops. Start with black, then green, then what? Is there another compound out there that will take my edge a bit further? I have a tube of something called Tormex that is a white paste?
What do you guys do after green?
Thanks
Drew
 
Haha, welcome to crazy. There's red compound, Diamond sprays, Diamond pastes, a whole ton of stuff. Just search "Diamond paste" on the bay, and you can find .25 micron. There's some .1 on Amazon. Chefknivestogo has sprays allllll the way to .025 micron.
 
Stropping on writing paper or even newspaper will jump it up another step. Bare horsehide strop, properly cased is reputed to do a great job for a finale.
 
I use Cubic Boron Nitride and/or poly diamond. Depending on the last water stone used, my progression will go from 1.0 micron, to .5 to .25. On the super steels, down to .1 micron.

If I stopped after a medium-coarse stone, say 5K, I also have 6.0, 4.0, and 2.0 micron.
 
Thanks guys. My process is not nearly as sophisticated as some. I run diamonds and finish on a translucent Arkansas stone. Then strop. Is this red compound like the black and green? I mean is it a "stick" that you rub onto the strop?
 
DREW78 said:
Thanks guys. My process is not nearly as sophisticated as some. I run diamonds and finish on a translucent Arkansas stone. Then strop. Is this red compound like the black and green? I mean is it a "stick" that you rub onto the strop?
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Red compound is usually iron oxide, and is generally reserved for softer metals like brass, silver, etc. If used for stropping knives by hand, it's not very hard or aggressive, and may actually be softer than a lot of modern blade steels. I wouldn't bother with it.

Not sure about the 'Tormex' paste you referenced in your original post; might that actually be 'Tormek'? If it's the latter, that might be some paste made to be used with a Tormek powered (wheel) sharpening system. They make a paste that's usually used on a leather honing wheel for their system, at 3 microns grit size. I'm betting it's aluminum oxide abrasive; if so, it might work pretty well. Only way to know is to try it out. Might fit into the sequence between the black and the green. Usually, bare leather is best after the green, if anything at all.


David
 
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Thanks David. What is the grit size of bark rivers green compound? Maybe that is just as far as I take it.
 
DREW78 said:
Thanks David. What is the grit size of bark rivers green compound? Maybe that is just as far as I take it.
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Haven't used Bark River's green, BUT almost all quality green compound (chromium oxide) is about ~0.5 micron grit size, on average. Even up to ~1 micron is fairly common. Green is almost always used last in a stropping sequence, due to the fine particle size and it's relatively lower hardness than either the black or white compounds (although some 'white rouge' compounds may be fine enough to substitute for the green).


David
 
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