Strop Question

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When using a strop what kind of ?paste? do you use? I have some polishing paste (white, black, green, red) for a polishing wheel would this be something to use on a strop? So far I have always had good results with just a plain strop and no paste but I read from time to time where some use a paste or somthing else on thiers. We I be just as well off to leave well enough alone?
 
I use the white stuuf you can buy at sears, I think it is designed for use on a buffing wheel but it works well on my strop.
 
I use Blue Moon Rouge. I bought it from Jantz Supply, in Davis OK. Works great. It comes in a bar and I rub the the strop with the bar. A knife maker, in New England told me about it.

The only problem is that I bought a 20 oz bar which will last me for the next 200 years!!
 
CrO (the green stuff) works very well. I've heard good things about Yellowstone as well, though have never tried it.
 
Since I took up straight razor shaving I learned a lot more about strops. Most straight razor shavers have multiple strops. The pastes they use have different grit values. So basically depending on what grit hone you stop with you might want to start with a lower grit paste, and work your way up to a higher grit paste. The final step is to strop on a plain leather strop with just strop conditioner (fatty paste) on it to keep the leather supple.

I hone my razors on an 8000grit stone, then go to a 0.5 micron micro abrasive paper from Lee Valley, then strop on a leather strop with the 0.5 micron green paste, then I have a 0.25 micon diamond paste on a leather strop (probably overkill), then I go to the plain leather. To maintain my razor I just strop on the canvas side of my hanging strop, and then finish on the leather side.

To keep my plain leather strop clean and conditioned I rub it down with the palm of my hand daily.
 
For several years I've been using the older-style wood-base leather hone system from http://www.handamerican.com/

Two honing surfaces are used, one with textured-surface leather and one with smooth-surface leather, both of which I use with dry abrasive powders.

The textured-surface hone is very useful, in that the fibers will hold large-grit abrasive powders - and allow you to change grit-size if you prefer. I usually use this hone surface with 600- or 800-grit powders for polishing out grind-marks.

If you like a polished-edge suitable for push-cutting, the green 10000-grit chromium oxide abrasive on the smooth-surface hone is excellent.

The above site offers a selection of leathers and abrasive powders, in addition to their systems.

Edit: At this time, the site is being updated in preparation for new-product announcements.
 
For the last few years, I have used Flitz metal polish on my strop. About every 6 months or so, I reload it. Works great.
 
I hadn't thought to use flitz on the strop, good tip, thanks

Wade, good info as well.

Brownie
 
I also have one of the Handamerican leather hones, I use it mainly for maintenace between sharpenings, I can go a LONG time before having to retouch up an edge on a stone, by simply steeling and giving my edc a few passes on each side of the hone once a week or so......I use one side with cro2 green powder, and the other side is a conditioned smooth leather finish.
 
buffing compound, rouge, whatever you want to call it - it's an abrasive. Some materials, like leather, have a natural fine abrasive-ness to them. If I was building the dream strop, it would be a triangle with rough leather & green compound on one side, smooth leather with yellowstone compound on the second side, and smooth leather with no compound on the last side. Any one, or two of those, though, would be just fine for regular folks.

The rough leather seems to hold the compound good and would be the first thing I reach for to check resharpening.

Always check to see if simple stropping will restore your edge first. Then, if it doesn't, go to the fine stone - just a few licks. If that doesn't help, then go back and reprofile.

Too much stone work removes material quickly.
 
If you're stropping a straight razor you are straightening out an extremely thin wire edge that provides the super sharp cutting edge. It is best done by warming it on a canvas strop and straightening it out on smooth leather.

If you are stropping a knife you are probably just touching up the edge or, like me, you need a finely polished edge because you do a lot of push cutting. Leather without an abrasive will have little effect since it is the abrasive compound that does the cutting - the leather just provides a substrate to hold the compound. Other substrates, like paper, cardboard, or wood work just as well. There's a wide variety of compounds out there - different grits, aggressive compounds for removing metal or just polishing, etc. All of them seem to do what they advertise, and even better, all of them are fairly inexpensive. Experiment and see what works for you.
 
Hey Wade, was wondering where one can purchase the strop conditioner like you use. This is an excellent thread, I also have the HandAmerican leather hones and like them quite a bit. I always maintain my blades with either a steel or leather hone.
 
I got some of the Hand(made) America stuff for Christmas.

I use the sandpaper system for sharpening and the cork/leather with the powered abrasive for mataining the edge. Seems to work great so far.
 
berettaman12000 said:
Hey Wade, was wondering where one can purchase the strop conditioner like you use. This is an excellent thread, I also have the HandAmerican leather hones and like them quite a bit. I always maintain my blades with either a steel or leather hone.
Click to expand...

Sure, just head over to www.knifecenter.com and click the shavecenter link at the top of the page and check out their strop section. Or www.classicshaving.com and their strops and strop accessories.
 
Hi. I tried stropping with an old leather belt and was so pleased I just ordered the HandAmerica strop set. I was just wondering though could you strop a serrated edge? Would it do any good?
 
Yes, you can strop a serrated edge if it's "scalloped". Just strop the serrated part of the edge of the leather piece, holding the knife at an angle to the strop. Make sense?
 
Hi. If I follow you - just strop each scallop individually on the edge of the leather. Sounds worth a try. Thanks
 
Ive used a strop with only conditioner with great results for a couple years now. If I use any blade for an extensive amount of time, or if I cut a material that will quickly dull it, I strop it afterwards. Ive been doing it this way on 440a 440c, s60v, s30v, 154cm, cpm4440v, d-2, vg10, 420hc, etc. etc, etc. with good results. For me, I find the key to a sharp knife is to maintain the edge as it is used. it may seem annoying to others to do the work involved, but my blades stay sharp and look pretty good!!!
 
metallicat said:
Hi. If I follow you - just strop each scallop individually on the edge of the leather. Sounds worth a try. Thanks
Click to expand...

What about some leather shoe string or something? :)
 
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