strop..strop..strop..strop

[Sonnydaze]

Every Clint Eastwood Marine movie has some Gi stropping his fixed blade against his leather boot over and over, supposedly to refine the razor edge. As near as I can tell, continuous stropping beyond some small number of strokes does little to improve the edge.
Please straighten me out on this point.
Thanks,
Sonny

 

[Bigfattyt]

Part of that will depend on how dull the edge is. Part will depend on how abrasive the strop is.

If your knife is already sharp, no, it won't make it any sharper to strop and strop and strop.

A lot of times, when I am stropping for a long time, it is not just to refine the edge. Often I am removing scratches from the entire edge bevel. For example, after I have chopped or whittle dirty wood.

When I am getting a knife that is already pretty sharp back to hair jumping sharp, I find that if I do fewer strokes, with more concentration to technique and angle then I get sharper edges, with less work.

 

[hondahirny]

Stropping excessively can round the edge, making it more dull. It's a fine balance between refining an edge and making it worse. Since strops tend to be soft, relative to a stone, they certainly can start to round off an edge.

It all comes down to technique with a particular strop and compound. A coarser abrasive on a soft strop will ruin a fine edge quickly if used improperly. Trick is to practice and practice some more. Try some different techniques and see what works best on your equipment.

The main point is to not let Hollywood teach you anything Remember the flying cows in the movie Twister? Totally accurate...

 

[RiverRat84]

I've stropped knives to the point of giving them a gleaming edge...the gleaming edge of a butter knife. I've been known to overdo things.

I few light passes on a leather strop with one sort of compound or another do just fine, as does the back of a notebook. I find that the Insigno does exceptionally well with the latter method.

 

[d.r.h.]

Start with a good clean, sharp edge and then lightly strop .... it'll keep the edge great. I normally strop at the end of the day .... if I have used a knife. Which strops I use, depends on how much use the knife got. That's something you just have to get a feel for. Here's a pic of my strop collection. They range from just plain leather to leather loaded with compounds of varying abrasiveness to a denim strop. All easy to make with some scrap wood, gorilla glue, leather (I normally use 3 inch latigo belt stock) and any ole scraps from worn out jeans.