Recommendation? Stroping compound for D2 and S30V

[Rbpwrd240]

Hi,

As my search through life for that perfect blade continues I am back on the sharpening process because as we all know the perfect blade is useless without the right edge.

I use 120/240/400/1000 whetstones then a strop that was loaded with some unknown compound from a local knife maker several years ago... This combo worked great on my old knives but now that I have moved onto D2 and S30V steels I was left with a bit to be desired in the amount of time it took to get the edge and in the keen-ness of the edge.

So I purchased a practical sharpening 5/3 micron metal bonded diamond bench stone to try out. Im happy with the edges im getting but I'd still like to go finer.

Can anyone give me a suggestion on what stroping compound I should use as my step up from 5/3 micron diamond stone or roughly 4000 grit. I am under the impression it should be a diamond stroping compound due to the carbides in D2 and S30V. It would be great if it could also handle my older 440C and 1095 knives as well.

 

[maximus83]

I use this 1 micron CBN stropping paste on a basswood block, or if I want more of a polishing effect, on a linen cloth backed with glass. This gives a nice complement to finish high carbide steels. If you check at Dlttrading.com, Bark River also sells some CBN stropping compounds, I've used those too but can't say they perform drastically better or worse than the other stuff I linked.

A lot of folks here also like diamond sprays, or diamond paste. Some like the stuff sold by Ken Schwarz. I've also liked the stuff from Chefknivestogo, though again, I prefer CBN just based on results I get. Again, if you don't want to get too carried away with complicated progressions of stropping and just want one multipurpose stropping compound, as I do, then I'd go with 1 micron based on what you're coming from with your stones.

 

[Rbpwrd240]

I think I am going to try 1 micron gunny juice. That should be about 14,000 grit and my last diamond stone is 5/3 so 4,500-8,000 or roughly about half the grit of the juice all things being equal.