Stropping and compounds suggestions needed.

[Mark1967]

As you could tell I am new to knife sharpening. I will definitely get into the art of freehand knife sharpening in time, but for now I got pretty good results with the Lansky Knife Sharpening system. From a previous post’s suggestions, I thought I would stay with the Lansky for now and get some finer 1000 and 2000 grit stones from Lansky. Then I will finish up with stropping. Should I go with two compounds? If so which should I get, exactly? Aluminum oxide??? Red bla bla. This really to me is like speaking a new language. Also, I would assume that one the compound is embedded in the leather, you don't normally get it out to change to a finer compound. You need a dedicated stropping leather for each compound. Is this correct??? Where do I learn about sharpening knives including technique and stropping?

 

[flashlife]

1st, try a search for "stropping" using this URL:
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra
That will give you a ton of info.

Personally, I use 2 strops, a coarse, and a fine.
The coarse uses Harbor Freight Black buffing compound.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96779
This is perfect for correcting a rounded edge, etc.

The fine uses Harbor Freight Green compound.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96778
This cuts metal quite well and leaves a mirror finish...and a shaving sharp edge.

 

[stitchawl]

Each compound you use requires a dedicated strop.
Red 'jeweler's rouge' is just about useless for sharpening as it is iron oxide and too soft to remove steel. It will polish off any oxide discoloration FROM steel though. The compounds most often used are; from coarsest to finest, black, white, green. As of the last few years micro diamond paste has become cheap enough and lots of folks are using that in 1 micron, .5 micron, and .25 micron pastes or sprays instead of the older aluminum oxide (white) or chromium oxide (green) stropping compounds.

Stitchawl