stropping effective for hollow ground edge?

ok thank you for the response.

i'm about to get a knife (for skinning/boning), and i have my choice of edge geometry. and i guess i'm just torn between hollow and convex. i guess i would like to get which ever is easier to maintain.
 
i would say you should go for whatever you think will cut better. if you like hollow, then i would go for hollow and apply a convexed edge bevel that is easy to maintain with stropping on high grit sandpapers and loaded leather etc.
 
it just seems like i hear most talking about convex edges so that is why i was wanting that. and it also seem like with the natural "give" in the leather strop that it would naturally conform to a convex edge.
 
Usually when someone says a knife is hollow ground they are talking about the primary grind, the part where the knife starts to narrow from the full thickness of the blade. Then there is usually a secondary grind which forms the cutting edge, though some people use a micro-bevel at the very edge, and on some knives the primary grind goes all the way to the edge with no secondary. A knife can have quite a few combinations of grinds. For instance, you could have a hollow primary grind with a convex edge grind, or a convex primary grind with a flat secondary grind, or flat primary grind with a convex secondary grind and flat micro bevel, etc. etc. etc. I've only ever heard of a hollow grind for the primary grind though. I can't see any way that it would be practical to create and maintain a hollow edge grind. Hope this all made some sense to ya!

-Chris

Edit: To get back to your original question, since stropping only effects the edge bevel and a hollow ground knife will have flat or convex edge bevels, then yes, stropping will work just fine on a hollow ground knife.
 
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the edge will be less supported on a hollow grind than a flat grind.

convexing the edge makes all sorts of sense. it's not necessary to do it with strops, but that may be easiest, I don't know the knife, your skill, or what sort of strop or stone you might consider.

there seems to be a contingent that believes stropping is 'best'. . and if you put 'safest' as part of the question, least likely to screw it up irreparably.. they're correct.

I don't LIKE stropping, i convex everything, i have 4 decades and counting of practice with GOOD stones.. and it works just fine and i do it sometimes anyway. my prejudice is trival habit, not supported by any foundation..

but it sure ain't the only answer. it might well be the cheapest safe answer.. :) but the skill to use good stones grows slowly and is worth nurturing.. if you can freehand sharpen at all, you can be good at it. . with practice. at which point stones do it all.. but then you get into WHICH stones..

just listen to them. if you do it my way you'll be an obsessive stone collector and the prices are too high now.
 
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