Stropping question

S

survivalnoob

Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
29
Hi All.

Is there such a thing as "over stropping"? The reason I ask is, sometimes while I'm watching tv I'll sit there with my strop and EDC knife and just start stropping away not paying attention to how long I strop that particular knife. So I'm just wondering if I'm hurting my knife by stropping it too much.

Thank you.
 
If it's done correctly (at the correct angle) and carefully, without applying too much pressure, then I'd say you could go quite a long time at it without doing too much damage.

However, I think there will be a point at which there won't likely be much more IMPROVEMENT of your edge, regardless of how much longer you strop it. I've done the same thing, especially when I was still 'learning' the technique. For me, if it goes on too long, it becomes easier to lose focus and the technique starts to get a little more sloppy (especially if I happened to be 'sipping' a glass, or two, of wine while doing it :p). That's when I'd start to notice that I was 'undoing' some of my previous good efforts.

For the sake of 'muscle memory' and becoming accustomed to the 'feel' of doing it correctly, as long as you stay focused, it can be a good thing. But you do have to make sure you keep paying attention to correct technique. And stop frequently to observe the changes in your edge as you go.
 
I think Obsessed with Edges already pointed out the big danger of not paying attention and undoing your work. You've only really got to use the wrong amount of pressure or angle just once and you can undo quite a bit.

Usually I wind up taking breaks if I find my concentrating wavering to avoid this, and generally strop 25 times per side on my EDC's each night. It kept getting sharper and sharper, until one point when it just started getting shinier and "smoother". The blade would still slice, but it was so smooth that it felt like I could just roll my skin down it if I didn't put any pressure on it--most of the time there's still some rough feeling to it. Then I didn't pay attention for a couple of strokes and undid everything.
 
I thought stropping was for a convex edge only, whereas a fine grit whetstone was preferred for V edges? Those pics seem to indicate that stropping is for a V edge. Wouldn't stropping such an edge create a micro convex anyway?
 
There is no difference in sharpening a V edge or a convex edge or a hollow edge (small electric wheel) or any edge you could possibly imagine. The same principles apply to all of them.
Unless you're a robot anything done freehand is at least a little convex, or a lot if you do it on purpose.
 
THE PUNISHER said:
10 hits is plenty for me on each side...
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbup: Concentration & I only do 8 hits per side and that's light pressure and 2 to 3 strops with various compounds. Usually only use 2 strops though. Stopping the crap out of it like the barber on old TV movies doesn't get it and can ruin your sharpening work (as mentioned) more isn't better, proper placement and pressure will do the most IMHO. :)
 
The answer to the question has been well addressed already but I will add.

The abrasives in stropping compound are very fine. When stropping you are polishing or refining the edge, not removing material to create the edge.

So, no, you don't have to worry about damaging the knife by over stropping.

As already pointed out, if the angle or pressure is wrong, you could dull the edge rather than improve it. But this is just a poor edge, not a damaged knife.

Other then maybe making the edge shinier, there isn't any real benefit to more than a few passes per side on a strop.

Kevin
 
cziv said:
+1 :thumbup: Concentration & I only do 8 hits per side and that's light pressure and 2 to 3 strops with various compounds. Usually only use 2 strops though. Stopping the crap out of it like the barber on old TV movies doesn't get it and can ruin your sharpening work (as mentioned) more isn't better, proper placement and pressure will do the most IMHO. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've actually cut down to just 10, but a lot of the times if I think I used the knife hard that day I'll just do 25 to get it out of the way. That's on MDF loaded with CrO and I had been EDC'ing S30V for a while, so maybe that's why I felt it needed to be higher. I've been using my new Izula more this month and it only needs about 5 passes each side to get it back to hair whittling if it's only seen a moderate day's use.

As far as I know the big difference in stropping between convex and V bevel is in the base for the strop. A lot of people only like to use leather for the base with convex edges so the backing kind of wraps around the blade to make full contact. Seems that most of those folks are interested in mirror polishing though.
 
KennyB said:
As far as I know the big difference in stropping between convex and V bevel is in the base for the strop. A lot of people only like to use leather for the base with convex edges so the backing kind of wraps around the blade to make full contact.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

For a long while, I'd been stropping all of my V-bevel knives using my 'leather hone' (block with ~1/16" thickness of leather on it). Out of the blue, one day, I just decided to lay some sandpaper down on top of the same block and convex a few blades. Nice thing about this is, since I convexed my blades on this block, it's a perfect fit for stropping them afterwards. The two are made for one another. VERY SMOOTH & EASY stropping, using exactly the same motion, with great results.

I'm now giving some thought to experimenting with thinner and/or stiffer backing for stropping my V-bevels.
 
I don't believe you can "over strop" a knife blade. In making the edge "shinier", it is sharpening it. The more mirror-polished the edge is, the sharper it will be.

Now, I'm not talking about getting sloppy with stropping and bragging about a shiny bevel when, in the act of sloppy stropping, the edge has suffered. Rather, I'm saying that as long as stropping is done correctly, you're not hurting, you're helping.
 
I would be careful of doing it while distracted. Last time I did something similar I pretty much destroyed an edge with the green stropping compound without realizing it.

I had to take the knife to the brown sharpmaker rods. :barf:
 
I always carefully strop my knives. I dont think you would damage your knives much, but you are taking away some metal over time.
 
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