Stropping vs. Sharpening

[JONVHERBERT]

Hey everyone,

Fairly new member here and I’d like to get more embedded in the community.

SCROLL TO BOLD PORTION BELOW TO SKIP SMALL TALK.

I find myself either having a couple knives and a rise in my savings account - or the opposite; a ton of knives and not as much savings lol. I often joke that it would’ve been cheaper for me to get addicted to ‘expletive’ than it has been for EDC. Most of my collection is CRK’s, and my “beater” is an old Kershaw Leek. Although I must say, I think the Leek, while a phenomenal knife for the price, will be replaced soon with either a Tactile Turn Ultem Bexar in Magnacut or a QuietCarry Vanax Superclean that I recently purchased from another member, sharpsteveo (great guy!).

Anyways, my collection is always rotating. I’m either buying, selling, or both. Some I’ve bought only to flip, others I’ve bought knowing I’d lose money on but just had to have it. There’s a happy medium in between where I’m able to justify the hobby, lol. I have some knives that I really use, and am not as concerned with “original edges”, and I carry one like that in my left pocket daily. Then, I have a protective case that goes in my right pocket which holds something usually higher end that I just can’t bring myself to use. I just like to carry one nice one from the collection; it brings me joy, although I know it’s dumb to carry a knife with no intent or willingness to use it outside of an emergency situation. I’m a lefty but most of my knives are righty’s because I found the lefty’s too hard to find. I’ve become less strict on what I’m willing to use and what stays in the safe, and have been using a few Chris Reeve Knives gently and not carrying the “beaters” as much, but still take phenomenal care of the CRK’s.

I picked up a Small 31 Tanto for an incredible $300, and that seems to be finding its way in my pocket daily for use although it really doesn’t have any signs of wear yet. I am a Project Manager in the construction industry, and I am mostly in the office. However, I always have a blade, pen, light, and pry on me because the second I don’t - is when someone else or myself needs one. I also admit I’m a fidgeter and enjoy “gadgets”.

I’ve been wanting to get a bit of a sharper edge on my Tanto and beaters/users. The Tanto still passes the fingernail test but would you all recommend I invest in a nice sharpener, like a Work Sharp or Edge Pro, or am I biting off more than I should or need to? Would you recommend just stropping? I refuse to mess with the original edge on most of my knives, but some I’m willing to play with.

Attached is a photo of the Tanto user, and today’s carry; an Okluma DC0 Ti light, a Fellhoelter G2 Pen, a NGMCO pry bar, and a CRK WC Zaan small logo. Also some stuff I have at my desk.

Thank you for any feedback. I know it was a lengthy post but wanted to give a few details about myself, my hobby, and things that I thought may lead to conversation and whatnot.

 

[UncleBoots]

Can't maintain a knife indefinitely with just stropping. In your position, yes, I'd do something about sharpening. A nice sharpener would fit with your love of gadgets. I'd consider carefully what sort of sharpener would fit your general inclinations. You seem to like really solidly-built knives -- would you be better off with a heavy, super-solid guided sharpener like a Hapstone R2 or TsProf? Would the Wicked Edge be some sort of natural fit? I'm not saying there's any compelling need to go for these higher end sharpeners, but you may want to at least take a look, rather than ruling them out up front. I'm not going to try to make a case that these are the Sebenzas of the guided sharpening world, but it's not a completely farfetched idea.

Alternatively, you could pick up a manual sharpening hobby. You can do that pretty cheaply and simply, or it can occupy as much time and money as you wish to put into it. The thing is, sharpening by hand is fun. It's a skill you can always get better at, and never perfect. There are tons of different stones to play with.

I only have one Sebenza, but I lowered its angle using diamond stones on a Hapstone R1, and maintain it on Triple B Handmade super-vitrified diamond stones. Knives themselves are not the only possible obsession in the knife world.

 

[jjg6319]

I started with a Lansky sharpener and was not fond of how it clamped to the blade. I eventually got an Edge Pro Pro model and have been really happy with it. If you have a good sharpener then you are more likely to use your knives. Also I always get a kick out of many people that constantly buy knives but don't have a good sharpener. At some point you should invest the time and money in a sharpener and you will be glad you did.

 

[DeadboxHero]

Sharpening creates, stropping enhances.

 

[Strauss95]

I think every knife nut needs some form of sharpening gear, unless you strictly buy knives to collect and NEVER use them. Doesn't matter how expensive or how next level the blade steel is, all knives eventually get dull with use. You owe it to yourself to invest in some sharpening gear. It's extremely satisfying taking a knife from dull to scary sharp.

So to answer your question I think you should get BOTH. Do some research and pick up a nice guided system, or invest in some bench stones to learn freehand. The guided system will net you better results sooner, but freehand is much more rewarding when you get it right. With the blade steels you own you'll want to stick with diamond or CBN stones. Also pick up a strop along with some diamond compound of your choice.

 

[stonemedusa6264]

So you really didn't say how you were sharpening currently? You can get sharp with bench stones or a sharpmaker. You might be able to add a finer stone or improve technique. You don't need a vice system. If you do want one there are a ton more options with those too. One of the most recommended here is probably hapstone. There's also options like tormek or wheel n belt sharpeners.

The one benefit from a vice I've noticed lately. My knives don't ever develop the scratches across the whole grind from sharpening that most hand sharpened knives do. You could argue it's from them doing it wrong, but it seems like most pick up some eventually at the least. Some get pretty bad. Normally the tip is the first to get all marked up. Most of us have seen it I'm sure.

Adding a strop with some diamond compound is always a good idea. I can normally use a knife until dull and bring it back several times with a quick strop. This can be done pretty cheap. I wouldn't think it's worth your time to skip the compound though.

With the lack of actual info it's hard to say what you should do though.

 

[Blade Lab]

C) Both

You use a strop to refine and maintain an already-sharp edge. Once the edge is dull a strop won't do much good.

 

[old4570]

A) Guided knife sharpening ..
B) Stropping can restore an edge

So if you make a really nice edge , then stropping can restore it for a certain amount of time ..
Constant stropping will micro / mini convex the edge ..
I found convex to not hold an edge for as long as just a straight edge . ( For me )
You can strop on almost anything , denim or leather or cardboard ( trying it ) & with or without some sort of compound ( polishing ) of various grits !
Some people strop on hard balsa wood with polishing compound .. I have even stropped on steel ( it works ) ..
Anything that removes minute amounts of material ( knife blade ) will sharpen . Obviously if you need to remove a lot of material to restore an edge it's going to take a while .
So there comes a time to sharpen the usual way to restore the edge .

Also don't wait till the knife is dull to strop .. If you put the knife to some serious use , strop right after to restore the edge .
Say if I carve up a cardboard box for the recycle bin , I will come back inside and immediately to strop the knife .. Half a dozen passes or so and it's good .

 

[Guy McVer]

Stropping with compound is basically a type of sharpening.

Stropping with no compound is not much different than wiping your knife on your pants leg or something. You're mostly just cleaning your edge off.

Yeah there's obviously way more too it than that, but this is the internet, so to hell with nuance.

 

[old4570]

Stropping with compound is basically a type of sharpening.

Stropping with no compound is not much different than wiping your knife on your pants leg or something. You're mostly just cleaning your edge off.

Yeah there's obviously way more too it than that, but this is the internet, so to hell with nuance.

Hu? ..........

 

[Hvactech]

I recently picked this up for around $150 or so. Before this I used a Spyderco sharpmaker and it is a night and day difference. The work sharp gets the edge to a mirror scary sharp. It does all that I need it to do plus it has a ceramic and leather strop for upkeep and to get that scary sharp edge. Make sure to get the elite edition as it comes with a few more stones over the basic one. Really hard to beat for the price. Good luck !

 

[JC972]

I recently picked this up for around $150 or so. Before this I used a Spyderco sharpmaker and it is a night and day difference. The work sharp gets the edge to a mirror scary sharp. It does all that I need it to do plus it has a ceramic and leather strop for upkeep and to get that scary sharp edge. Make sure to get the elite edition as it comes with a few more stones over the basic one. Really hard to beat for the price. Good luck !View attachment 2102154

I didn’t know Worksharp made anything like this! I’m going to start saving for one of these. I’ve been freehand sharpening all my life basically but want to try one of these for some reason. I looked at the Edge Pro Apex a long time ago and couldn’t justify the money when I can freehand, but what these go for is much more reasonable. I’m wondering if the consistency of a system like this would justify itself via less metal loss vs freehand sharpening. At least that’s how I’m going to pitch it to my better half!

 

[Hvactech]

Lol I purchased it off Amazon and I just checked it again and it's on sale now. I paid full price back in December fyi

 

[Hvactech]

It works amazingly well for the price. I wish I would've purchased it before I bought the sharpmaker