Stropping wire edge, stropping creates convex edge

[Setter Rob]

I am moving toward stropping all my knives to maintain them. I wonder: will stropping alone obviate any worry about creating a wire edge? Will stropping alone eventually regrind a flat to a convex grind? Thanks.

 

[David Martin]

What medium will you be stropping on? DM

 

[sickpuppy1]

You may have more tendency to create a convex edge using a leather strop, as using too much pressure(which is very easy with leather).
Balsa wood or jeans on a board type strop would lessen that.

Just like sharpening with stones, the key is to keep it flat and dont press too hard.

 

[sickpuppy1]

All that being said. I use a leather strop 99% of the time. If I think its losing the edge too much. 5 minutes on my 650 Matrix Diamond stone and its out the door.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

I wonder: will stropping alone obviate any worry about creating a wire edge?

https://scienceofsharp.com/2015/03/31/the-pasted-strop-part-3/

Cross-section image of Shapton 8k honed bladed after 10 laps on 0.25 micron mono-diamond on hanging latigo strop. Conversion of the apex from triangular to micro-convex is incomplete; a flexible foil edge burr is a remains.

 

[HeavyHanded]

If its an abrasive loaded strop, it should eliminate any wire/burr pretty effectively. Two - three things happen over time when you maintain on a strop:

- The apex wears into a larger angle that the strop can sharpen but cannot correct, it can't abrade right behind the apex any faster than it abrades the apex = you'll need to take it to a hone occasionally anyway.

- the lack of tactile feedback means over time you are liable to widen the edge anyway via user error.

- harder backed strops tend to load up, but with advantage that they are not very compressible - they maintain a more acute apex longer. Using a sheet of paper wrapped around a coarse stone I've been able to maintain some tools almost indefinitely - hatchets and machetes mostly. Thinner bevels are more difficult.

 

[Diemaker]

It just depends... What steel, heat treat, stropping medium, and any abrasive added to the strop. To me, strops are just another bond with different strengths and weaknesses. If you add 20-micron diamond to a stiff strop it is quite effective at removing metal without convexing the edge. While not the best method of sharpening for most knives it is a game-changer for sharpening ceramic blades. A "strop" can do anything a stone can at least 20-micron and finer, I haven't tried coarser than 20 microns yet so my opinion may change. A strop can do anything the OP asked for, if set up to do it.