Stropping with paper

A.L.

A.L.

Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
8,277
I noticed today at work, that my knife wasn't as sharp as I desired. I took some regular 80gram copypaper, folded it couple of times and taped it on the table. Took some five minutes to strop it and I could definitely see difference.

I've mostly used cardboard as stropping tool. But what do you think of paper stropping? Did the knife sharpen because I thought it would? Experiences?
 
No tricks, it did work but why not just buy or make a real strop?
 
It's interesting to see this thread this morning. I was doing the same thing last night. Picked up a section of the newspaper, laid it flat on the coffee table in front of me, and stropped a small pocketknife I'd recently convexed the edge on. Saw some extra 'shine' on the bevel when I was done. Sharp, too.
 
Copy paper is 'coated stock.' The coating is clay. Same sort of thing you'll find on glossy magazine paper. It's the clay that makes it an effective strop. Try using a stiffer coated paper such as a telephone book cover or glossy magazine. They make for a very effective and always-at-hand strop with no cost what so ever.

Stitchawl
 
I've also seen recommended on some of the straight razor forums, using newsprint with copy. Theory being the pigments in the ink add to the polishing factor. I've never tried it, but recall reading several threads where it resulted in a nice smooth shave.
 
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