Stropping Works!!!!

[timsclips]

I work at a phone support call center, sometimes it is good to have something to occupy my hands. I brought in some pocket knives and a homemade strop to keep myself busy. Strop consists of about 10 inches of a heavy leather belt bought at Goodwill glued to a paint stirring stick, I rubbed some Mother's Mag wheel polish into the leather, which had dried by the time I brought it into work. The knives varied from new and pretty sharp to used and fairly dull (almost would not cut paper). I got them all to the point that they would shave hair from the back of my hands, this is as sharp as I aspire not seeing a reason to whittle hair.
Before this I had used the Edgemaker Pro system and purchased a standard Gatco system, but now I will be stropping my knives for all except rebeveling or repairing the edge.

 

[siguy]

congrats on making the strop work. i discovered when i got a strop that my once fair edges quickly became razor like.

removing the burr and polishing the scratches really does wonders for sharpness as well as helping the edge to be more sturdy in terms of avoiding having a burr that can rip off during use causing dullness.

 

[Grampa]

Shhhh!!!! Don't tell anyone! Stropping on leather loaded with compound is one of the secrets to a truly sharp knife! If you post it here, everyone will know!!!!!

 

[Hard H2O]

Before this I had used the Edgemaker Pro system and purchased a standard Gatco system, but now I will be stropping my knives for all except rebeveling or repairing the edge.

I also have a GATCO kit. I have the Professional. I added the extra fine and ultimate finishing hones. I finish and refine on leather strops loaded with polishing compound.

I will have to agree that stropping refines an edge to a great degree.

Stropping is great for maintenance and refining after sharpening. For maintenance I sometimes go to the extra fine or finishing hones and then to the strop depending upon how much is needed on the blade.

 

[Bastid]

I strop all my users about once a week with jeweler's rouge loaded on leather. When I do that the need to sharpen with a stone (or other device) is quite rare.

 

[GregY]

I just got myself a strop and some green compound from Lee Valley.

I've heard people say that if your technique with stones is perfect you don't need a strop. Well that's a nice theory, but in practice a strop is terribly handy.

 

[Hard H2O]

I just got myself a strop and some green compound from Lee Valley.

I've heard people say that if your technique with stones is perfect you don't need a strop. Well that's a nice theory, but in practice a strop is terribly handy.

In my admittedly inexperienced opinion stropping whether on leather or some other substrate loaded with compound, paste, powder, other media, or unloaded will refine most any edge after hitting the stones. It is a matter of having a strop or media that is finer than your stones to remove marks and polish the edge.

 

[flashlife]

I just got myself a strop and some green compound from Lee Valley.

I've heard people say that if your technique with stones is perfect you don't need a strop. Well that's a nice theory, but in practice a strop is terribly handy.

Good call, Greg.
Rather than compound on leather, I've had better luck with the 3M abrasive films on a hard surface (kitchen counter works well). Go to leevalley.com, select "Woodworking", then Item Search for "stropping". This yields 5 pages, one of which is 'micro-abrasives'. I use the 15u, 5u (SiC) and 0.5u (green Chrome oxide) films. The green film gives a miror finish. The coarser two edge-up a dull blade before using the 5u polish.
I'd avoid the adhesive backed films (PSA) since they have a softer (more yielding) surface with some 'give', and what you (I anyway) want is a hard surface to lap/strop against.

Most of my knives have NEVER been sharpened with anything but these films.
You can use the 15u only if you want an edge with a little bit of 'tooth'.

JMH

 

[Fluffster]

I work at a phone support call center, sometimes it is good to have something to occupy my hands.

That is too true! When I was in tech support I whittled toothpicks, made origami, chain mail, ghillie suits, etc. If I had been a sharpening geek back then I'm sure my colleagues would have found me even stranger...

oh, and stropping works! I get nice results with CrO on newsprint or post-it notes, followed by mother's billet paste on same.

 

[JTR357]

I don't use any compounds or even have a real strop.I have a leather waist belt(one of many)hanging on my door from a hook.I just noticed my Carson M2 was slightly dulling & I just grabbed the belt tight & stropped both sides about 5X.It's razor sharp now,so it definitely works.