Stropping

tryppyr

tryppyr

Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
3,911
When I was growing up I remember watching barbers strop their straight razor between shaves. I always thought the purpose was to keep the edge keen, but never paid much attention to what they were actually doing or gave any thought to why it worked.

A couple of years ago I had a chance to buy a three strap strop, and seized the opportunity. Now I find myself wishing I'd watched the barber more closely. All I really recall is that they seemed to move the blade pretty quickly over one of the strops a few times, with a practiced flare. Obviously, not very helpful memories.

Now that I'm making knives that I'd like to make as sharp as possible, it would be nice to know who to use the strop to best advantage. Here's what I THINK I know:

1) The process of sharpening a knife is essentially one of making and removing the "wire edge".
2) Once you've gotten as close as you can with abrasives, the strop allows you to "feel" and remove the wire edge so that the blade can cut more smoothly, not getting hung up on the wire edge.

So far the only thing I have known to do with my strop is to use one of the strops by running the blade along the strop such that the leather is essentially running along the edge, knocking off anything that isn't smooth edge. Boy, I sure explained that poorly, but I hope you get what I'm saying.

Anyway, I have no idea why my strop has three kinds of leather. I have no idea whether I'm supposed to used the grainy side or the suede side (or both).

With the kitchen knife I'm working on I got the blade hair-popping sharp, then ran it over one of the straps (grainy side) until the blade ran smoothly on both sides.

Can someone explain Stropping 101 (and perhaps 102) to me so I actually get some benefit from using it?

Thanks in advance.
 
There are roughly a million threads about stropping in MT&E.

I use a strop sparingly, and pretty gently, as the final step when I sharpen knives. It's just a piece of leather glued down to a board, smooth side up, loaded with buffing compound... a blade should be basically pretty well sharp before going to the strop or you're just wasting time. In my view the purpose of stropping is just to align/remove any small burrs left, and give the edge a final polish.
 
What James said. The big secret to using one is to lift the knife straight up from the strop at the end of the stroke. Don't roll it away a la most movies and perhaps memories. Many are very proficient at making a knife more dull with a strop but the same can be said of stones. Mostly I just use one on on my round knives and cut off knives. If you want one a little more convenient in size, source a piece of horsehide about 8" x 3", green scratch remover seems to be the compound that works best for me. Horsehide is a lot denser and firmer than cowhide.
 
Thanks. It never occurs to me to check the other sub forums. I'll look over there.
 
The Maintenance forum is an excellent resource for anything sharpening. Pros at knifemaking are here, the Maintenance forum, likewise, has pros for the sharpening hobby/business.

I'm a huge fan of stropping. I've made a great deal of them, and use them frequently. The leather itself is very important, but technique is equally important.

To find the correct angle, edge lead into the leather just until it starts to bite (not cut, of course. It'll just start to create a line in the compound or nap)

Once you find that angle, lower the spine just a couple of degrees.

Hold that angle then proceed to strop as normal, edge trailing.

It's really that simple, although you will get a feel for it over time. I can set my angle and strop from that feedback indefinitely.

The leather is important (duh). I much prefer a very thin leather with very short nap. The only strops I've bought I didn't like. Too often they come with thick soft leather that wraps around the apex, blunting it. They can still be effective with a light touch. Compressing the leather will help, but I'm not sure if you can do that with a pre-made strop. Some swear by using the smooth side. I prefer the nap, but only if it's short and velvety.

Compounds can be used, or not. There is a very slight abrasive action with a bare strop. I use green ChromOx compound and that's pretty much the only reason that I prefer the nap side. If it's short enough it is just enough to hold the (sparingly used) compound. After a few sessions it'll act more like the smooth side.

One way to tell if your compound is still effective is to rub the edge of a tarnished penny (lightly) against the surface. It'll shine on a bare strop too, so you'll need to compare it's effectiveness from both. You'll quickly learn to tell without going back and forth between bare and loaded leather.

Remember that stropping does two things. It *maintains* an already sharp edge, or it *refines* an already sharp edge. You cannot really sharpen a dull edge by stropping. I usually take my edge up to, at least, 1500 grit, then strop for a slightly hazy mirror bevel.

I'm confident that you'll get it working (it ain't rocket surgery), but if not, email me your address and I'll ship you a piece of the stuff I use.

There are various ways to construct a strop, and a few good ways to apply the compound. Also, there are preferred methods for cleaning a loaded/dirty/contaminated strop. I'd write it all out but it can all easily be found searching the M&T forum. ;)

Edit- this is what I use.

B9i6etc.jpg
 
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