Stropping

It's kinda hard to explain, there's plenty of utube videos on stropping and the compounds used.
 
I use a paddle, hold it flat and gently turn it upwards while gliding against the direction of the edge until the edge just starts to catch, and then i go through my stroke, light pressure, weight of the blade plus my hands weight just laying on the knife. Thats the way it has worked the best for me.
 
The sticky in the maintenance forum explains it perfectly. I was not a a believer in the strop initially, until I started doing it. With a little care and frequent stropping I have not had to put my knives on the stone in months and they are all still very sharp.

Learn from me, go ahead and buy a decent strop from the get go. I let my frugality get the better of me and bought a cheap strop at first. I was not happy with it to begin with, and while it was initially functional, it did not last long and was too small.
 
Armenate said:
What is the best kind of strop to buy?
Click to expand...
I got a piece of leather that's double sided, one smooth one fuzzy (forget the terminology ). It's designed for the sole purpose of stropping and works great. I use compound on the fuzzy side the flip it over and use just the plain leather or a little mothers mag polish followed by plain. Works wonders and u find myself with far sharper blades that need to hit the stones far less often. Good luck!

Edit : I bought the leather at woodcraft. They also have a strop there already attached to a paddle board which I'm sure also works great
 
I have the DMT aligner system, which comes with 3 small stones that attach to a common handle. I cut a piece of balsa wood the same size as one of the stones and glued on a thin piece of smooth leather. I put on some polishing compound that I had in the shop. I can put this piece of wood in the handle just like one of the stones and use it with the standard blade clamp. At first I wasn't sure if this would provide the correct angle because I thought I read that you have to strop at a slightly different angle from how you sharpen, but it does work out just fine.
 
I recommend Balsa Wood rather than leather, especially two separate planks. One with green CrO and the other with red FeO, green then red. When it comes to applying strop compound, less is more...
 
I mostly use a belt with the polished one side fuzzy on the other I bought at goodwill cheap right after a 3-4 foot 2x2 loaded with Herbs Yellowstone.
 
Knives Plus Strop Block. Great stropping tool. I limited experience with other choices but this one works for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top