Stropping

L

Lane Dexter

Joined
Aug 8, 2000
Messages
157
OK, we've finished with our finest abrasive -- be it hard Arkansas, favorite synthetic, or even the half used 800 grit on my belt machine. Now we want to strop:

I have stropped on leather, the top of my thigh when wearing Carhartts, even the edge of a cardboard box. Has anyone made a graded list of stropping materials, as in "coarse" to "fine?" Which is more effective, top grain or flesh side of the leather? Where does canvas fit in?

Just curious,

Lane
 
:
Lane I prefer the Top Grain charged with, in the following order....

-1-Tripoli.

-2-Jeweler's Rouge

-3-Green Chrome.

This combination has given me consistently the sharpest knives I have ever had the pleasure of using.
I just recently added the green chrome strop and was Absolutely Amazed at the difference in Sharp!!!
I only "thought" my knives were sharp before!

I don't know where the canvas comes in as I have never used it and now with this combo don't see the need too.
HTH.
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

Each person's work is always a portrait of himself.

---- Samuel Butler.

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
Oho! Now I have something to try. I've always just used the leather itself for final ---- I guess it's really just a polish -- takes out the last burr on the edge.

I think I have some rouge around here. I got one of those "paper wheel" sharpening systems, and still haven't mounted it up and tried it; the system came with some rouge, as I recall.

What's my best source for small amounts of Tripoli, jeweler's rouge, and the Green Chrome you describe? I am rural, but get to Mount Vernon, WA fairly often, and Seattle, WA occasionally (pass though it almost monthly, on my way to arms shows in Puyallup). Or am I better just doing mail order, as I do so often from wa-a-ay up here?

You know, I'm trying to visualize the actual strops I've seen. At home, I use belts, or pieces of leather I've cut into straps but not yet finished into belts. I seem to recall some strops with fabric on one side. I'd imagine canvas or similar fabric would hold a fair amount of rouge or other treatments.

One of the things the Electrician Constructors will sometimes use on a commutator when the brushes are arcing is a canvas covered wood "paddle." I think that's mostly for cleanup, though. They also have some relatively soft stones in plastic holders. Of course, messing with the copper excitater commutator while the generator is online gives you a limited number of options...

I'd have to assume that fabric, like canvas or denim, mostly just polishes, and may charged with various compounds.

Maybe I'll take time to create a purpose-built strop and charge it with at least two different compounds (two sides). The Busse asymmetric edge presents an interesting challenge.
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Thanks,

Lane

[This message has been edited by Lane Dexter (edited 11-22-2000).]
 
Lee Valley sells many polishing compounds including the ones Yvsa listed. The thing about the green CrO compound is that not only is it very fine (twice as fine as an 8000 grit waterstone), but it can actually abrade the harder steels.

-Cliff
 
:
Lane I glued my leather onto 1"X 2" wide boards. The leather has enough give to flex under the blade and gives much better control than the old hand held barber style strops we've all seen some time or the other.

There is also a "trick" to stropping. I lay the blade almost flat on the leather and pull edge trailing and when at the end of the stroke, still laying almost flat, I stop and lift the edge from the strop first. This prevents "rolling" the edge and having to go back to the hone.

I strop beginning with a fair amount of pressure and slowly and methodologically doing one side and then the other and as the burr is removed, lighten the pressure to where the weight of the blade is enough to remove the small bit of burr left.

Trying to use the free hanging strop
IMO gives much less control and a danger of putting more convex to the final edge than one might want.
Hope this clarifies a bit more than what I wrote in the 1st post.

------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

Each person's work is always a portrait of himself.

---- Samuel Butler.

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
Good Point, YVSA. I like the idea of gluing down a "fixed" strop. Yes, I learned a long time ago never to roll the edge. I flip the blade by rolling it over the BACK (never the edge) as I change directions. I always bugs me to see someone on TV who is supposedly stropping, but is actually rolling off whatever edge he had.

I'll look for that Lee Valley, Cliff. I have noticed this Busse is pretty hard. I figured that using a fine belt, and applying pressure well above the platten so the belt flexes, would give me a shot at maintaining the convex side of Busse's unique edge.

If I wasn't such a cheap SOB, I'd buy or build a low speed belt machine. Imagine speed control down to near standstill, both fine abrasive belts and flat leather belts, and area supported by the platten, and another unsupported section where pressure made the belt flex around your convex edge. We could begin a whole new era of "power stropping."
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[This message has been edited by Lane Dexter (edited 11-22-2000).]
 
Lane,
For probably not a lot more money than you would spend ordering individual charging compounds, you could mail order a PC10 strop from HandAmerican that comes complete with a generous supply of varying grit compounds. This thing is solid and extremely well built, and Keith DeGrau provides some outstanding customer service. Here's a link if you're interested:
http://www.handamerican.com/PC10.html

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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
Neat. Thanks. I'll definitely put Hand American in my Favorites.
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Gotta get the Busse ready, in case Sara needs help carving a tough turkey...
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If you can roll and ruin your edge just by rolling the knife over on a leather strop how would an edge that fine chop? or even skind for that matter is leather will roll it. Not picking at ya or anything I have just never seen an edge that delicate. What kind of steel have you found that will actually roll on leather?
 
Actually, I was thinking of thinner tools, like straight razors (about the ultimate in this hollow ground blades). But think of how you've seen the bozos on TV do it: They are still dragging the edge along the leather, while lifting it to vertical (now scraping crosswise along the leather) before lifting it up --- then laying it on the leather in the other direction, only to lift it in the same way at the end of that stroke.

Get something that should have a fine edge, try stopping that way and see if it gets sharper. That's what I meant. Maybe "rolling" was the wrong term.

BTW, my SHII sliced the turkey just fine
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Ryu, as Lane said, on just leather, that really only damages a knife when the steel is fairly soft and/or at a very acute angle. However on a loaded strop, where the compounds contain abrasives that are much harder than INFI or any other steel, you don't want to be dragging the edge perpendicular to it.

-Cliff
 
Good points, guys. I was taught never to roll the edge, but it makes sense that only the most delicate edge would be harmed by the practice.
 
This strop has never failed to give me a shaving-sharp edge in 25 years.

I use a board about 15" long, 1 1/2" wide, and 3/8" thick and glued a nice piece of
smooth harness leather to one side, and a piece of military web belt to the other side. Epoxy works well. Put a little jewelers rouge (or whatever) on them and they work great for stropping. I strop first on the web belt and finish on the leather.

That $45 strop looks nice but my strop was made for next to nothing. Jewelers rouge you can buy wherever they sell supplies for dremel tools.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Hey, thanks for all the input. I learned some things, and even found someone who does use cloth (that web belt).

Lane

"Always place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark."

--Heinlein
 
I bought a leather strop with a smooth side and the other side is kind of like suede or brushed leather. Now what I need to know is which side do I put the jewelers rouge on? And also the compound I bought to put on the strop is from the Dremel dept at Home Depot and It's called Dremel #421 polishing compound. Should I put this on the brushed side of the strop? Is it equivilent to jewelers rouge? And should I put Green Chrome on the smooth part of the leather or just leave it dry? Someone please help me out here.
 
:
Bigtree in your case I would put the green on the smooth side.
A helful hint though. You're going to have compound on both sides so that no matter which way you lay the strop down, if you do it's going to get the surface of whatever you lay it on dirty, so you will need to lay it down on paper or something.
And that's another reason why I like strops mounted on wood.
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------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

Each person's work is always a portrait of himself.

---- Samuel Butler.

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
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