Stropping?

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
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I don't even know if I'm spelling that right. Was interested in possibly using my belt as a strop in the field to touch up my blade...I don't know anything about stopping and I wouldn't want to mess my edge up any pointers, or directions would be helpful, I don't know anything about this so the simpler the better.
 
This is mainly a mild alignment/abrasive, and only tends to work well on very soft steels which are easy to grind. Most actual real field work is often on used or natural materials which contain grits and thus can blunt edges very quickly to the extent you need a decent sharpener.

-Cliff
 
I wouldn't worry too much about messing up the knife. It's far more likely you'd slash your belt in half.

I strop most of my knives on a leather pad glued to a block of wood. I cover the leather with white buffing compound to speed up the process. I end up with a very sharp, polished edge that I'm happy with. Mac
 
A leather belt works fine as a strop, as does the edge of a leather sheath. I like using leather to keep a sharp edge, sort of touch it up before it gets actually dull. Like an old-time barber with his razor. In the woods, a strop of any stripe is probably not going to replace the sharpener you normally would use.

Treated, mounted strops like pict described are reputed to produce a very fine edge, and I believe it. Super-fine sandpaper secured to a flat piece of glass also has many fans. I either get my knives that sharp with a stone and belt, or I don't need them to be that sharp. Mine shave and cut all the usual suspects just fine.
 
what is the technique for stropping??? does the blade move in an angled slicing motion like on a stone???
 
RescueRiley said:
Was interested in possibly using my belt as a strop in the field to touch up my blade..
Click to expand...
It would seem to me that a leather belt would work fine, (as long as you take the belt off first) as a edge strop.

However in the field?
In the field you have to remember that the use of a leather strop is the last step in sharpening the knife. The first steps would be more used in the field.

If you were to cut up a deer, or start to chop down a small tree with your knife and the edge got a bit dull, the strop would not be the first thing I would reach for.

Maybe our sharpening stone would fit that situation better?
So while making your belt into a leather strop would work fine, perhaps it's not that important right there and then in the field?

Theres also the danger of pants-droppage once the belt has been removed...
 
I use my belt all the time and it works great. In fact, both my work belt and civi belt are a bit flimsy in the front from stropping. I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
 
Short answer - backwards, edge trailing, opposite of how you sharpen when slicing towards the stone.

The strop will polish the metal towards the edge as the blade is swept spine forwards. Any irregularities left from the final stone sharpening will get polished off and leave the edge bright and shiny, and very fine. Hope that helped. Mac
 
Here's one method: Lay your strop out flat and draw the blade across it spine first with very little angle, maintaining said angle consistently throughout the movement and using light pressure. The proper angle is one where the blade just begins to bite into the strop if pushed edge first. You can use plain leather, or load it with a compound such as "Flexcut Gold" or the green stuff. Any wood working supply store has it. You can also strop on denim as well as the back of a legal pad, desk calendar, etc., (non-corrugated cardboard). That's just my .02$, ymmv.
 
Like Maq says ....

Two other things:

1. Don't wait until your edge is dull to strop - strop before and after any use of the knife. You're polishing, refining the edge, not sharpening it. Stropping on leather or denim makes a sharp knife sharper. It doesn't make a dull knife sharp.

2. Strop with a lot less pressure than you use on a stone.
 
I use strops a lot. When you're done sharpening you've got to remove the wire edge, or you won't have an edge for long. This is done with a strop. Above advice was good. Lay strop flat and drag spine first along the strop. Remember to keep the spine very close to the strop. If not you'll dull your edge rather than sharpen it.

In the field I actually use a steel as the first step. Often that is enough. The steel doesn't remove any steel, but realigns the edge. Often that is all it needs. If not I go back to stones.

To make a good strop goto Home Despot and get a handfull of paint stirrurs. Glue two together with wood glue to get a thicker stick. Use contact cement to fix a piece of leather to both sides of the wood. Charge each side with a different grit paste. (I use tripoli and then the green stuff. Tripoli is more aggressive, and the green stuff is a polish basically.) You can get the pastes at grizzly pretty cheaply.
 
aproy1101 said:
To make a good strop goto Home Despot and get a handfull of paint stirrurs. Glue two together with wood glue to get a thicker stick. Use contact cement to fix a piece of leather to both sides of the wood. Charge each side with a different grit paste.
Click to expand...

I've agreed with every post here, but that one gets a :thumbup: for sure. I got a case of paint sticks at work, I am definitely going to make one of those! I need a new belt anyway...
 
Cardboard works too in a pinch.
 
I cut a wee bit of cardboard all day long... After I cut some, I always drag the blade back and forth several times in a stropping motion... Seems to keep the blade in action a wee bit longer between sharpenings...

IIRC, someone once said; "Cut once; Strop once." It might have been Murray Carter that I overheard that from at a knife show...
 
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