Stropping.

knifenut1013 said:
Good vids but a little excessive on the compound. The diamond compound you only use a very little bit and it helps to wipe the leather with something like WD-40 so the compound spreads evenly. 100 passes is sometimes only the start when stropping.
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:confused: So I should wipe the strop with some WD-40 everytime I apply the diamond paste?

Oh also, how do I spread the paste when I apply it? Do I just use my fingers? How often should I change the paste, do I need to clean the leather before i apply new paste, and how do I clean the leather? Just rinse it with water?
 
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ryts100 said:
:confused: So I should wipe the strop with some WD-40 everytime I apply the diamond paste?

Oh also, how do I spread the paste when I apply it? Do I just use my fingers? How often should I change the paste, do I need to clean the leather before i apply new paste, and how do I clean the leather? Just rinse it with water?
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Never use water to clean your strop it will make the leather hard. When leather is new and you try to apply the diamond paste the leather sucks all the moisture out the paste and makes it very hard to spread. Spray a little WD on a rag and wipe the strop, its conditioning and adding moisture to the leather and this will allow you to evenly spread the paste. Orange hand cleaner without abrasive or even WD-40 will work to clean the strop just remember to avoid water. Start will small amounts about the size of a smilie icon, spread with fingers, it usually takes 6-8 to cover my 12x3 strop. The paste will work for a long time even when it looks very black and full of metal it still keeps working. When the edge bevel starts sticking to the leather its time to clean and re-apply, this is not something that need to be done often though.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Never use water to clean your strop it will make the leather hard. When leather is new and you try to apply the diamond paste the leather sucks all the moisture out the paste and makes it very hard to spread. Spray a little WD on a rag and wipe the strop, its conditioning and adding moisture to the leather and this will allow you to evenly spread the paste. Orange hand cleaner without abrasive or even WD-40 will work to clean the strop just remember to avoid water. Start will small amounts about the size of a smilie icon, spread with fingers, it usually takes 6-8 to cover my 12x3 strop. The paste will work for a long time even when it looks very black and full of metal it still keeps working. When the edge bevel starts sticking to the leather its time to clean and re-apply, this is not something that need to be done often though.
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Ok, thanks for the help.
 
I warm my strop a bit before applying compound. I've heard nothing but good about Lee Valley's 0.5µ compound http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32984&cat=1,43072 though I gotta admit I'm getting very good results with the cheap stuff from Sears. Strop at the same angle you sharpened the edge at. At the end of the stroke make sure you simply lift the edge off the strop. Do NOT lift the spine of the knife off first! Do it correctly and it'll make a helluva difference.
 
ryts100 said:
Any other tips for stropping?
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Yeah....don't buy one, make one yourself......here's mine. I bummed a piece of mahogany plywood off my boat building buddy, glued a piece of leather to it and "colored it" with Lee Valley's "green stuff".
It's as good as any you'll buy and works great.
IMG_0358.jpg
 
Ok, I received the strop and diamond compound yesterday. I tried stropping my SOG Visionary I, and the edge has definitely improved, but I'm still not happy with it. It can push cut through paper about 3 times, then the cuts start to become ragged and/or I have to draw cut it. I don't want to start stropping my Benchmade 551 Grip until I'm satisfied with the results on my SOG. Any tips? I'm using a .25 micron diamond compound from Amplex.
 
ryts100 said:
Ok, I received the strop and diamond compound yesterday. I tried stropping my SOG Visionary I, and the edge has definitely improved, but I'm still not happy with it. It can push cut through paper about 3 times, then the cuts start to become ragged and/or I have to draw cut it. I don't want to start stropping my Benchmade 551 Grip until I'm satisfied with the results on my SOG. Any tips? I'm using a .25 micron diamond compound from Amplex.
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What is the grit of your last sharpening stone? Have you used 1 and 0.5 micron before the .25?
 
Excuse me, I don't mean to steal the thread but, what's a Russian strop? How does it differ from a standard strop? Thanks.
 
ryts100 said:
Nope, just the .25 micron.
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Thats part of your problem, 0.25 micron diamond paste is 100,000 grit. Even if you finish with a 8000 grit stone it would take a very long time to work it down to 0.25 microns if you don't overpolish/roll the edge. .25 micron is a extreme finishing compound and something I only use on a rare occasion because it takes a lot of work to get to the point where you can start using it. 1 micron is all you really need and 0.5 and 0.25 IMO are for showing off.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Thats part of your problem, 0.25 micron diamond paste is 100,000 grit. Even if you finish with a 8000 grit stone it would take a very long time to work it down to 0.25 microns if you don't overpolish/roll the edge. .25 micron is a extreme finishing compound and something I only use on a rare occasion because it takes a lot of work to get to the point where you can start using it. 1 micron is all you really need and 0.5 and 0.25 IMO are for showing off.
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:confused: Does this mean I have to buy a 1 micron diamond paste and another strop?
 
ryts100 said:
Alright then. Can I still use the .25 micron one to touch up my Grip?
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It will still work just not like if you used 1 and .5 before it. Try to work off the burr as much as possible with your stone then using very light pressure strop with the 0.25, it will take some time but it will polish. Work at it for about 30 minutes but remember to use light pressure or you will over polish the edge.
 
knifenut1013 said:
It will still work just not like if you used 1 and .5 before it. Try to work off the burr as much as possible with your stone then using very light pressure strop with the 0.25, it will take some time but it will polish. Work at it for about 30 minutes but remember to use light pressure or you will over polish the edge.
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Ok, thanks.
 
I just used a benchstone that was laying around on the kitchen counter. Pretty sure I made the edge worse. :mad:
 
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