Tormek Strop only sharpening

[Nosetotail]

Hi guys. I have been toying with the idea of sharpening using only the tormek stropping wheel. I have a home made frontal vertical base and I use the knife sharpening angle calculator.

I could buy a few wheels for different grit sizes, but would rather have one wheel with multiple strips of leather. I plan on using a low profile j-hook fastener. This is like modern day velcro. Classic velcro is called hook and loop. Of course the loop is the fuzzy side and the hook is the scratchy side

Modern jhook does not have the soft fuzzy side, just the rigid hook which sticks well to itself. Low profile is just that, it is very thin and thus is as firm as the surface it is glued to. I would use some highly tacky urethane contact cement that is probably banned in most states to glue the jhook strip to a new stropping wheel and the same glued to strips of leather to make interchangeable strops of varying coarseness.

I have a few knives with high end steel, so I will be using diamond. My question is how to prepare and load brand new leather strops with diamonds effectively and economically. The strips will be 1" wide and 18" long. Im considering working with diamond dust rather than sprays or pastes. Making paste seems easy enough.

Keep in mind that I will be starting with a relatively large particle size for effective steel removal, probably a 600 grit followed by maybe a 1200 or 1600 grit

My goal is to simplify the process, cutting down the number of steps and adjustments. My secondary goal is to produce a convex edge without some elaborate technique.

 

[PMQ]

So you're going the no-sharpening-just-stropping route? You do know that at some point, you'll have to do sharpening right?

 

[Nosetotail]

I know that is true when stropping with traditional stropping compound, but I'm pretty sure a belt loaded with 20 microns will work in lew of a sharpening stone. If not, then so be it: I will have to break out the the hard wheel.

 

[Bill3152]

There's only one way to find out. Just do it and see what happens. I don't have a tormek. But I hear they work well. I think if I had one I would probably use it as intended. But go for it.

 

[Diemaker]

I have used diamond loaded leather strops on my guided sharpener to sharpen a very chippy ceramic knife. The coarsest I have used is 20 micron but have no reason to believe 40 micron wouldn't work as well. This is by hand, once motorized I doubt you will wish for a stone. The only issue I see is a foil burr from the diamonds so you may wish for an Alox loaded or bare leather final strop to remove it.

 

[RadialBladeworks]

Hi guys. I have been toying with the idea of sharpening using only the tormek stropping wheel. I have a home made frontal vertical base and I use the knife sharpening angle calculator.

I could buy a few wheels for different grit sizes, but would rather have one wheel with multiple strips of leather. I plan on using a low profile j-hook fastener. This is like modern day velcro. Classic velcro is called hook and loop. Of course the loop is the fuzzy side and the hook is the scratchy side

Modern jhook does not have the soft fuzzy side, just the rigid hook which sticks well to itself. Low profile is just that, it is very thin and thus is as firm as the surface it is glued to. I would use some highly tacky urethane contact cement that is probably banned in most states to glue the jhook strip to a new stropping wheel and the same glued to strips of leather to make interchangeable strops of varying coarseness.

I have a few knives with high end steel, so I will be using diamond. My question is how to prepare and load brand new leather strops with diamonds effectively and economically. The strips will be 1" wide and 18" long. Im considering working with diamond dust rather than sprays or pastes. Making paste seems easy enough.

Keep in mind that I will be starting with a relatively large particle size for effective steel removal, probably a 600 grit followed by maybe a 1200 or 1600 grit

My goal is to simplify the process, cutting down the number of steps and adjustments. My secondary goal is to produce a convex edge without some elaborate technique.

I think you may have an annoying time with the strops bumping as you pass over the seam where either end meets the other. I also have doubts regarding the speed. If you were to use a 1x30 strop and green and black chromium oxide, or the equivalent grain size in diamond powder, I would be going in with a much higher confidence rating. I'll be honest: I won't be betting money on this becoming your main strategy. I, too, am a sharpening-explorer and have tried a lot of stuff, and most of it has failed, other than the typical approaches (hence why they have become the typical approaches). However, innovation is laudable, so I say try it and report back here with what you think of it all.

I can offer you this: abrasive grain on leather gets weird at a certain point. Larger abrasive grains require more pressure to cut into the steel, which is counteracted by the "give" of leather. In my own personal exploration, I have found that 3k grit is the lowest that I am comfortable going on leather. Approaching 1k grit began to offer me declining results and felt much more at home on hard backings

 

[Nosetotail]

"...The only issue I see is a foil burr from the diamonds so you may wish for an Alox loaded or bare leather final strop to remove it."

Will this be a problem if I finish with 1 micron.

"I think you may have an annoying time with the strops bumping as you pass over the seam where either end meets the other..."

"...I can offer you this: abrasive grain on leather gets weird at a certain point. Larger abrasive grains require more pressure to cut into the steel, which is counteracted by the "give" of leather. In my own personal exploration, I have found that 3k grit is the lowest that I am comfortable going on leather. Approaching 1k grit began to offer me declining results and felt much more at home on hard backings."

I think the bump issue will depend in how you glue and trim the strops. As long as the knife doesn't fall off the ledge, I don't. Think it will be a problem.

As for the hardness of the leather, would I be better off using the smooth side for larger grains?

 

[Diemaker]

Will this be a problem if I finish with 1 micron.

For most steels IME, yes. Diamond loaded strops like to form a very nice foil burr. ToddS has some very nice photos of this on his blog.

Instead of leather 3m surgical tape may be of interest as it is self adhesive, as well as other interesting qualities.

 

[TwinStick]

Yup, I have the bumpity bump issue on my T4 Bushcraft. The leather wheel was conditioned properly.

 

[RadialBladeworks]

Will this be a problem if I finish with 1 micron.



I think the bump issue will depend in how you glue and trim the strops. As long as the knife doesn't fall off the ledge, I don't. Think it will be a problem.

As for the hardness of the leather, would I be better off using the smooth side for larger grains?

I always go rough side. The only concrete reason for this decision is just a slightly (but observably) better capacity to hold the abrasive. I don't think the side of the leather will make enough of a difference for large grain stropping. At least it didn't when I was playing around with it. Ideally, you could mount a felt wheel or an MDF wheel, perhaps to the other side of your Tormek, where the stone wheel goes. Then you could slap 15 mic diamond on there at max effect and you'd be sailing... This power strop thing is kind of getting me excited. I mean, I am just reinventing the paper wheels approach, but I am loving this concept of power-stropping right now. I might pick up a 1x30 and join this game...

 

[Nosetotail]

For most steels IME, yes. Diamond loaded strops like to form a very nice foil burr. ToddS has some very nice photos of this on his blog.

Instead of leather 3m surgical tape may be of interest as it is self adhesive, as well as other interesting qualities.

I think the plain leather stropping would be best done free hand at a slightly higher angle. My thought is that you need to break the foil edge rather than abrading it and I think free hand stropping is better suited to break the foil off by way of alternating flips of the knife with relatively short strokes compared to long "strokes" power stropping.

On your advice, Sharpening ZDP 189 and M4, I used my waist belt last night after coming off a 1200 grit diamond wheel and then again after power stropping with 2 micron diamond. The edges were wiping hair away. No doubt about it, the plain leather is a nice compliment to stropping with abrasives. I got away from plain leather when I learned about compound years ago and have often been disappointed with razor edge retention.

Where can I access the blog you mentioned?