What exactly is stropping?

MEJ

MEJ

Joined
Jul 24, 2011
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Im pretty new to the world of knives and i have no knowledge of how to sharpen with anything but a fine grit diamond stone. What i dont get is what exactly is stropping and is it always done with leather?
 
By stropping, you remove any burrs that may still be present on the cutting edge after using a stone as well as polishing it at the same time.

Stropping is used with a variety of compounds each of a different consistency from course to super fine. You apply the compound to your strop depending on what you would like to do, and then strop your knife at an even angle on both sides until the wanted result is accomplished.

If you're a Scandi guy like myself that usuallly means you'll be playing with carbon steel, a good stropping is all you'll need most of the time to get back a razor like edge. That's why allot of guys here love Mora's, you can have a superior razor sharp edge back in no time after a few passes on a strop.

Try doing a search on "stropping" you'll see tons of threads posted on the subject here over the years.

Cheers,
Serge
 
+1 with Serge - tons of sharpening info on other threads. And no - a strop does not need to be leather, but it works the best. IMO
 
So can you strop using a really fine grit sandpaper like 3200 or does it have to be leather?
 
So could you just use a coarse stone, a leather strop with rough compound, then just use a leather strop bare to take a blade from dull to razor?
 
Not exactly, what you'll have is a real nice coarse edge, not a razor. You'd have to remove/erase the grind texture and that would require a ton of stropping with a fine compound (probably enough to round the edge over on your knife), or going through a progression of finer and finer stones. Then stropping with a fine compound and plain leather will give you a "razor" edge.
 
Bingo on all counts.. As for an actual strop, I have found that using an old leather belt gives me great results. So there's no need to spend hours surfing the net or spending $$ to buy an "official" one. The only items will need to pick up will be just the compounds but you really don't need them either although they do make your job easier plus they're relatively cheap.

Cheers,
Serge
 
My strop is the pair of jeans I happen to be wearing and some green polishing compound.

Light trailing strokes, works like a charm, I don't do as well with other surfaces, the angle seems easier to keep consistent and I'm better able to keep the pressure light.
 
so you always have a bar of compound in your pocket and you paint your jeans with that ?

funny.
 
Not in my pocket, I sharpen knives at work or at home most of the time, I keep a small piece in my edge pro bag.

Yeah, it works. I use around a 2"x2" to 6"x2" section depending on the size of the blade, pants usually work better than shorts.

Legstrop001.jpg
 
I've been sort of amazed at how well stropping on jeans works. The thought has crossed my mind, more than once, as to why this is so. Something that makes me laugh a little, is I tend to assume my jeans are 'pre-compounded'. I've had a long-standing habit of lightly wiping the dust from my blade, on my pant leg, when sharpening on sandpaper, diamond, etc. I'd HAVE to assume, at least a little bit of that abrasive has remained there, even after going through the laundry. If that's the case, then it's no wonder it works so well. :p
 
Here's what I use, a leather belt that was made in China. Much to my suprise, it works really good with either carbon or stainless.

Cheers,
Serge

 
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