What is your "go-to" strop compound for burr removal?

S

Strauss95

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Dec 17, 2012
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For others like myself that aren't experienced enough to get completely burr free directly off your last stone, what stropping compound and media works best for you? I just noticed that I think I get better burr removal results on rough leather compared to smooth.

I had been using diamond spray or emulsion exclusively, but recently I have gone back to using "old school" bar compound on leather for the soft, basic steels. I still use diamond on the super steels.
 
Bare leather for most steels, just smooth cowhide. On "super" steels I will add a little 1-micron diamond water spray.
 
Diemaker said:
Bare leather for most steels, just smooth cowhide. On "super" steels I will add a little 1-micron diamond water spray.
Click to expand...

Watching your videos is what prompted me to start using bare leather on my Edge Pro following use of your diamond matrix stones :thumbsup:
 
I have some black and some green compound I got many years ago from Bark River knives. I like how the stuff works.
 
I really like the Venev diamond compounds that Gritomatic sells. The 2 micron is a good general-purpose grit. It comes in a jar and it's a waxy paste. I smear it on and use a heat gun to melt the wax into the leather. Also like the Bark River green and black for softer steels.
 
I found n organized this stuff about week ago. I have 1, n .5 micron I'm guessing venev wax. It's all in russian but it's diamond n I got it from gritomatic. I will use the 1 on leather if I missed a bur or to bring an edge back to sharp. You only get so many passes with a leather strop less with diamond compound. It's not like a stone the nature of the leather rounds the edge a little every time.

I'd like to try wood at some point. My test would be can I get an edge back to sharp more times with the wood n does it last longer on the later strops. I'm not sure how the wax I have would like the wood. Like stated above it likes a little heat to melt into leather. It does stand to reason that a little harder surface would round the edge less.

The system I have is really easy to transport n store. I still use the plastic case the strop blank came in. Their grit is sharpied on the blank n case. I have a smear of paste on the leather side of the case that the strop doesn't hit. I haven't had to open the jar of wax to get more out in over a year. Now I'm wondering if the diamonds will settle to the bottom in the jar. It seems to happen when guys make stones. The paste is thick but over years of sitting even glass moves.
 
At this point I have bought every micron of gunny juice. Works well for me. I particularly like the 6 micron. I have found the best results to be on basswood.
 
The coarsest grit diamond compound I have ever used is 3 micron, which is Gunny Juice brand. Sounds like I need to pick up a bottle of the 6 micron to try!
 
Strops work best after the burr is removed -- that's when they can make a sharp edge pop.

Try using very light, very short, edge-leading strokes at the end of each stone and just on the burr side. The burr leans away from the edge, so if you hold your angle, a light touch with the stone will cut off that burr almost instantly. If you keep sliding the stone over the edge after that burr is cut off, you'll just create a new burr.
 
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