What micron size for stropping?

I usually do a strop progression after a full sharpening, but for day-to-day maintenance and touch ups a 1 micron diamond emulsion on stiff vegetable tanned leather is my go to.
 
I agree that there's a pretty good spread of grits that will get the job done. If you want a one-and-done bottle I'd say that 5-7 micron is great for deburring, especially if you're not regularly doing a high polish. If you do higher end kitchen knives or like to do a mirror polish on folders then 1 micron might suite you better. It's still aggressive enough to abrade the burr but still fine enough to refine the edge. Personally I like a double sided strop with 7 micron on the rough side and 0.25-1 micron on the smooth side (and make if kangaroo leather if possible!).
 
I find 1 is a little fine, even finishing with a 5 micron resin bond stone. 5 would be a lot more universal but leave a scratch pattern coarser than my 5 micron stone. A lot does depend on how rich you load your strop, lots of variables here.

I find .5 micron soft aluminum oxide to work amazingly well, even on "super" steels.
 
Tormek PA-70, 3 to 6 microns for heavy work, 1mu if I want to polish it further.

And I’ll say this about that… It seems as though folks in general prefer a bit of bite on their apex. It also seems to me that if you prefer a bite that a courser grit would be more desirable than a finer grit, hence the Tormek paste for general burr removal/ stropping. If I’m looking for a more refined edge and looking to improve the BESS score I’ll run it on the 1mu.
Works for me…
Al
 
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I generally use 6 micron if I'm coming off a very coarse stone 300-600, then go to 1 micron. I also use 6 micron for stropping a slightly dulled edge.
Coming off a higher grit stone (above 600), I go directly to 1 micron.
I also use 1 micron for day to day stropping.
Has worked really well for me.. YMMV
 
Too fine and all you do is polish your scratches, not remove them. 1 micron is the finest diamond I have seen do anything, finer and I see no difference under a microscope. I find 1 micron diamond to be a big jump from a 5 micron resin bond diamond stone, I think 2 micron might be a better step, but haven't confirmed it yet. Of course what you are stropping with, and how free of contamination it is, is probably a bigger deal than the exact size of your diamond compound. Then there are the variables of using other abrasives. The rabbit hole is endless.
 
Diemaker said:
Too fine and all you do is polish your scratches, not remove them. 1 micron is the finest diamond I have seen do anything, finer and I see no difference under a microscope. I find 1 micron diamond to be a big jump from a 5 micron resin bond diamond stone, I think 2 micron might be a better step, but haven't confirmed it yet. Of course what you are stropping with, and how free of contamination it is, is probably a bigger deal than the exact size of your diamond compound. Then there are the variables of using other abrasives. The rabbit hole is endless.
Click to expand...
This ^
Just to clarify, I sharpen by mechanical means. Unlike the hand sharpening community, I remove the entire burr with either a leather honing wheel or leather 1x30 strop. I have documented the speed (number of passes) it takes to remove burrs ground with either a Tormek or a 1x30 bench sander with a variety of grits. The lower grit number, the faster material is removed. That would be why I use 6mu to start and then go to 1mu if I’m looking to polish or increase the keenness. I also believe a larger grit would be more likely to leave your “teeth” unpolished.
My objective is to achieve the keenest apex possible in the shortest amount of time. I have spent a significant amount of time documenting these results.
 
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