Would like a lesson on stroping

H

hellgap

Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
1,189
Dont know if i spelt it right. I would like to know if stroping is better than a paper wheel before i spend the money cuzz i have an old belt . I would just need the compound or would buffing compound be the same thing. ?? I am hand sharpening very sharp it takes me 30 to 45 min to make it shave hair or slice tomatoes paper thin.
 
Try "you tube"....search for strop, stropping a knife, etc.....you'll find something I'm sure.
 
the paper wheels will do in minutes what its taking you a half hour or more to do. a friend has a tormek sharpener and likes what the paper wheels do compared to the tormek which has a leather wheel. check out the vids at my new website. a friend brought me an old straight razor that i cleaned up and sharpened. he shaved with it that day and said it left his face smoother than his disposable razors. http://sites.google.com/site/richardjsknives/Home/more-knife-pics-and-vids
 
I just picked up a leather belt for my 2x42 Craftsman grinder, and man does it work well! I can get as good or better of an edge in a couple of passes with this thing as I could taking an hour or two by hand. After testing it on the first knife, I was scouring the house for anything I could find to use it one. (Disclaimer, I'm not a great hand sharpener, but have been able to get shaving sharp edges by taking lots of time with the mousepad/sandpaper convex sharpening method.) The leather belt of course is a power strop and not a sharpener, so it won't make a dull blade sharp on its own.
 
I use a leather wheel on a 1800 rpm Baldor buffer, treated with white compound. Sharpen knives on a 320 worn belt that I have been using over 10 yrs then hit it on the buffer, takes less than a minute.
I have found that there are tons of folks out there that will spend hrs sharpening knives that you can do in minutes with the right equipment and a little practice.
A wise man once told me: "You don't make better knives with more work, you make better knives with better equipment" Ron Lake.
 
I find it not all that difficult or time consuming getting a real shaving edge with waterstones and an untreated leather strop. If you get a good burr at 220 grit on the belt grinder, you can polish a nice edge down with 1000, 4000,then 8000 grit waterstones in no time and give it 30 - 40 licks on the strop for a mean and thirsty edge. I've been shaving with just a straight for three years now and the money I have saved in razor blades has easily replaced the stones by now. Of course, that's just one type of edge...
 
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