Anyone Strop their knives?

akadave2

akadave2

Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
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I have always been told that to make a knife truly shaving sharp you need to strop it. I can sharpen a knife pretty well finishing it up with white ceramic sticks but Im considering a Strop. Looking on the web they seem darn spendy for a good sized one.
 
you can get strop leather at Lee Valley tools for dirt cheap, along with green strop compound. Less than $20 or so.

or get an old leather belt and nail it to the wall
 
I can get my knives pretty sharp without one, but the strop always kicks it up a notch.

If you want a good big strop just make your own. Go to a leather store and you should be able to find 6"-8" scraps no problem, or you could just buy a belt blank for $10.

Belt blanks
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=21
Leather strips
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=23
Scrap bags
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=289

Edit: The green polish from Lee Valley is a good idea too (I use it).
 
Stropping really does add an extra layer of sharpness to a blade!

Here is the strop and compounds I use. It's a nice double-sided strop, and the two compounds do a heck of a job!

If you have the leather you can make something similar that does just as good a job! You still need the compounds.
 
Stropping doesn`t really sharpen, it just takes off the wire edge and polishes up. Too much stropping, and you will have to resharpen. If my strop isn`t handy, a piece of cardboard will work. Add some polishing compound ,and you`re set.
 
johnny reb said:
Stropping doesn`t really sharpen, it just takes off the wire edge and polishes up. Too much stropping, and you will have to resharpen. If my strop isn`t handy, a piece of cardboard will work. Add some polishing compound ,and you`re set.
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Stropping with a compound still removes metal just in very small amounts. If you are dulling your knife when you strop this may be caused by a improper angle, I have stropped knives for hours and the only result is a sharper edge.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Stropping with a compound still removes metal just in very small amounts. If you are dulling your knife when you strop this may be caused by a improper angle, I have stropped knives for hours and the only result is a sharper edge.
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Agreed, angle is key.
 
I did tear up an old leather belt and slapped some cheap polishing compound in it. Not only did it bring a new shine to my cutting edges, but also made them quite sharper. The compound came looking like a couple of soap bars, one coarse (brown) and one fine (grey). Only used the fine, so far.

Got goods results with VG-10, so-and-so with S30V (not much of a difference), and truly fantastic results with ATS-34, 154CM and Victorinox steel. The blades are now quite sharper and better looking that when they were brand new.

Yes, I too wondered why I hadn't done it sooner! Cheap, easy and fast.
 
Nothing wrong with getting a strop and it certainly takes your sharpness to the next level, but you can still strop on newspaper on glass and get great results.
 
Stropping is fun, but 'taking sharpness to the next level' isn't always what you want. A coarser, toothier edge is often alot better suited to certain cutting tasks. A stropped edge just shaves easier.
 
missin_hobo said:
Stropping is fun, but 'taking sharpness to the next level' isn't always what you want. A coarser, toothier edge is often alot better suited to certain cutting tasks. A stropped edge just shaves easier.
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Very good point, you do want to consider what kind of edge will achieve what you want. And getting shaving sharp isn't even necessary with a fine polish or a strop. I can do it easily with a medium grit Spyderco stone and no strop.
 
Yep, 99.9% of my knives get time on a loaded strop. Most of my blades are used for general utility, whittling, or camping/hunting and I get the most benefit all around with a smooth polished edge.


Gautier
 
Yes, I do more so with my carbon steel, than my stainless, not sure why, but I have done it with all types of steel with excellent results....G
 
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