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- Apr 12, 2009
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- 13,196
I'm concerned that stropping may be taking "bite" away from the edge.
I've read many times that stropping helps to remove burrs, but that it also smooths, polishes and can round off the apex. I have a bit of a dilemma here because I want to remove as much burr as possible, but I like toothy edges (400 grit and below). I don't need smooth, polished edges or want rounded apexes.
I'm careful about removing burrs at every grit I sharpen with, so if there is one left when I'm done it's got to be tiny. Personally, I don't think it's worth risking smoothing out a toothy edge or rounding off an apex just to remove a tiny burr that might not even be there, but I'd like to get feedback about this from those who are more knowledgeable than I am.
Thank you...
I'm generally inclined in the same direction. I've mostly moved away from stropping with any compounds at all, and instead just strop on bare leather (a belt, as a hanging strop) or clean paper (laid over a stone is ideal). If any burrs on the edge won't be removed by those methods, that's my cue that I need to thin the burrs a bit more on the finishing stone of my preference (usually in the 320-400 range). If the burr is reduced enough on the stone, most any stropping method or bare substrate will remove what's left very quickly, in a handful of passes, without polishing away the 'tooth' I like in my edges. And again, if the remaining burr is thin & fragile enough, I sometimes don't strop at all, save for a couple swipes on the thigh of my jeans. Anything left will be fragile enough, it'll be scrubbed off the apex in the first use of the knife, after sharpening.
The only time I strop deliberately with a compound anymore is for polishing very thin convexes that work well in kitchen use, for fruits & veggies. But even then, I'm not doing as much of that anymore either. That thin & polished convex is a fun luxury in the kitchen, but still not essential for how I use my kitchen knives.
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