How and when: reloading diamond paste strops

dkb45

dkb45

Joined
Dec 16, 2012
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I've been using diamond strops for a while now but pretty sparingly. Haven't had to (or haven't realized I needed to yet) and I've only used wax compounds so the standard method of scraping it off and drawing it back on isn't quite viable, considering I've tried it and it just smears. How do I refresh and reapply compound? When do I need to refresh and reapply?
 
With loaded leather strops, myself and others here have just wiped them down with a rag/towel moistened with WD-40 (don't spray it on the leather directly). It works pretty well to clean up most of the dirty stuff. Let it dry out afterward; that might take a few hours or maybe a day or so. I really like microfiber towels for this, as they really 'grab' the dirty stuff, even used dry, and also don't leave a bunch of linty stuff behind, like a cotton rag or towel, or paper towel, will do.

Can do the same with isopropyl alcohol, which obviously dries much faster. Use that sparingly, as it'll also leave the leather drier overall; if so, it can be reconditioned with some leather conditioner.

As for when or how often, it just comes down to paying attention to how the strop is working for you. If you notice it seems to be slowing down or becoming less effective, that's a clue. Or, if it's really dirty, and you see a lot of that dirty, black stuff left on your blade (or fingers, or clothes, etc), that's a good time to clean it up a refresh it. Having said all that, a little diamond goes a long way, and most users (including me) probably reapply more often than is really necessary.
 
Weather I'm using the bar/stick type compounds or diamond pastes I use a large pink eraser to clean, normally takes a little elbow grease but seems to work fairly well. I normally reload my strops when they get noticeably dirty and or stop performing as they should.
 
I don't recommend any oil-based substances to clean a leather strop. Oil stays in the leather and subsequent attempts to reapply paste tend to fail.

In my experience the best leather condition to apply diamond paste is when the leather is dry and thirsty.

Having said that, I don't recommend diamond PASTES on leather at all. Diamond EMULSIONS are ok on leather. Or geman SiC pastes (they are water soluble).

For me, the best medium to take PASTES is paper tape strops (PTS). The next best would be balsa wood.

Back to topic, for cleaning leather strops (loaded with pastes or emulsions) the only thing which I will recommend is rubbing alcohol.

I don't even like rubber erasers. They can help depending on the type of paste. There are 2 kinds of pastes. Solid pastes and creamy pastes (like diamond pastes).

Good luck, bye!
 
Let me recommend using 'Odorless Paint Thinner' to clean your strops. It's the same chemical that does the clean-up action in WD-40, but without the addition of mineral oil. It's a great solvent, but you might want to put a dab or two of leather cream onto the strop to recondition it afterwards as the Thinner will dry out the leather.


Stitchawl
 
These days i use acetone on microfiber cloth to clean MDF strops which have creamy diamond paste on them.
So far i have found that this works very well to remove the greyish waxy stropping residue while leaving the (partially) embedded diamond particles in place.
Only when i notice their effectiveness diminish i put on some new diamond paste, but only very sparingly.
 
dkb45 said:
I should clarify, my strops are MDF for 10-40 micron, pine for 2.5-9 micron. No leather.
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For wood, especially mdf, I'd probably use something like isopropyl alcohol or possibly acetone, or maybe the odorless paint thinner/mineral spirits to wipe it down. Or alternatively, just sand it clean. I've also used a block plane to shave down to a clean surface on natural wood strops (balsa, basswood). Not sure how well that'd work with mdf, though; I'd probably stick with sanding for that.
 
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And I should clarify that I don't recommend MDF as stropping base.

The only stropping bases which I find recommendable are:
Leather (+ emulsions, + SiC pastes)
Balsa (+ diamond pastes)
PTS (+ diamond pastes, + solid pastes (see PTS method for how to apply a solid on PTS))

All these bases have in common that they have good give. This makes the stropping (and polishing!!) extremely time-efficient and effective, especially the PTS (ignoring the setup time&efforts).

Of course you can strop a knife on a bathroom mirror too. While it's effective in the end, it's not time-efficient.

For MDF, any cleaning method will do the job. It doesn't matter, it's just MDF. Feel free to use wd40 or sesame oil or any other scraper.
 
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I use smooth leather backed with wood. I use diamond paste. To clean the strop i take a hair dryer and heat up the leather a little. I wipe it down with a slightly damp cloth then a dry cloth. I heat the leather up a little again and apply new paste. I rub it in with my finger, the heat again and let it cool.
 
dkb45 said:
How do I refresh and reapply compound? When do I need to refresh and reapply? I should clarify, my strops are MDF for 10-40 micron, pine for 2.5-9 micron. No leather.
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Hi,
How to refresh? Just add oil? Ref jasonstone20: drop of mineral oil takes care of the swarf and keeps the paste on the wood cutting

When to reapply? Maybe next year, maybe never ?
When a drop of oil stops working, maybe try a spray of vinegar to attack that rust?
Followed by a gentle rinse with water or another drop of oil


When to refresh?
Maybe when you notice cutting action slows down too much ... if you count passes and remember when sharpening same knife, if it goes from 30 passes to 300 passes to do the same job, maybe add oil.
Or, maybe when you notice a clean knife (and your fingers) getting dirty/dusty after a pass or two on the strop -- thats about when I clean my diamond plates (they still cut) -- I just spray some water and wipe dry with a piece sponge/foam
Or, maybe when the strop looks bone dry cause swarf outnumbers the oil
Or, maybe when you can't see diamondy reflections with a flashlight
Or, when the wood or mdf warps/wrinkels/bows so much (many mm) that it needs flattening
 
I think you will find MDF works pretty darn well actually. There is some good, and some bad info on this thread.
My opinion is if new guys read the stickies, if would save them a lot time and money, especially on sharpening gear.
I reload when. They grey up and stop functioning as they should.
I lightly spray wd40, let dry then Reapply.
If changing grit I sand the leather on my reference surface a bit, hit the wd40, let dry and reapply new grit.
Yrmv......... Russ
 
MDF does work well, for at least two reasons: It's dead-flat and smooth straight from the shelf, and it's very firm. The lack of 'give' in that surface is a good thing, and is what helps to prevent rounding of the apex. MDF is particularly good for polishing tools requiring dead-flat bevels & backs, and perfectly straight edges, like wood chisels and plane blades. I use MDF for my wood chisels, with green compound. I generally avoid any surface that has much give, if it's used with compound. I occasionally use leather for stropping, but only without compound.

The one reservation I have with MDF is, when polishing with very small/fine-grit compounds, there may be some issues with coarser scratches in the finish due to embedded dirt/grit in the MDF itself, for which the manufacturing process is somewhat 'dirty'. But that's generally only a cosmetic issue anyway. I've occasionally used bare MDF for stropping/realigning edges on my pocketknives, which works pretty well, and I can sometimes see the extra scratches left by the grit in the material, on my bevels. Again, it's a cosmetic thing, but doesn't generally affect sharpness at any finish lower than maybe ~ 800-grit or so.

MDF is among the substrate options suggested by DMT, for use with their Dia-Paste and Dia-Spray compounds (quoted below, from DMT's site):
"...Use any of the following as strop material: leather, thin cardboard, denim, MDF, balsa wood."
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Obsessed with Edges said:
MDF does work well, for at least two reasons: It's dead-flat and smooth straight from the shelf, and it's very firm. The lack of 'give' in that surface is a good thing, and is what helps to prevent rounding of the apex. MDF is particularly good for polishing tools requiring dead-flat bevels & backs, and perfectly straight edges, like wood chisels and plane blades. I use MDF for my wood chisels, with green compound. I generally avoid any surface that has much give, if it's used with compound. I occasionally use leather for stropping, but only without compound.

The one reservation I have with MDF is, when polishing with very small/fine-grit compounds, there may be some issues with coarser scratches in the finish due to embedded dirt/grit in the MDF itself, for which the manufacturing process is somewhat 'dirty'. But that's generally only a cosmetic issue anyway. I've occasionally used bare MDF for stropping/realigning edges on my pocketknives, which works pretty well, and I can sometimes see the extra scratches left by the grit in the material, on my bevels. Again, it's a cosmetic thing, but doesn't generally affect sharpness at any finish lower than maybe ~ 800-grit or so.

MDF is among the substrate options suggested by DMT, for use with their Dia-Paste and Dia-Spray compounds (quoted below, from DMT's site):
Click to expand...


What, no Basswood? :eek:
 
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Rhodies said:
What, no Basswood? :eek:
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:D
Either is good. I tried the MDF in one instance, because I'd been cutting down some pieces for another project and had some ideally-sized cutoff scraps handy. Up until then, I would've been perfectly happy using the basswood. It mainly came down to timing, in having those scraps laying around when I was thinking about making such a strop.

I've previously recommended basswood, mainly because it's found inexpensively at hobby/craft stores in pre-cut sizes suitable for strops; it's smooth, tight-grained (more so than balsa) and also firmer than balsa. It's easy and it works well for little money and little time spent throwing it together. This is unlike MDF, which usually has to be cut down from larger pieces found at the home center or lumber yard. Cutting the stuff is extremely dusty with power tools, so it takes a little more commitment in using it for a small project like a strop.
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
:D
Either is good. I tried the MDF in one instance, because I'd been cutting down some pieces for another project and had some ideally-sized cutoff scraps handy. Up until then, I would've been perfectly happy using the basswood. It mainly came down to timing, in having those scraps laying around when I was thinking about making such a strop.

I've previously recommended basswood, mainly because it's found inexpensively at hobby/craft stores in pre-cut sizes suitable for strops; it's smooth, tight-grained (more so than balsa) and also firmer than balsa. It's easy and it works well for little money and little time spent throwing it together. This is unlike MDF, which usually has to be cut down from larger pieces found at the home center or lumber yard. Cutting the stuff is extremely dusty with power tools, so it takes a little more commitment in using it for a small project like a strop.
Click to expand...


Thanks for clearifying, I almost had a stroke. Your logic makes perfect sense, thanks...
 
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