Pros & Cons of cardboard strop

[coop1957]

OK guys, lately I've been using cardboard as a strop. Seems to work well.
Thoughts?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Pros: cheap, effective, abundant.

Con: Not at all durable.

 

[91bravo]

I used to smear Mother's polish on cardboard and strop on it as my finishing process for sharpening. I just use a bare horse's ass leather now....

 

[HeavyHanded]

I prefer regular paper over a coarse stone or other hard surface (Washboard). More sheets = softer polish.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Cardboard is more versatile as a stropping substrate for compound. If simply knocking off loose & weakened burrs from an edge, plain cardboard will usually do OK for that, and sometimes it does it very well. If any refinement, thinning or polishing is the goal, that's what the compound (appropriate to steel type) is made to do, when used on cardboard, paper, wood or any number of other substrates able to hold it.

Heavy corrugated cardboard can also sometimes work to straighten or realign a very thin, rolled edge on a blade. I've sometimes used it that manner, to straighten the tip on an extremely thin sheepsfoot blade of mine (Case stockman in CV).


David

 

[Lapedog]

I don't get too much effect when i strop on plain cardboard. From what I see the best strop is the leather stretched on a wood board with the diamond spray suspension. Rockstead who seem to know a thing or two about sharp blades recommends stretching denim over a wood board and then using metal polish on the denim for stropping. They used Pikal Metal Polish which seems to be a Japanese brand. I am not sure what the equivalent metal polish available here is.

 

[bodog]

I use thin cardboard with diamond compound. Not the thicker stuff pictured in the OP. Much more effective than the couple of leather strops I've used and much, much cheaper. Though I've used denim and and regular paper as well with pretty good results. I've stuck with the thin cardboard because it holds up well and doesn't need to be used with glue or anything.

 

[AF]

You can also use Flitz on cardboard, leather, etc.

 

[jc57]

I have used the hard paperboard that is used as a pallet corner protector before with good results. I use some hardware-store green buffing compound on it and lay the angle of the corner protector on the edge of the work surface. Works fine, and is essentially free (assuming you work someplace where you can harvest pallet corner protectors).

I have also used the hard cardboard backing from used steno pads with the same green crayon-stick compound. Also works well. In general I don't like the unevennes of the surface you get from corrugated cardboard.