Recommend a Strop

B

Badey

Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
74
I am looking to purchase my first strop. I am looking for something relatively cheap, but also able to do a decent job. I welcome any recommendations you may have.
 
Knives Plus makes a nice strop block that comes pre-treated with rouge. You can also get yourself any high-quality four-sided leather strop. I also suggest you get your hands on some stropping compound. Stropman sells stropping compound in pieces that are about the consistency of a sidewalk crayon in four different micron types. You can also get yourself some spray-on compound or the compounds that comes in little tubs about the size of a tub of Oil Of Olay.
 
stropman makes pretty good double sided leather strops. Personally I prefer balsa strops as the more firm backing gives me crisper edges. Home depot paint sticks are also top notch lol.

On another note, you don't really need to spend any money for a decent working strop. Cardboard strops work pretty well and of recent, I've been using graph paper over my waterstones for that extra crisp finish. The paint sticks are best for portability and convenience.
 
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Flexxx Strops bro! Great quality leather, wood, and includes compounds with every strop. Just Do It!!! Haha!
 
Just make sure you get yourself some good stropping compound. There is only so much that a bare leather strop can do to refresh that extremely fine edge, preventing it from dragging or pulling instead of cutting. Stropman's stropping compounds are great.
 
I have the knivesplus strop and the stropman strop. I like them both. For simplicity I would go with the knivesplus strop. Once you get it, its ready to go.
 
Sadden said:
http://www.knivesshipfree.com/bark-...d-4-micron-cbn-sharpening-emulsion-and-strop/

Can tackle any steel on the market , and will last a very long time.

Depending on what stones you use would depend on whether I recommend the 2/4 combo or the 8/16 combo.
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I have a very basic sharpening setup. It is a Smiths course diamond, fine diamond, and extra fine Arkansas stone. I don't know what that means as far as which combo to go with, since I am a hand sharpening novice.
 
If you aren't handy and you want a high quality strop look into mirrored edge or mr2blue strops. Mirrors edge will preload your strop with your choice of CBN and it lasts a long time. Mr2blue has some for sale on here right now. Russ
 
Badey said:
I have a very basic sharpening setup. It is a Smiths course diamond, fine diamond, and extra fine Arkansas stone. I don't know what that means as far as which combo to go with, since I am a hand sharpening novice.
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You might want to simply wrap a sheet of copy or writing paper around your Arkansas stone (dry) and apply some compound to that. Flexcut makes a very nice compound (Flexcut Gold) that does a great job - can be had at most woodworking shops (Woodcraft carries it). When the paper loads up, turns grey with overloaded streaks of metal, you can just recycle it and wrap a fresh sheet. Can also finish off with a sheet of paper and no compound - will put on a real fine final polish. In fact you can use the plain paper wrapped around you Arkansas, right off the Smith's fine diamond and have a nice toothy user's edge that will shave arm hair clean.

After getting your feet wet with this method you can think about spending more money on leather strops, or a horsehide one to finish. No point in spending money until you have a better idea what you're after, compound works on a lot of surfaces. You can also just apply some Flexcut Gold to a piece of balsa and maybe a single drop of mineral oil.

Martin
 
Another recommendation for Flexxx Strops. The Pro Field II model does a great job for me.

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Badey said:
I have a very basic sharpening setup. It is a Smiths course diamond, fine diamond, and extra fine Arkansas stone. I don't know what that means as far as which combo to go with, since I am a hand sharpening novice.
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A fine arky normally taps out in the 2k range. I would get the 4u and 2u combo (4k and 8k respectively) Just be sure to store the strop in a clean place where it wont get contaminated. I use a brand new clean Ziploc, to store strips. I prefer kangaroo but the ksf strop is supposed to be good. DeanO on youtube has been having great results with the 4u cbn following his arky.
 
The KSF strop is supposed to work well, but is the surface supposed to be bumpy and uneven? I bought one awhile back and it wasn't a flat even surface. The results I got from it were mediocre. Stropman strops work decent for me, but I'm not a fan of their white compound. I purchased a knives plus strop when I used to have a sharpmaker and it worked great. But from carelessness the surface became contaminated with abrasive particles larger than the compound on it and now it no longer gives me good edges :(

EDIT: I just tried to "re-purpose my KSF strop" so I sanded a new surface and put 1 micron boron carbide paste on it. It works great now!
 
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I have the DLT, strop man, and knives ship free strops and can say I have the best success with the ksf strop.
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
The KSF strop is supposed to work well, but is the surface supposed to be bumpy and uneven? I bought one awhile back and it wasn't a flat even surface. The results I got from it were mediocre. Stropman strops work decent for me, but I'm not a fan of their white compound. I purchased a knives plus strop when I used to have a sharpmaker and it worked great. But from carelessness the surface became contaminated with abrasive particles larger than the compound on it and now it no longer gives me good edges :(

EDIT: I just tried to "re-purpose my KSF strop" so I sanded a new surface and put 1 micron boron carbide paste on it. It works great now!
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My compliments to the KSF site owner... He has specifically stated in his ad copy that is strops are for convex edges (rather than beveled edges.) So far as I've seen, he's the only knife seller (as opposed to shaving sites) I've seen giving an honest description of strops being sold. If you use soft leather for a substrate, it's going to round off your bevels resulting in either a convex edge or a dull one depending upon your skill. That's the nature of the beast.


Stitchawl
 
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