stropping?

[hammer24]

How many strop their blades to finish the sharpening process? I discovered this a few years ago and will never look back! It will take a blade from sharp to SCARY (shaving) sharp. I made a leather strop and fixed to an oak backing with handle, use an extra fine polishing compound. I now have 4 other guys who have me sharpen their knives because they are shocked by the sharpness of mine. Was wondering how many use this method.

 

[rjstew317]

I just made two new strops this evening then preceded to put one heck of an edge on my new leek. it's safe to say that I'm sold on this technique!

 

[cubby]

everytime you sharpen you should strop. a lot of people assume they need to "sharpen" their knife, when all it needs is stropped. when the knife is used, typical it is not enough to require sharpening. and sharpening when its not needed just shortens the life of the blade (sharpening removes metal. once a certian amount of the metal is gone... well.. you know). STROPPING realigns the edge, the most common cause for a dull blade is a misaligned edge. get the edge nice and lined up (on a microscopic level) and the knife is back to sharp.

stropping is the most important part of keeping a knife sharp in common use.

 

[66chevelle]

I was talking to my buddy Monday night about stropping knives. Neither one of us have done this before. We tried it by using a leather belt he had and it made a difference. I am now sold that I need to get a strop. Where is the best place to buy one? If you have made your own can you please post pics and details. Thanks

 

[CSORuger]

Looked this up on the inter-net. Thanks for the information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liKYctpdjC4

 

[grunt soldier]

I was talking to my buddy Monday night about stropping knives. Neither one of us have done this before. We tried it by using a leather belt he had and it made a difference. I am now sold that I need to get a strop. Where is the best place to buy one? If you have made your own can you please post pics and details. Thanks

there are a lot of well made one's out there. the JRE strop bat is good,


this is a good one and you can order the bark river green and black compound to load it up. they are very good compounds

Double Sided Leather Strop Hone for Maintaining Convex Grind Knives KnivesShipFree.com


they are also pretty easy to make just get a board glue some leather on and bingo make it as fancy or simple as you want

 

[mkelsey]

this guy apluslandscape | eBay makes them and includes a couple compound bars for a pretty fair price imo if you do not wanna make your own.

 

[turn4chatter]

this guy apluslandscape | eBay makes them and includes a couple compound bars for a pretty fair price imo if you do not wanna make your own.

I purchased a set of his that came with 2 compounds and I am happy with it.

I also recently stopped at Tandy leather bought some scrap pieces then used contact cement to glue them to half a paint stir stick for a "pocket strop".....Talk about easy. Direction are online somewhere if you need them.

 

[turn4chatter]

If you spend too many hours in front of the computer reading forums and watching youtube video while stropping your Izula you could end up convexing the edge

 

[hammer24]

I am now sold that I need to get a strop. Where is the best place to buy one? If you have made your own can you please post pics and details. Thanks
[/QUOTE]

I made one, I don't even remember where the leather came from. Doesn't matter. Before I made this I'd used leather belts and sheaths and they all work.

 

[rjstew317]

I picked up a pack of two leather book marks from hobby lobby for $2.50 and glued them to some scrap poplar with contact cement, picked up some polishing compound (white and green) at lowes and was off a running. they're not the prettiest strops out there, but they're perfectly functional.

 

[WhitleyStu]

Harbor Freight has these cheap belt grinders which you can mount on its back (so belt is moving away from you) then purchase a leather belt from Lee Valley. For under $35 you can have a power strop.

 

[jeremy]

Subscribed for anymore good Ideas...

So far I like the Power Strop...

 

[hammer24]

Love the power strop idea! You sir a a genius!

 

[DBH]

Stu hit the nail on the head. I power strop and hardly touch a stone anymore unless an edge and taken a real beating.

 

[kboom524]

everytime you sharpen you should strop. a lot of people assume they need to "sharpen" their knife, when all it needs is stropped. when the knife is used, typical it is not enough to require sharpening. and sharpening when its not needed just shortens the life of the blade (sharpening removes metal. once a certian amount of the metal is gone... well.. you know). STROPPING realigns the edge, the most common cause for a dull blade is a misaligned edge. get the edge nice and lined up (on a microscopic level) and the knife is back to sharp.

stropping is the most important part of keeping a knife sharp in common use.

Very well said!!
I do alot of wood carving and strop my knives every few minutes. Have'nt sharpened them in a long time. The main thing is to maintain the edge, if you do this you will not have to sharpen. I use a hand stop with leather mounted to a piece of wood sometimes. My main strop is an old pipe buffer that I got from a Tinderbox Pipe & Tobacco shop that was closing. I got a couple of hard felt wheels for it and it works like a charm. It sits next to my bench so I can carve a little, stop a little, and carve some more.

 

[bwframe]

Harbor Freight has these cheap belt grinders which you can mount on its back (so belt is moving away from you) then purchase a leather belt from Lee Valley. For under $35 you can have a power strop.

Thanks! I had an old sander and just ordered this belt:
Amazon.com: 1" x 30" SURGI-SHARP® Leather Belt: Home Improvement

 

[WhitleyStu]

Thanks! I had an old sander and just ordered this belt:

Amazon.com: 1" x 30" SURGI-SHARP® Leather Belt: Home Improvement

Now get some white jeweler’s rouge (not white stainless steel polishing rouge, it’s too aggressive) then feed the belt by hand while lightly charging it with the rouge. You are on your way to a great edge…

 

[bwframe]

Now get some white jeweler’s rouge (not white stainless steel polishing rouge, it’s too aggressive) then feed the belt by hand while lightly charging it with the rouge. You are on your way to a great edge…

Hopefully, this will work similarly?
It arrived yesterday:
Amazon.com: Woodstock D2902 1-Pound Extra Fine Buffing Compound, Green: Home Improvement

 

[gunrunr76]

for anybody looking for a strop in the ft wayne area...grindstone knives....mike the owner has all kinds of leather...he sold me one made from new old stock belt drive from a mill...its sweet....laminated and thick....he also has the rouge and other abrasives such as metal glo