What strop do you use?

[Pelagic]

Just curious. I have several leather strops, but prefer basswood. Here's a cheap way to start:

https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Products ... ref=plSrch

I feel that with wood, I can simply keep the same angle that I use on my stones as well as apply some extra pressure when desired without risking apex deformation. I often like leather for finishing, but I have to use a slightly shallower angle and keep the pressure light.

[vivi]

I voted other. I don't strop.

I've never used a strop (leather, wood, or cardboard) or steel rod (grooved or smooth) that gave me an edge equal to or better than I can get off stones.

I've gotten much better results learning to get hair whittling sharpness right off of a stone than relying on a strop to achieve that level of sharpness (Not to imply anyone who strops uses it as a "crutch")

I do keep a leather strop on hand that I sometimes use for checking for a burr. Strops are very good at showing you a burr that is too small to see by eye, because it will scrape the buffing compound off and be very obvious. But I never finish my edges with them these days.

[Pelagic]

I hear that, Vivi. I try to keep it to a minimum myself, unless I'm going for an extremely fine finish. Some of my best edges have been off stones alone, but sometimes I don't have the patience or time for burr removal, which a strop makes quick work of.

[vivi]

I hear that, Vivi. I try to keep it to a minimum myself, unless I'm going for an extremely fine finish. Some of my best edges have been off stones alone, but sometimes I don't have the patience or time for burr removal, which a strop makes quick work of.

I try my best to avoid raising a burr, which helps in that regard. Easier said than done sometimes, especially when establishing a new bevel.

[Pelagic]

I hear that, Vivi. I try to keep it to a minimum myself, unless I'm going for an extremely fine finish. Some of my best edges have been off stones alone, but sometimes I don't have the patience or time for burr removal, which a strop makes quick work of.

I try my best to avoid raising a burr, which helps in that regard. Easier said than done sometimes, especially when establishing a new bevel.

Yeah, I've been trying that ever since I read on cliff stamp's site about how unnecessary raising a burr is. But I usually end up having one and must deal, lol.

[BornIn1500]

Speaking of strops... Just made this one a few weeks ago.

[rwasham]

I use the back of a leather belt. No compound or anything else. I should probably get more technical with it, but I've been able to achieve great results with just that.

[J D Wijbenga]

I strop my razor but not my knife. On my pocket knife i like the toothy edge I get from a medium stone.

[Pelagic]

I strop my razor but not my knife. On my pocket knife i like the toothy edge I get from a medium stone.

Good to hear! I'm definitely a fan of not stropping from a standpoint of achieving a desirable edge. But I also find stropping to be enjoyable (not quite as much as using stones or rods, but it's all fun to me).

[Zatx]

I've gotten much better results learning to get hair whittling sharpness right off of a stone than relying on a strop to achieve that level of sharpness (Not to imply anyone who strops uses it as a "crutch")

I do keep a leather strop on hand that I sometimes use for checking for a burr. Strops are very good at showing you a burr that is too small to see by eye, because it will scrape the buffing compound off and be very obvious. But I never finish my edges with them these days.

I keep a nice strop on my bench with green compound for the same purpose as Vivi. Hold the knife nearly parallel with the surface (1-5%) and pull it across the strop and you'll see just where the burr is. This is really useful for me in the winter because my workbench is in my unheated garage and my hands get cold making it harder to feel for the burr.

When I first really got into sharpening I would heavily strop my blades with several different grits/compounds, i.e. DMT diamond pastes on balsa, then leather, then black compound, white, green, and finish on red. Sure, the bevel could blind astronauts in the space station with the reflected light of the sun, but slice open an envelope and you then had to resharpen them!

I think over stropping is a source of frustration for a lot of newbie sharpeners. They watch a YouTube video of some guy creating hair-whittling edges with stropping, purchase a bunch of equipment, then their results don't... mirror... the pro's (pun intended). Stropping is all about pressure; too much and you're rolling the edge and rounding it off. The key to stropping is very, very, VERY, light pressure and only a few passes on each side. The goal is to have the microscopic leather fibers just barely grab and break off the nearly invisible pieces of burr.

[basedlarrydavid]

One balsa, one kangaroo leather, 6 nano cloth using polycrystalline diamond emulsions/sprays ranging from 4 micron to 0.003 micron.

[FK]

I like thin hard leather with diamond spray. It is great for touch up between stones and will bring the edge to another level if used with light touch.

FK

[Mom3ntuM]

I use a leather strop with flexcut gold compound, i do a only a few passes to refine the edge and I probably form a nanobevel.

[Joey]

I just bought some 2000/3000/6000 grit tape meant for the edge pro system. I don’t have an edge pro, I opted for the KME so I can sharpen wherever I’m at without a table. I bought a leather strop that fits my system, and I cut the tapes to fit.
However, lately I find better results stropping by hand, so I cut up an old belt and I place the stropping tapes on those. These tapes are super convenient and reusable when you clean them. I’ve used some pieces for very long time periods without issues.

[Extra330SC]

Just curious. I have several leather strops, but prefer basswood. Here's a cheap way to start:

https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Products ... ref=plSrch

I feel that with wood, I can simply keep the same angle that I use on my stones as well as apply some extra pressure when desired without risking apex deformation. I often like leather for finishing, but I have to use a slightly shallower angle and keep the pressure light.

Been having good success with the Knives Plus pre loaded strop block. https://www.knivesplus.com/KP-STROP8-STROPBLOCK.html

Also use raw leather and balsa wood. Agree with others that a light touch is key.

James

[Smaug]

I just use my jeans. I always thought that the point of a strop is just to knock off the wire edge.

Many of you use it for a mild sharpening, it seems. I should pony up and make one.

[Pelagic]

Just curious. I have several leather strops, but prefer basswood. Here's a cheap way to start:

https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Products ... ref=plSrch

I feel that with wood, I can simply keep the same angle that I use on my stones as well as apply some extra pressure when desired without risking apex deformation. I often like leather for finishing, but I have to use a slightly shallower angle and keep the pressure light.

Been having good success with the Knives Plus pre loaded strop block. https://www.knivesplus.com/KP-STROP8-STROPBLOCK.html

Also use raw leather and balsa wood. Agree with others that a light touch is key.

James

Yep, I have one like that. It's since been cleaned/reconditioned. It's my 0.5 micron diamond strop now. I prefer strops slightly larger than it, but there's nothing wrong with it. Works fine.

[Baron Mind]

I have experimented with almost every stropping medium possible. My current setup is 4 micron poly diamond emulsion basswood to deburr, 1 micron poly diamond on kangaroo leather, then depending on steel and type of use, .5, .25, .10 micron polydiamond emulsion/spray all on kangaroo leather. For me, 4 micron loads too fast to use on leather. Prior to revisiting basswood and leather my preferred strop was printer paper taped to strips of mdf or melamine. The printer paper strops don't compress at all so there is no worry about rounding your apex as long as you maintain the correct angle. The paper also absorbs sprays or emulsions perfectly and holds pastes fairly well too. Time will tell what I ultimately stick with. I like the feedback or draw of kangaroo leather, but there is some concern about crushing the apex. I think the leather might pull off burr better than wood or paper, but ideally the burr is completely removed on the first 4 micron strop, and i don't know if leather is economical for that.