Which strop compound(s)?

[deckeda]

In this list I have mostly new, unused (i.e. with factory edges ... ) knives with the following steels:

CTS-XHP (a new folder)
Sandvik 14c28n (a new folder)
1095 carbon (new OKC "Old Hickory" kitchen knives)

X50 Cr Mo 15 (Wusthof kitchen knives, but they're actually old and unsharp)

Question: Use green compound for the softer metals and/or the harder metals as a finishing step? If so, which alternative compound for the harder steels?

I never seem to hear about people using leather strops for kitchen knives, why is that? I really need to do something about the Old Hickory's ... the factory left a burr on them and anything I use to dry them with always leave little bits of fuzz behind, on the edge.

[JD Spydo]

I've kind of gotten away from stropping in the past few months but in the past I've always had good luck with that green Chrome-Oxide stuff that I got from JapanWoodWorker a long time ago. I also have some white super fine compound that I got from Garrett Wade when I bought that one Straight razor from them.

Now recently a buddy who I talk to on occasion has told me that some of that Nano-sized diamond compound that JapanWoodWorker sells that he swears that gives great results. Haven't tried it yet but I'm going to before long. I'm kind of torn between going back to stropping or simply taking my Spyderco Ultra-Fine stones and other stones in that grit size and giving gentle strokes on each side several times>> in other words more or less using an Ultra-Fine stone to strop with. I've sure had some great results doing that with my UF Spyderco 302 benchstone and on two of my straight razor stones. Because Cliff Stamp advised me of that about using super fine stones for my final stage of sharpening about two years ago and I truly think he was on to something good for a final sharpening step.

But I'm always up for new suggestions and I just love to experiment with all kinds of sharpening tools, compounds and methods. I think there are some stropping methods out there that need to be checked out. I hope you get a lot of feedback because this has always been a subject I've been intrigued with.

[Bodog]

For years I've primarily used a 3000 mesh diamond compound to finish any sharpening stone. If i finish with a 400 or a 1200 grit stone, i finish on the 3000 mesh compound. If i want a certain blade above 3000 mesh, then i go above 3000 mesh with higher mesh compounds. But i rarely do that. Usually i finish with either 600 or 1200 grit then strop on the 3000 mesh compound. I'm really happy with those results.

I also have no qualms of occasionally pulling my leather belt off and using the inside of the belt to slightly burnish or clean up an edge between sharpenings. Works well for me.

[JD Spydo]

For years I've primarily used a 3000 mesh diamond compound to finish any sharpening stone. If i finish with a 400 or a 1200 grit stone, i finish on the 3000 mesh compound. If i want a certain blade above 3000 mesh, then i go above 3000 mesh with higher mesh compounds. But i rarely do that. Usually i finish with either 600 or 1200 grit then strop on the 3000 mesh compound. I'm really happy with those results.

I also have no qualms of occasionally pulling my leather belt off and using the inside of the belt to slightly burnish or clean up an edge between sharpenings. Works well for me.

What are your stones made of? Ceramic, synthetic, natural? And which diamond compound are you using?

The reason I ask is because I'm discovering that not all compounds ( even diamond) are created equal. I've found a lot of the stuff I get from JapanWoodWorker or Garrett Wade seem to be better than most.

[deckeda]

I have zero experience with any of this, which is why I started this thread. I'm hoping to mostly skip talk about sharpening here and focus on stropping.

I read that stropping a lightly used sharp knife can bring it back to about 90-95% sharpness, and then later 90-95% of that, and so on until it eventually needs actual sharpening. So my goal is partly to practice, partly to hold off on having to sharpen any of them for as long as possible, particularly since I don't have anything to sharpen any of them with yet.

My rough outline of how to treat the 1095 kitchen knives is to strop them using green compound occasionally, and to use the sharpening hone (that came with the Wusthof knives) for when they start to feel dull. If and when that doesn't help I'll presumably have to switch to actually sharpening them with stones.

As for the harder steels, it's my assumption that green compound on something like the XHP would take a LOT of strokes to do much good, which is why I asked about the alternative compounds. Maybe the black one for example. This would represent a second strop, not in-place-of say, a strop with green compound.

[JD Spydo]

There are a lot of Youtube videos that deal with stropping and sharpening in general. I encourage you to check them out. There is also a website that I visit occasionally called StraightRazorPlace.com>> they have a lot of videos on stropping straight razors which is very similar to how you strop knives that you might find quite helpful.

[anagarika]

Try the mix compound from www.washboardsharpening.com, it is claimed to be working across various steel range.

It also has flat textured plate to strop that minimizes rounding. I have used the plate but not the compound. The maker is BF member with good standing that experimeted a lot to arrive at the mixture he uses.

[JD Spydo]

Try the mix compound from www.washboardsharpening.com, it is claimed to be working across various steel range.

It also has flat textured plate to strop that minimizes rounding. I have used the plate but not the compound. The maker is BF member with good standing that experimeted a lot to arrive at the mixture he uses.

Thanks "anagarika" I had someone else about a month ago tell me about that website and I just never got around to checking it out. But also I have found that there are other WoodWorking websites that are big on stropping that have a selection of compounds. Lee Valley is another one I used to do some business with. There are more of the WoodWorking websites but I'm not sure which ones are reputable other than the ones I listed.

Also I was told recently that there are a couple of Wood Carving websites that have supplies for stropping.