Why no steel strops?

[Spydermane]

I've seen people on this site talk about every kind of sharpening system out there, leather strops, etc...


But I havnt seen anyone mention steel strops.
Why not??
I use a steel strop every day on my knives...
And use a sharpening stone once every few weeks.

Are they old school tech?

[koenigsegg]

I've never seen one, where you can get them? Do you have a picture? Sounds interesting

[Stuart Ackerman]

Sharpening steels have been around a long time.
Even if the sharpening steel is the same hardness as the knife, they still work, just not as well.

I am trialing H13 steel with a nitrided surface, and tests are encouraging for me.
+-62 HRC hardness at the moment. :)

[VashHash]

I use them occasionally but not for spyderco knives.

[Spydermane]

I use them occasionally but not for spyderco knives.

Why not?

Do some types of steels not respond well to a steel strop?

Are the blades on pocket knives just too short??

[Daveho]

I used to use a steel to keep my filleting knives when I was processing fish but seems impractical for a 3” pocket knife

[VashHash]

I use them occasionally but not for spyderco knives.

Why not?

Do some types of steels not respond well to a steel strop?

Are the blades on pocket knives just too short??

I carry a diamond stone in my pocket so I usually just make a few passes when necessary. If rolling the edge was my main problem I would steel the knife more. Nothing to do with blade length just what I'm accustomed to.

[The Mastiff]

The old Gerber hones sell for a good price on the bay now. I don't know what steel they used. I read that the old Schrade USA used A2 on their hones. H13 is supposed to be pretty abrasive resistant. Sounds like a good choice to me but I'm no hone engineering expert.

Joe

[Pelagic]

Steels are a quick fix. They straighten out your apex. They work well with fillet knives and chef knives that see a lot of use. But if the blade becomes dull nothing beats a full sharpening.

[Bodog]

They say a lot of butcher's knives were only hardened to something like 50-52 RC. Because of that they rolled and dented a lot so they had the steels to straighten the edges. Now that knives, especially quality pocket knives, are harder than the steels ever were before it becomes a moot point and you're probably actually weakening the edge instead of straightening it. Steels, when bent back and forth, become harder and more brittle so the old soft butchers knives benefited from that for awhile. There's no reason to try to make a pocket knife's edge harder and more brittle, there's usually not much more hardness to be obtained so you're just making the edge more brittle and probably breaking it off.

[Stuart Ackerman]

I have sharpened ZDP 189, right down to 420, and apart from the length of time taken to do so, all have been sharpened to shave hair off my arms.
Not a shaving edge, just a usefull toothy edge.
I ran each edge just once across a 220 grit Tormek stone, to remove the sharpness.

Testing continues... :)

[sal]

I think if I were to make one, it would be a very hard, very smooth, polished "cat's eye".

sal

[Knife Knut]

Kitchen knives are still often a bit softer than modern pocket knives, and so benefit from edge realignment. I personally use a ceramic coated rod from Smokey Mountain Knife Works, much less expensive than a proper polished steel rod. I have never seen anything like it anywhere else. It looks matte, but is smooth to the touch, and running fingers along it after use does not darken them, indicating that no steel is being removed. Inspection visual, tactile, and functional show improvement of a slightly degraded kitchen knife edge. https://www.smkw.com/modern-hone-knife-conditioner
For somewhat more degraded edges I use one of the white ceramic sticks from SMKW. They both realign and remove steel.

As for "steel strop" I have given this some thought before.

A sheet of glass or a flat polished hardened steel plate or strip might have some advantage over a conventional polished round, oval, teardrop or "cat's eye". With a flat surface the realigning force is spread out over a larger area, stressing the material at the edge less. Also, excessive force above what is needed to realign would be spread out, and not flex the edge nearly as much. A flat deformation instead of a concave deformation, if you will.
I will try to remember to try this with some flat glass next time I need to realign an edge. I do recall having read about using this technique on some online forum or other.

If Spydermane means he uses a somewhat flexible steel steel strap of some sort, I suppose that could also have some realignment effect on the edge.

[Larry_Mott]

I think if I were to make one, it would be a very hard, very smooth, polished "cat's eye".

sal

Probably a wise choice, although i personally think they're redundant nowadays, at least for my needs and use.
I always have the Sharpmaker at the ready back in my "big boy's room" :)

[Jazz]

I use them all the time on all knives. They work. They straighten the edge. My wharnie Delica gets it often. Saves over sharpening. I like them smoother, but if the edge gets quite rolled, you need some fine grooves to help straighten, so I use grooves ones. Double grooved work best.

[Bloke]

I use a steel strop every day ...

[Pelagic]

I use a steel strop every day ...

Lol, some guys are too fast for their own good.

I have DMT fine and extra fine sharpening rods, which i rarely use but enjoy. I wish they made one with coarse continuous diamond (bonded) like their coarse diamond plates. I prefer rods that actually remove steel as opposed to just straightening out the apex. However, you will get more years out of the knife if you remove less steel.

[JD Spydo]

Sharpening steels have been around a long time.
Even if the sharpening steel is the same hardness as the knife, they still work, just not as well.

I am trialing H13 steel with a nitrided surface, and tests are encouraging for me.
+-62 HRC hardness at the moment. :)

Very interesting!! I've owned and used a few of the German made F. Dick sharpening steels for quite some time now and I've had some encouraging results especially with kitchen knives and larger fixed blades. One sharpening steel I really like the experiment with is my F. Dick "Multicut" model. I actually like working sharp edges on these sharpening steels more than I am with leather strops.

I find this thread interesting because I'm actually getting away from leather strops. If there are sharpening steels better than F. Dick of Germany I would like to know about them.

[Stuart Ackerman]

JD
I will send you one to try out.
No payment, just have fun.

BTW The other thing I mentioned before in a PM, will still be a while.

[SpyderScout]

I'm actually getting away from leather strops.

Why?