Strop or not?

[steeljustice]

Should we Strop after using a Spyderco sharping stone?

[Pelagic]

Depends on what the steel likes and what you plan on cutting.

S110V for rope cutting? No stropping or very minimal.

Cruwear for woodcarving? Feel free to strop.

[Bloke]

If you’re using a micro bevel, I’d say don’t strop. :)

There are lots of variables though and it’s more about what you’re using the knife for and what you’re trying to achieve. Pocket knives I maintain with a micro bevel because I use them to slice. Wood working zero grind Scandi’s in simple steels used primarily to push cut are easily mantained with simple strops and chrome oxide.

[vivi]

I'll strop, with a few caveats:

- I never strop an edge that won't cleanly shave. Isn't ready yet, stones will get it there faster.

- I never strop more than 1-2 times per side. More than that and you can polish off the micro-serrations from a coarser stone, which reduces draw cut efficiency. You also risk rounding your apex.

- I never use solely a strop to touch up a knife. I feel I get a cleaner apex off of a stone. Even if I only need 2 strokes per side off a stone to refresh the edge, I'll do that rather than stropping each side 10-15 times. Cleaner apex and more aggressive slicing IMO.

Strops are good tools to own and know how to use, but it's easy to become over reliant on them.

[JD Spydo]

In the past year or so I've been getting away from using a leather strop to finish my sharpening jobs with. I've been using my Spyderco Ultra-Fine stone or one of 3 more extremely fine stones I have. I'm finding that stropping with super hard, super high grit number stones seems to work better for me than any leather strop ever did.

But I am interested to see how everyone responds to this thread. I'm always open to learn something new. A good friend of mine has tried to talk me into trying out "Balsa Wood" for stropping>> and using Balsa Wood with compound on it. He claims he's getting the best results ever using Balsa Wood to strop with. Again it will be interesting to see what you all have to say about the subject of stropping.

[Pelagic]

In the past year or so I've been getting away from using a leather strop to finish my sharpening jobs with. I've been using my Spyderco Ultra-Fine stone or one of 3 more extremely fine stones I have. I'm finding that stropping with super hard, super high grit number stones seems to work better for me than any leather strop ever did.

But I am interested to see how everyone responds to this thread. I'm always open to learn something new. A good friend of mine has tried to talk me into trying out "Balsa Wood" for stropping>> and using Balsa Wood with compound on it. He claims he's getting the best results ever using Balsa Wood to strop with. Again it will be interesting to see what you all have to say about the subject of stropping.

I use bass wood and love it. No rounded apexes, pressure isn't a big issue, but easy enough to sand flat. Aggressive cutting, especially with diamond powder added to compound. If I want a fine edge I get a great one this way, quickly, easily, and inexpensively. I often finish on leather though.

The finest stone I have is 1200 grit and I can produce a fully mirrored edge when desired without convexing the bevel all the way to 0.1 micron.