Stropping suggestion for Edge Pro users

[jackknifeh]

I use stropping for two purposes. To put a higher mirror polish on the bevel and also to put that finising edge for sharpness. One problem I've had when trying to sharpen the edge is holding the spine too high and using too much pressure which can roll the edge a little creating a tiny burr which of course is terrible. This is fairly easy to overcome but if you have an Edge Pro sharpener (or any guided system I guess) here's a thought.

I took a stone blank and glued a piece of old belt to it and charged it with diamond paste. Now I have a strop that when mounted in the Edge Pro I can control the angle easily. When polishing ONLY the bevel I set the EP angle a tiny bit lower than the angle the bevel is. This will reduce or eliminate any stropping right on the edge. If I want only to put a final edge on the blade I can set the angle a tiny bit higher than the edge bevel is. If I set the EP to the same angle as the angle I used to sharpen the edge the strop will hit the bevel and the edge both but not as much pressure on the edge as when you raise the angle higher than the edge angle. This seems to be the best option as long as you don't use too much pressure. Too much pressure can still roll the edge. As with any sharpening task this takes a little getting used to just to get the feel of it, but very little. This is the same theory that Ben Dale (inventor of EP) demonstrates when using his polish tapes except I'm using a leather strop. The tapes work but the fact that the leather wraps around the bevel and/or edge and the tapes don't, the angle set on the EP is a little more forgiving especially for the bevel polishing.

Thought I would share this for anyone who might want to try it.

Jack

[dzarren]

I personally would just strop by hand but you have a cool idea. Its kinda like the wicked edge strops for their little kit.

But Me thinks it might be a tad awkward to have to only pull out, as you cant push into a knife with a strop.

I dont have an edge pro but I'd defs try, I Love micro convex edges. All my knives are micro convexed just from stropping. It'd be really cool to have a high level of precision to that.

[chuck_roxas45]

I have heard of some people stropping with leather and compound on the edge pro blanks Jack. From all accounts, it works really great especially with DMT pastes or sprays.

As for pulling out, you are supposed to pull out(edge trailing) with the edge pro polish tapes. I guess it's the same motion with the loaded leather on the blanks.

I have been planning to get some blanks exactly for that purpose but with one thing or another, I still haven't got around to it. Probably when I order my next batch of polish tapes, I will get around to getting some glass blanks and use my aluminum blanks for the leather.

Since I already tried gluing some wet/dry to my aluminum blanks, I know that it takes a little bit of effort to get the glue off. So I don't want to glue some leather on, because at the moment, I need my blanks for the tapes.

[jackknifeh]

I have heard of some people stropping with leather and compound on the edge pro blanks Jack. From all accounts, it works really great especially with DMT pastes or sprays.

As for pulling out, you are supposed to pull out(edge trailing) with the edge pro polish tapes. I guess it's the same motion with the loaded leather on the blanks.

I have been planning to get some blanks exactly for that purpose but with one thing or another, I still haven't got around to it. Probably when I order my next batch of polish tapes, I will get around to getting some glass blanks and use my aluminum blanks for the leather.

You should use the stone blanks (one piece of metal) instead of the tape blanks (two pieces of metal) to make the strops because the thickness of the leather is closer to the thickness of a stone. It's surprising but the thickness of the stone makes a difference in the angle the EP hits the edge with. That's why the tape blanks have two pieces of metal and the stones are only one. I recently got a new 1000 grit stone to use with my year old other stones. As I progress through the grits and then get to the 1000 stone I need to raise the angle pivot just a hair because the 1000 stone (being brand new) hasn't been worn down as much as the others and is just a hair thicker. Picture a triangle in your mind. The EP base, the rod with angle marks and the stone holding rod form a triangle. By using a thicker stone the stone end of that side of the triangle is raised changing the angles of the corners at the end of that side. You have to raise the angle pivot to bring the stone angle back to where it was. When I used the 1000 stone for the first time I noticed it was only hitting the edge at the top of the bevel. That means the angle the stone was hitting the blade at was lower just by a hair than it had been with the 600 stone. To make it clearer I used a marker to mark the edge to make it easier to see. I was correct. I raised the angle pivot a tiny bit and the stone was then hitting the entire bevel. This is a recent realization and I’m going to pay more attention to it to see how much different the angle is from one stone to the other since in the past year I haven’t used the 120 and 220 stones as much because the knives I sharpen have all been re-profiled and now I only touch up the edges. This comment has strayed from strops to angles but I feel the angle of what ever you are using (stones, tapes, strops) has to be correct to do a good job on the edge of the knife. Several months ago I rigged my DMT 4” aligner stone to work on the EP. They created a thicker stone than any of the EP stones and if I wanted an 18 deg. Per side angle I needed to set the EP to about 20 degrees. I didn’t think the small difference in an old 1000 grit stone and a new one would be that great. If you have any comments or opinions on this I’d like to hear them as this is new to me. I haven’t re-profiled an edge since thinking about this but when I do I’m going to use a marker on the edge between each stone to see if I can see any difference in the angle from one stone to another. There shouldn't be any difference since all my stones are the same age except for the new 1000 grit stone.

Since I already tried gluing some wet/dry to my aluminum blanks, I know that it takes a little bit of effort to get the glue off. So I don't want to glue some leather on, because at the moment, I need my blanks for the tapes.

Ben (at Edge Pro) uses a 3M spray on glue so by running the stone under hot water the glue releases and then you can glue a new stone to your old blank. He said it is very easy. I'll be doing this when I want to replace stones because it is cheaper to buy just the stone without the stone/blank together.

[Chris_H]

If I recall correctly, there was a forum member here that was very interested in sharpening and attaining ultimate edges.

I think he used homemade strops on an EdgePro too. The reason I bring this up is becuase I think he used a mousepad glued onto the blanks for use with various grits of sandpaper. It also allowed the micro-convexing that dzarren references.

Anyway, maybe something else for you to explore with your system.

[jackknifeh]

Since I first made a strop for the EP I've used it several times always having to pay attention to the tip to keep from putting little slices in the leather. Well I almost sliced the leather in half the last time I used it. :mad: Even though I like my (and others) idea I've decided not to make any more. The regular stropping method always worked so I'll just stick to that (until my next brainstorm). :D

Jack

[Chris_H]

Jack,

thombrogan is the forum member that I was thinking of that had experience with strops on the EP.

You can search through his old posts here, and also look him up on some of the other knife forums (e.g., Blade Forums & Knife Forums) where he also regularly used to post.

[jackknifeh]

Since I first made a strop for the EP I've used it several times always having to pay attention to the tip to keep from putting little slices in the leather. Well I almost sliced the leather in half the last time I used it. :mad: Even though I like my (and others) idea I've decided not to make any more. The regular stropping method always worked so I'll just stick to that (until my next brainstorm). :D

Jack

My new idea. I glued a piece of leather to a POLISH TAPE blank to use as a strop. Using the polish tape blank instead of a stone blank makes the EP strop 1/8" thicker which lowers the angle a little bit. By setting the EP angle to the same angle as a back bevel and using the EP strop I can polish the bevel and not hit the edge bevel at all. I can raise the angle of course to hit the edge if I want but my goal in using the polish tape blank is for polishing the back bevel only. I tried it on two knives and it worked great. I marked a small spot on the edge and the marker was removed on the back bevel but not on the edge bevel. Sadly, the knives already had a nice polish so I didn't see any improvement there but I do know the edge will be left alone which is the idea. I used a piece of horse hide which is rather hard leather and DMT 1 micron paste. I used 1 micron because if I decide to continue using it I will get used to this grit then apply some 6 micron paste later to see how much difference there is in scratch removal/polishing. Actually, there shouldn't be any "scratches" on the edge when you start stropping. My 600 grit Congress Tools mold master stone leaves a haze (for lack of a better word) on the bevel. I'd call it shiny but not mirror. There are no scratches like the EP stones leave. Even my 1000 grit EP stone leaves random scratches in the bevel. Ben replaced my first stone because of the random scratches. The new one is MUCH better but still leaves a few scratches. I believe it is the nature of this type of stone.

Using a strop free hand I have to pay a lot of attention to maintaining the angle. I can feel when the back bevel is flat on the strop because it glides smoothly. Using the EP I can eliminate this worry which is one main benefit of the EP. I still have to be careful around the tip of the blade to not cut into the leather but since I'm not sharpening the edge It isn't as important to go go all the way to the end of the edge.

Jack

[SQSAR]

Thanks Jack. I've done about the same thing for my EP and the results are nice. I glued some leather to an aluminum blank that I milled to be about the same net thickness given the thickness of the leather. Personally, I raise the angle on the EP ever so slightly via a block I made to be a quick reference for the edges I use most often on the EP. System works like a charm. Only thing I've found (and I suspect you have too :o ) is to make sure I'm pulling the strop towards me and NOT cutting the leather. I jacked one or two of them learning this, but it's all good. I too use 1 micron diamond paste , , ,but sometimes I use one with .3 micron.

[jackknifeh]

Thanks Jack. I've done about the same thing for my EP and the results are nice. I glued some leather to an aluminum blank that I milled to be about the same net thickness given the thickness of the leather. Personally, I raise the angle on the EP ever so slightly via a block I made to be a quick reference for the edges I use most often on the EP. System works like a charm. Only thing I've found (and I suspect you have too :o ) is to make sure I'm pulling the strop towards me and NOT cutting the leather. I jacked one or two of them learning this, but it's all good. I too use 1 micron diamond paste , , ,but sometimes I use one with .3 micron.

I know what you mean. :mad: But with the angle set low enough to hit only the back bevel and not the edge you can pull and push and go sideways. I've found that stroking the stone 90 degrees (sideways) along the edge it removes a lot of the scratch pattern created by the one-direction strokes. Not important with a strop but great step in removing scratches before progressing to the next finer stone.

Jack

[Niles]

Sorry to drudge up an old thread, but I recently made a couple strops for my Edge Pro and am thrilled with how well they work. In researching the project I found this thread and figured I'd tag on in case someone else wanted to make their own as well.

You could simply buy a blank and glue leather onto it, but that'll cost you about $12 bucks a pop. Making them myself was nearly free.

I documented the whole thing here: http://wp.me/p7eNKF-B" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Happy sharpening!

[TheRaven]

Just FYI. Not too long ago, I read something written by Ben Dale, creator of the edge pro system.

Stropping was once part of the edge pro system; however, Ben ascertained the edge pro system works better without stropping.

Which is why his system does not include any equipment or instructions on stropping.

for more info, feel free to email Ben; he's a very nice guy.

[Niles]

That's interesting. I've been getting my best results with the blocks I made. I haven't used the polish tapes since making them.

I would imagine that the polish tapes and super fine stones would work better than stropping if you can maintain perfectly consistent edge angles. For me the EP isn't designed to sharpen all the things I use it for, and consequently there is usually a minute variability in my polishing angles.

[Evil D]

I actually prefer the edge I get from the EP polishing tapes over a stropped edge. Another trick you can do is take a tape that's wore out and rub some diamond paste into it, that works pretty well too.

[El Gato]

I actually prefer the edge I get from the EP polishing tapes over a stropped edge.

My feelings as well. The edge I get from the polishing tapes is excellent and easy to maintain.

[TheRaven]

I would imagine that the polish tapes and super fine stones would work better than stropping if you can maintain perfectly consistent edge angles.

To be exact, I believe Ben Dale said, stropping will round the edge.

As you eloquently stated, holding a perfect angel on an edge pro should create an extremely keen edge.