Anyone else strop there folders?

[Donut]

I kind of like the edge I get from making a coarse edge, then stropping it a bit.

[ZrowsN1s]

Most of my touching up is done by strop.

If I've used my knife I automatically strop at the end of the day. I probably don't need to do this but I've found I can go far longer in between sharpenings by just stropping instead which is nice because stropping is just so easy and convenient.

Same here. I have a $12 dollar wooden handle leather strop I got off Amazon and a $10 brick of green jewlers polish that should last forever. I just rub a little compound on the stop and strop away. Gets a knife that wont shave hair back to hair shaving sharp in less than a minute. I think the main advantage of stropping over touching up with the shapmaker is that you are not really removing any steel from the edge when you strop, you are just re-aligning the teeth of the edge, hence less wear on the knife = more years of use. I'd wait until I had a damaged edge before I break out the diamond hones.

[Surfingringo]

I kind of like the edge I get from making a coarse edge, then stropping it a bit.

This is one of the best uses for a strop in my opinion. That technique can create a really mean edge!

[Bloke]

I kind of like the edge I get from making a coarse edge, then stropping it a bit.

This is one of the best uses for a strop in my opinion. That technique can create a really mean edge!

This is a great thread! :cool:

I've been playing with coarse edges of late and I don't use a micro bevel so I strop, generally with chrome oxide on stiff leather and I'm extremely happy with the edges I end up with.

I recently set a 30deg bevel on VG-10 in a new large Lum. I went to 600grit SiC and finished with a light slow strop. The edge won't quite whittle hanging hair but, will slice tomatoes paper thin and near push cuts them. :)

[Zatx]

I kind of like the edge I get from making a coarse edge, then stropping it a bit.

That is interesting, I hadn't heard or thought of that before. I've got a new Blurple PM2 on the way, I may experiment with that technique with it, though I may need to buy new diamond rods to supplement my well used CBN ones on the S110V steel.

[freebird610]

I've been thinking about getting the knives plus one, the green one on a block, they claim it's one of the best? Now that I'm getting into more exotic steels (thanks spyderco) it might not be a bad idea?

I just got that one in the mail the other day, it already has the compound on the leather and it came in a resealable bag. I haven't used it yet, I actually just got the Sharpmaker the other day as well, and my first Spyderco knife for Xmas.

I have one and it works great. I strop all my knives with it and it gets them back shaving sharp very easily. You don't need to do anything to it and its supposed to last forever. I highly recommend.

[ZrowsN1s]

Want to strop my black bladed knives (PM2). Should I use masking tape or another technique to spare the black coating's demise? Thanks for responding.....NOOB here.

you may lose a little black around the edge, but it should be minimal if you are careful.

[ImageX]

I've been thinking about getting the knives plus one, the green one on a block, they claim it's one of the best? Now that I'm getting into more exotic steels (thanks spyderco) it might not be a bad idea?

It's money well spent and will last for years. I love mine and use it all the time... and you will too.

[Zatx]

Okay. I received my first knives plus strop block yesterday and I would like to change my original answer in this thread. I now Strop all of my folders!

I don't believe in magic, but if I did I would have to say this little block of wood and piece of leather is magical! Despite years of sharpening experience, and even making my own strops out of all kinds of different materials, I was able to take my knives to a whole other level of sharpeness. I had always thought the glowing reviews for this thing were all hype, boy was I wrong. I'm probably going to order another one!

[mb1]

Knivesplus announced a new strop they're making the other day. Same setup, just loaded with white compound.

[Zatx]

Knivesplus announced a new strop they're making the other day. Same setup, just loaded with white compound.

This sounds great, but I wish they had a more pocket friendly version of their green one.

[mb1]

Knivesplus announced a new strop they're making the other day. Same setup, just loaded with white compound.

This sounds great, but I wish they had a more pocket friendly version of their green one.

But then you'd be limited to wearing green pants - messy.

You could always cut the 8" down for a more pack friendly size. You might get 4 or 5 mighty mouse sized strops out of that block depending on how small you're after.

[Zatx]

Knivesplus announced a new strop they're making the other day. Same setup, just loaded with white compound.

This sounds great, but I wish they had a more pocket friendly version of their green one.

But then you'd be limited to wearing green pants - messy.

You could always cut the 8" down for a more pack friendly size. You might get 4 or 5 mighty mouse sized strops out of that block depending on how small you're after.

I may just do that. I'm thinking about getting a Double-Stuff stone and cut the KP block down to that size. Hmmmn.... I could get the individual stones and make a 1x8 four-sided strop block....

[vivi]

Stropping won't damage DLC coatings. Been stropping a DLC Para 2 for 5 or 6 years now.

[Surfingringo]

Stropping won't damage DLC coatings. Been stropping a DLC Para 2 for 5 or 6 years now.

What's the edge bevel on that pm2 Vivi? Looks nice and thin. Looks like about 8-10 per side?

[Bloke]

I recently prepared a leather strop I bought and perhaps someone may be interested, so hear goes! :eek:

I bought a few strops consisting of aluminium blanks designed to be used with EP type sharpeners with thin 2.5mm strips of leather glued to them, flesh side down. They're well made and flat but not dead flat, so I put a new sheet of wet and dry on a bit of glass on my workbench under the Mango tree :D and carefully "flattened" one. It didn't take too long and turned out a treat. :)

I used my go to, Chrome Oxide to load it and I used Dialux Green. It comes in a very hard cake so I put one end in a small bowl and used a small brush and alcohol to dissolve a slurry. As you may imagine as the alcohol evaporates it goes back to chalky and won't stick to anything. I wet a little bit of the leather and dabbed the wet slurry on a little at a time with the brush, but when the leather was evenly wet I ended up rubbing it in with my finger. :rolleyes:

It dried within minutes and I had a nice even cover of fresh abrasive on the strop. :cool:

It sounds like a drama but, my slant is, like all abrasives Chrome Oxide abrades steel which is deposited onto the abrasive and the leather. I find that after many uses I can use a soft brush to clean the leather of old abrasive and gunk and I can start a fresh. :eek:

I'm not sure you can do this with oil based compounds and I believe oil may compromise the integrity of leather. I s'pose it doesn't really matter, I just happen to prefer dry, firm, flat leather and dry abrasive, is all. :)

Anyhow, I used my new you beauty strop to put the final finish on my Sprig. I set about a 28-30deg bevel up to a 1200 diamond and I gave it a light strop, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

[vivi]

Stropping won't damage DLC coatings. Been stropping a DLC Para 2 for 5 or 6 years now.

What's the edge bevel on that pm2 Vivi? Looks nice and thin. Looks like about 8-10 per side?

Yup. I take all my folders down that thin, then give them a ~15 DPS microbevel for quicker touch-ups. That Szabo folder included :) (Picture is from the day I received fhe Szabo in the mail)

[cmyhero]

According to Spyderco sales person I spoke with Tuesday evening..Sharp Maker. rods. medium. 600. fine 1200 ultrafine 2000

[aesmith]

The Bladeforums guys drew up an extensive cross reference between different abrasives. That puts the Spyderco Medium about halfway between DMT Fine and Extra Fine. Full chart here .. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[Surfingringo]

According to Spyderco sales person I spoke with Tuesday evening..Sharp Maker. rods. medium. 600. fine 1200 ultrafine 2000

Hi cmyhero, the Spyderco medium rods do not leave a finish that is anywhere near as aggressive as 600 diamonds. Not even quite as aggressive as a 1200 diamond. You don't have to take my word for it though. Reprofile and add a new 600 grit microbevel on a fresh edge and then do the same with the Spyderco mediums. Test the edges with your thumb, with a three finger test or with any cutting chore that benefits from an aggressive edge and you will see that a 600 grit diamond finish is FAR more aggressive than the finish you get from the flats of the medium SM rods. It's not even close.

As far as getting that from a Spyderco rep, I'm sure you did and I'm sure they were repeating what they had been told but I believe that is information that (though oft repeated) is inaccurate. It is difficult to compare ceramics to diamonds. It is my understanding that those numbers were an approximation stated at some point on the internet that have been repeated over the years to the point that they are taken as fact. If you compare the actual edges produced though, those numbers are pretty far off. If you aren't convinced, test them for yourself and get back to us with your impressions. :) :spyder: