I have a good number of knives, and I tend to keep them at a level of sharpness that is on par with any factory edge I've encountered, but I've always hand-sharpened with ceramic stones to get and maintain that final edge. Should I get a strop? Ceramic stones are abrasive, so I know I'm losing a tiny bit of metal each time... But that also seems to get out the miniscule nicks and pits that my blades develop through use. At the same time, people often mention the polished edges they get when stropping. Do you need pastes or other things to effectively strop? Is the edge finer? Also, I have an assortment of 8Cr13MoV blades, which will sometimes roll a tiny bit. Would stropping with those potentially scrape the leather?
For reference, I've been using the Smiths CCD4, and holding the ceramic rods in my hand so I can closely eye the sharpening.
Stropping vs ceramic stones?
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Comeuppance
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Stropping vs ceramic stones?
Retail warrior and hand-sharpener with a perpetually shaved left arm.
My modest collection: Digicam Black PM2, Endura4 Wave, Manix2 XL, Black Tenacious
My modest collection: Digicam Black PM2, Endura4 Wave, Manix2 XL, Black Tenacious
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Cliff Stamp
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In general, if stropping is improving an edge then there are only two possible reasons :
1) the edge was not sharpen properly off of the hone
2) the stop is loaded with a much finer compound and thus the edge is just taking a higher polish
As compounds are available in ultra fine grits for fairly little money and very fine stones can be very expensive, strops can be a way to introduce yourself to very high polishes for very little money.
In general though most people who have a very positive experience with strops are just seeing the ability of a strop to compensate for slop in sharpening and the edges usually end up weakened with almost no slicing or draw cutting ability at all.
If you want a very quick way to experiment with them you can just get a piece of leather, cardboard etc. and load it with a buffing compound from a friend who works in a polishing trade as they usually have access to them, just ask them for what they use to polish "stainless steel".
1) the edge was not sharpen properly off of the hone
2) the stop is loaded with a much finer compound and thus the edge is just taking a higher polish
As compounds are available in ultra fine grits for fairly little money and very fine stones can be very expensive, strops can be a way to introduce yourself to very high polishes for very little money.
In general though most people who have a very positive experience with strops are just seeing the ability of a strop to compensate for slop in sharpening and the edges usually end up weakened with almost no slicing or draw cutting ability at all.
If you want a very quick way to experiment with them you can just get a piece of leather, cardboard etc. and load it with a buffing compound from a friend who works in a polishing trade as they usually have access to them, just ask them for what they use to polish "stainless steel".