Stroping??

[john row]

Any input to stroping of KNIVES from anyone?

John Row



From Golden, Colorado and the knife cuts HAVE caught up to the paper cuts :)

[Clay Kesting]

John,

There have been some excellent threads on the subject at BF over the past couple of years. Here is a link to one http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/003186.html
Another good source of information is at http://www.handamerican.com
Hope this helps.

Clay

The antipodean troublemaker

[sal]

Hi John. Stropping brings out and forms a "wisp" of a burr. This is what works best in shaving face hair. Anything harder than a hair that hits that burr will bend or break it. One NEVER feels the edge of a razor with their fingertip or they damage the burr and the person shaving has to go back to square one creating a new one. That is my personal opinion. (having shaved with a straight razor for 10 years).

sal

[john row]

Thanks Clay & Sal.
I've become obsessed with the finer points ( or edges, I guess <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>) of sharpening and getting rid of burrs as of late.

I have been experimenting with &quot;stropping&quot; on a piece of cardboard which seems to bring out a &quot;sharper&quot; edge but I've thought that the edges don't stay sharp as long. Has that been anyone else's observation?

I'm also having problems with two Emerson products - a CQC7 Tanto blade &amp; a LaGriffe. I've tried both the 40&#176; and 30&#176; corners on the SharpMaker. On the LaGriffe especially, I get a burr I can't seem to reduce or eliminate because of the small radius of the blade edge.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
John


From Golden, Colorado and the knife cuts HAVE caught up to the paper cuts :)

[RLR]

Stropping is a skill, used for showing how 'sharp' you can get a blade. Keep one knife to strop-and-show. For the rest, I like a 'rougher' edge. I've actually returned to my old habit of circular sharpening on a bench stone (sorry, not into the fancy systems just yet). The counterclockwise motion really gets a good micro-serrated edge and makes holding a constant angle quite easy.

This said, I do use a steel on some blades to maintain an almost hair-popping edge. And yes, I do sometimes strop, on leather, with jeweller's rouge. Gotta get a mirror edge once in a while <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>

RLR

[mundele]

Interesting...

I understand the process of stropping to draw out a burr like Sal was talking about, but does stropping with an abrasive on the strop like Jeweller's Rouge (or aluminum oxide powder, as a friend uses) actually draw out a burr, or just polish down the edge?

--Matt