how to strop a knife - tips and demo part 2 of 2

In this two part piece I will show you how to strop and get your knife really sharp, what to use when stropping and loads of information I put together from experience and other sources including bladeforums and youtube. I have tried to put as much info in here as possible and would have loved a video like this on youtube. since it did not yet exist, here is my contribution. Take a look below to see what is in the vids.

Thanks to all the guys that share all kinds of great information. special thanks to 'stitchawl', 'knifenut1013' and 'karlmaldensnose' on the bladeforums.com for inspiration and valuable info (be sure to check out the'maintenance, tinkering and embellishment' subforum there, loads of stuff on sharpening knives and scary sharp edges.

first part is about
- what is a strop and stropping?
- what is a strop made of?
- where to get strop stuff
- green chromium oxide compound: Cr2O3
- heat for spreading the compound
- size of the particles (grit)
- other stropping compounds
- how do you strop?
- grinds you can strop
- stropping pressure
- stropping angles
- matching angles to the type of sharpening system you have
- muscle memory
- guide lines for visual clues on the angle
- some stropping techniques
- convex stropping and v grind stropping

the second part is about
- magic marker / sharpie trick
- geo triangle for drawing lines
- strop with bare leather and other compounds
- silicates in leather and cutting ability
- other stropping material (mdf, cardboard)
- going from rough to finer stones and the strop as the last step
- strop material and convex or v grinds
- price and advantages of home made strops and manufactured strops
- leather belts as a strop
- wd 40 for removing compound and getting an even distribution of compound
- the angle you twist your knife at (90 degrees angle)
- multiple movements of the wrist when stropping
- muscle memory
- the myth of exact angles
- match the bevel angle
- hair shaving demo (what's left of it :) )

enjoy the vids and please rate and leave your comments!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• knife
• stropping
• strop
• Cr2O3
• chromium
• oxide
• demo
• howto
• tutorial
• leather
• green
• compound
• jeweller's
• rouge
• red
• strider
• sng
• fallkniven
• f1
• angle
• angles
• guide
• lines
• sharp
• sharpening
• sharpen

[InsertGun]

what is the finest grity stone you use before stropping.

[zyhano]

@InsertGun hey man, 5K or 10K japanese waterstone. when stropping with dmt stones, I go to the XXF stone before stropping at 6micron, 3 micron and 1 micron to get a mirror finish

[PKM9x19]

I like your vids man! I think I learned like 7 new things from this one... Thanks!

[zyhano]

@PKM9x19 you're welcome man, thanks!

[pikepeak1]

If u practice allyour life lol good vodeo. I wish you show off the mangnific griptilian. PeAce

[zyhano]

@pikepeak1 :) benchmade grip, nice one, maybe some day. need to have some more time

[PracticalBushcraft1]

I also use the Spyderco Sharp Maker. I usually end up with a small micro-burr on one side. I just yesterday made a strop from a 5 gallon paint stir stick, scrap belt leather and various compounds. I have an issue with the sharp maker and very thick back bevel knives like the SRK, Esee and Beckers. I need to figure out a way to get a higher grind so they do not resemble a chisel. I will try your method today on my F1 and Dozier Bush Craft knives. Thanks for the vids.

[n2wilderness]

Thanks for putting this together. I just received a few strops and the black, green, and white compound. Looking forward to finally having really sharp knives.

[31dundee]

Excellent video, really well explained must get some stropping compound,'i'v just been using non treated leather.Thank you.

[ChrisjamesDeChavez]

Hi, great vid. Learned a lot! I be making my own strop. Just had a question. I got an Fallkniven F1 with 3G steel. Any advice on what's the best angle i should use when I sharpen it? And since it's harder steel, do i need to put more pressure? Thanks you.

[LikesToBike1]

uh?

[555Nato]

Very intstructional 2 videos.Heel mooi gedaan.

[Andarion666]

Thanks a lot, this clip was really great. I never considered the green paste to be the stroping agent. I figured it gotta be some kind of wax to protect the leather, lol. I think you can imagine how much stuff I used to smear on my stropping leather Oo. I have to tell though, that my leather (I bought it for my shaving knife) already came with tons of paste on one side.

[ccookvideo]

will post a video on how to sharpen your knife with a stone (i.e. the step before stroping)? It would be great to just have to buy one stone with maybe two sides. Do you have any suggestions on which to buy (oil/diamond/water)? Thanks!

[Kevinthewiseone]

The Green Compound is .5 micron or 50,000 grit.