Dave Martell - Hard Felt Deburring Block and Stropping Pad

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I use both as well as the 3um diamond spray. What questions do you have? They are very good at what they do, felt is also very forgiving as a stropping base
 
I use the deburring block. I've tried some cork, scouring pad and wood too but the deburring block seems to gives me the best/most consistent result so far(I've sharpened about a year)

I've just started to use the felt strop and the result is a bit bitier than hard plain leather that I used the most. I feel that the felt isnt as critical with the stropping technique than the leather for me.
 
I’ve never had much luck loading felt with diamond spray. I use leather for that. As far as having bare felt strops to help with a stubborn burr, i’m all for it. Leather with diamond spray is my preferred method to help bring an edge back. Could of been a mistake I made but when I spoke with eitan? (I think that’s his name, I can’t remember right now) of Phoenix Knife House, he told me he only uses felt for burrs. He said he just never found anything like a loaded leather strop when it comes to bringing your edge back. When he said that I gave up on the diamond with felt. Still have some felt and wouldn’t mind making an extra strop for work. Maybe i’ll try again.
 
I use the frlt strop loaded with diamond frequently. It works very well. Once you get used to it, it actually gives a bit of feedback.
 
I use the deburring block. I've tried some cork, scouring pad and wood too but the deburring block seems to gives me the best/most consistent result so far
My experience too.
I think the idea of deburring by pulling through anything makes some folks (especially razor folks) cringe, but I am far from that level of purism...
 
My experience too.
I think the idea of deburring by pulling through anything makes some folks (especially razor folks) cringe, but I am far from that level of purism...
Yes, I've had few good moments with stone deburring but far too inconsistent results so far.
 
I use both as well as the 3um diamond spray. What questions do you have? They are very good at what they do, felt is also very forgiving as a stropping base
First of all, I have no experience with felt, how durable is such a block? I know that it depends on the usage and is difficult to answer. But with regular use, let's say 1-2 knives a day, how long can you use the block before you have to replace it?

I normally deburr with edge leading strokes with good results, now and then I also use a bare leather for deburring.

I am interested in the two felt solutions for 2 reasons ..

Once out of curiosity, maybe it is the better method and on top of that I sometimes (rarely) have a stubborn butt where I have problems with my current method. In the end it works, but I would like to reduce the effort involved.

Do you think that the felt solutions would be helpful in this case?
 
I use the frlt strop loaded with diamond frequently. It works very well. Once you get used to it, it actually gives a bit of feedback.
Thanks Nemo. I’ll give it another shot. Do you usually spray the same amount on as leather? Or do you load it a little more? I usually do like three sprays for leather. Maybe I over loaded the first felt strop I did. I think I sprayed more than 3 times. That could of been the issue.
 
Thanks Nemo. I’ll give it another shot. Do you usually spray the same amount on as leather? Or do you load it a little more? I usually do like three sprays for leather. Maybe I over loaded the first felt strop I did. I think I sprayed more than 3 times. That could of been the issue.

Ive never stropped on leather. My concern is that the soft, pliable medium will give a different edge angle depending on thre force applied. It should be much easier to match the edge angle on a hard medium.

I think I sprayed 2 layers (maybe 6-8 sprays) on the first time. Next time I refreshed the diamonds (months later), only one layer. Same on subsequent occasions.
 
First of all, I have no experience with felt, how durable is such a block? I know that it depends on the usage and is difficult to answer. But with regular use, let's say 1-2 knives a day, how long can you use the block before you have to replace it?

I normally deburr with edge leading strokes with good results, now and then I also use a bare leather for deburring.

I am interested in the two felt solutions for 2 reasons ..

Once out of curiosity, maybe it is the better method and on top of that I sometimes (rarely) have a stubborn butt where I have problems with my current method. In the end it works, but I would like to reduce the effort involved.

Do you think that the felt solutions would be helpful in this case?

I've had it a couple years now, sharpening 3-4 knives ~1-2 times a month. still has at least 75% of its life left. 1-2 a day though could be rough. It only really takes 2 or so pulls to clean up nicely, should last at least a year if not 2+.

I don't rely on the felt deburr block to deburr, I still deburr on stone first with a horizontal swipe or edge leading, then felt block and strop to clean it up.
 
I picked both up, along with 3 micron diamon spray when I took Dave's course a year back. My main gripe is that its extremely sensitive to water. I have had good results prior to both exposure to it. Keeping either your sharpening space or kitchen completely dry is a challenges. Especially when your roommate doesn't quite know how to seal the vitamix 3 margaritas in...
 
I don't rely on the felt deburr block to deburr, I still deburr on stone first with a horizontal swipe or edge leading, then felt block and strop to clean it up.
I agree- deburring is an involved process, with dragging the edge thrpugh felt or cork neimg only a small step along the way.
 
I've had it a couple years now, sharpening 3-4 knives ~1-2 times a month. still has at least 75% of its life left. 1-2 a day though could be rough. It only really takes 2 or so pulls to clean up nicely, should last at least a year if not 2+.

I don't rely on the felt deburr block to deburr, I still deburr on stone first with a horizontal swipe or edge leading, then felt block and strop to clean it up.
Thank you very much, that helps me.
 
I’ve never had much luck loading felt with diamond spray. I use leather for that. As far as having bare felt strops to help with a stubborn burr, i’m all for it. Leather with diamond spray is my preferred method to help bring an edge back. Could of been a mistake I made but when I spoke with eitan? (I think that’s his name, I can’t remember right now) of Phoenix Knife House, he told me he only uses felt for burrs. He said he just never found anything like a loaded leather strop when it comes to bringing your edge back. When he said that I gave up on the diamond with felt. Still have some felt and wouldn’t mind making an extra strop for work. Maybe i’ll try again.
I can confirm that Phoenix/Portland knife house used leather not felt strops from when I have been in a purchased knives from them
 
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