Salty’s Strop?

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TEWNCfarms

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So I’m making a strop like he has. I got a 3x3x12 block of balsa and some tough but smooth leather. I was thinking of doing two sides with leather at least, and then two sides with balsa. And maybe do 1micron diamond on the backside of the leather, .5um on the smooth top of the leather after sanding it, then .25um on balsa, and then nothing on balsa? Or should I do nothing on backside of leather, then 1um on smooth leather, .5 on balsa, and .25um on balsa? Or should I do three sides of leather? Also what grit should I sand the leather and balsa with? I’ll take a picture of the leather in a minute so you can see. Thanks!
 



So that’s what I have, the whiter leather is a softer leather which is really nice but I’d have to piece it onto the block... I think it would be fine right since I’m only stropping/edge trailing.?

Also if you look at the backsides, they are kind of suede leather, should I use the back side? Or only use the top side?

I’m thinking now, use tough backside with 1um, tough frontside with .5um, .25um on smooth frontside, and then either Nothing on plain sanded balsa, or maybe .10um on the plain balsa?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much
 
I never saw Salty's strop, but .10um equals about 160,000 grit?

In my humble opinion, you're overthinking this one :O What are you stropping?

I would be hesitant to buy anything under 1um (16,000 grit) !

The .50 & .25um is good for straight razors, too fine for kitchen knives.

Also, this strop sounds complicated in practical use. How do you remember which side is loaded with which paste? Which leather is which, & which leather is reversed?
 
fujiyama said:
I never saw Salty's strop, but .10um equals about 160,000 grit?

In my humble opinion, you're overthinking this one :O What are you stropping?

I would be hesitant to buy anything under 1um (16,000 grit) !

The .50 & .25um is good for straight razors, too fine for kitchen knives.

Also, this strop sounds complicated in practical use. How do you remember which side is loaded with which paste? Which leather is which, & which leather is reversed?
Click to expand...

https://youtu.be/lQTe1NR-Z0g
https://youtu.be/g9Smlj0fNnE

I mean it wouldn’t be that hard to remember, each type and or side of the leather would have a corresponding compound. And I think each compound is a different color.

And I disagree on the “too fine for kitchen use” I specifically tried this because everyone was saying don’t go above 2k or whatever, and I tried it and it is just lacking for what I need. Especially for cutting meat and stuff.

And Im inclined to follow what SaltyDog has done considering he is a chef himself who works on the line, and he has a multitude of Thousand dollar knives, I’m pretty sure he knows what’s going on.

And yeah I don’t know if I will get the .10um, I’m trying to figure it out.... if it’d be better to use that or just plain balsa...
 
riba said:
I have (a.o.) 2um on leather. Very nice for touchups.
Click to expand...

Cool thanks I’ll look into it.


I guess my other question is do I need to process the leather for the strop? I read somewhere this is a common mistake, and you should wet it then let it sit for a couple hours then roll it with a rolling pin and let it sit over night... I could have gotten a tougher leather but I thought I needed a softer leather... should I return this leather and get the harder stuff?
 
TEWNCfarms said:
https://youtu.be/lQTe1NR-Z0g
https://youtu.be/g9Smlj0fNnE

I mean it wouldn’t be that hard to remember, each type and or side of the leather would have a corresponding compound. And I think each compound is a different color.

And I disagree on the “too fine for kitchen use” I specifically tried this because everyone was saying don’t go above 2k or whatever, and I tried it and it is just lacking for what I need. Especially for cutting meat and stuff.

And Im inclined to follow what SaltyDog has done considering he is a chef himself who works on the line, and he has a multitude of Thousand dollar knives, I’m pretty sure he knows what’s going on.

And yeah I don’t know if I will get the .10um, I’m trying to figure it out.... if it’d be better to use that or just plain balsa...
Click to expand...

Not sure about everyone saying don't go above 2k? Many pros don't but most home users finish in the 4-6k range. My personal preference is about 5k.

I happen to likey Salty's 4 sided strop idea and used one myself for straight razors. I marked the sides with a sharpie to differentiate.

On a knife, anything less than 1um is ridiculous and will be gone in a cut or two.
 
chinacats said:
Not sure about everyone saying don't go above 2k? Many pros don't but most home users finish in the 4-6k range. My personal preference is about 5k.

I happen to likey Salty's 4 sided strop idea and used one myself for straight razors. I marked the sides with a sharpie to differentiate.

On a knife, anything less than 1um is ridiculous and will be gone in a cut or two.
Click to expand...

Yeah i mean not literally Everyone but a lot. But How did you make yours? Did you use leather or only balsa? Should I go 2um, 1um, .5um, and Bare balsa/leather? Was your leathersoft or harder? I’m mad I didn’t do more research when I bought that leather, I thought I needed softer leather thanhard...
 
I used an old razor strop cut to size...again I would see no reason to go .5um for a knife. As to me and knives, I just strop on a finishing stone. Leather strops are really useful for razors, knives not so much...again if I were going to bother I'd probably only be able to figure out how to use 2 sides and I'd use 3um on one and 1um on the other...and I'd use diamond so it had a bit of bite. CrOx is better for razors because it leaves less bite:)

After I made the strop and used it a few times I just went back to my hanging bare leather strop...
 
chinacats said:
I used an old razor strop cut to size...again I would see no reason to go .5um for a knife. As to me and knives, I just strop on a finishing stone. Leather strops are really useful for razors, knives not so much...again if I were going to bother I'd probably only be able to figure out how to use 2 sides and I'd use 3um on one and 1um on the other...and I'd use diamond so it had a bit of bite. CrOx is better for razors because it leaves less bite:)

After I made the strop and used it a few times I just went back to my hanging bare leather strop...
Click to expand...

Gotcha.

I mean saltydog can’t be that wrong in what he’s doing considering his experience and knowledge and knife collection.

And yeah I only used newspaper to strop to just give it a final polishing real quick, but how much my knives are used I want to get a real strop to bring the knives back so I don’t have to use up a bunch of metal.

@DaveMartell what do you think?
 
Regarding the finishing grit... It really depends on what you’re using the knife for. I prefer a toothier finish on my gyuto’s for a long day of prep as it lasts longer in general so you don’t get that perceived feeling of increasing dullness as quickly and need to constantly touch up the edge. The product you’re processing is also relevant to the finished edge obviously, raw fish, peppers, tomatoes, etc. There is no cure all. Salty prefers what he prefers, but you may not prefer what he prefers, and I think he’ll be the first to tell you that😈
 
Vegetable tanned leather is what you want to source. Use the smooth side for the diamond compound. A safe bet for diamond is 1-2 micron. Most are monocrystalline, which is fine, but if you can find polycrystalline you can try smaller grit ratings (sub 1mic) as they're more aggressive and break down in use to expose fresh sharp edged particles.
 
brainsausage said:
Regarding the finishing grit... It really depends on what you’re using the knife for. I prefer a toothier finish on my gyuto’s for a long day of prep as it lasts longer in general so you don’t get that perceived feeling of increasing dullness as quickly and need to constantly touch up the edge. The product you’re processing is also relevant to the finished edge obviously, raw fish, peppers, tomatoes, etc. There is no cure all. Salty prefers what he prefers, but you may not prefer what he prefers, and I think he’ll be the first to tell you that[emoji48]
Click to expand...

Haha! Yeah he seems like someone who tells it like it is. But yeah I didn’t really think about it getting fuller faster when I have the razor finish. I actually just read one of Jon’s posts on angles and he mentioned that that the thinner the blade the less it holds an edge... thanks for your input. I’ll give it another shot for toothiness with my Masashi, but I definitely like the Gekko being real thin and razor for cutting meat and fish, that I do know.
 
Dave Martell said:
Vegetable tanned leather is what you want to source. Use the smooth side for the diamond compound. A safe bet for diamond is 1-2 micron. Most are monocrystalline, which is fine, but if you can find polycrystalline you can try smaller grit ratings (sub 1mic) as they're more aggressive and break down in use to expose fresh sharp edged particles.
Click to expand...

Cool I really appreciate it.

What do you think should hold the higher grit and lower grit? Should I go from leather to balsa? Should there be a leather and or balsa that doesn’t have a compound on it? Should I only have two sides of leather or three?
 
Speaking about tanning, did you all know native Americans tanned leather with the brain of the animal?! They used everything of the animal and it was a much better tannning process and you could eat it if need be
 
Dave Martell said:
Vegetable tanned leather is what you want to source. Use the smooth side for the diamond compound. A safe bet for diamond is 1-2 micron. Most are monocrystalline, which is fine, but if you can find polycrystalline you can try smaller grit ratings (sub 1mic) as they're more aggressive and break down in use to expose fresh sharp edged particles.
Click to expand...

Should I use the rough side of the leather at all? No compound
 
TEWNCfarms said:
https://youtu.be/lQTe1NR-Z0g
https://youtu.be/g9Smlj0fNnE

I mean it wouldn’t be that hard to remember, each type and or side of the leather would have a corresponding compound. And I think each compound is a different color.

And I disagree on the “too fine for kitchen use” I specifically tried this because everyone was saying don’t go above 2k or whatever, and I tried it and it is just lacking for what I need. Especially for cutting meat and stuff.

And Im inclined to follow what SaltyDog has done considering he is a chef himself who works on the line, and he has a multitude of Thousand dollar knives, I’m pretty sure he knows what’s going on.

And yeah I don’t know if I will get the .10um, I’m trying to figure it out.... if it’d be better to use that or just plain balsa...
Click to expand...

You must be pulling my leg, or is it Salty's? :biggrin:

I'm going to leave this one in your hands.
 
panda said:
you should probably learn how to sharpen properly on stones first..
Click to expand...

I have, I spent 2.5 hours last night and again tonight getting my technique correct. Thanks for the help. I get ahead of myself and start going fast and I’m not at the point yet to go fast, slow is steady and steady is fast. My knives look and perform So Much better! And just the plain balsa and leather really brings out the pop.
 
Nemo said:
Well, I envy you, Sir.

I wish that I was able to perfect my sharpening technique in two 2.5 hour sessions.
Click to expand...

Haha I didn’t say perfect, I said correct. I still have to watch it real close and double check everything often so I don’t wobble or anything
 
But back to the topic of this thread, I just bought some 5g syringes, the lowest it goes is .5um. So I’m thinking of having only two sides with leather, and putting 2.5um and 1.5um on the leather, and then putting 1um and .5um on the bare balsa. What do you all think? Should I go three sides of leather? Should I reverse the micron order?
 
panda said:
throw it in the trash
Click to expand...

Cool thanks I’ll do that right now.

Just because you don’t use one doesn’t mean I don’t want nor like to, or that I can’t tell a Huge difference when stropping. Either just on newspaper, or especially on this leather and balsa.

How do you use your knives? Home or work?
 
panda said:
i do real life fruit ninja for fun, and also shave arm hair all day and slice newspaper to show off my skillz, i should make a video blog
Click to expand...

Hahaha! Please do I’ll watch those, give thumbs ups, and eve subscribe
 
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