Strops

[daveb]

Sleeve of the Chef coat works also. Apron too!

I tried that once. Didn't work well and it was really awkward explaining to the chef what I was doing...

I've got many strops, leather (bovine, buffalo and roo), felt, and other and am not in love with any of them. Will use the felt block then strop when deburring stainless but not everytime. The others I play with occasionally. I do like finishing with a few edge leading strokes on a fine stone.

 

[NotAddictedYet]

I don't feel like stropping often. But when I do, I strop like this.

Nice work as always. Your deburring video helped me a lot.

Have to say though, that knife is as sharp as my knife fresh off the stone...pre-strop. Never was able to get my knife to cut paper towel that cleanly like yours post strop.

 

[cotedupy]

Who has reliable videos on using them?

Lots of fancy-pants talk on your thread here BH. But fear not - it doesn't all have to be about the micrometres of your diamonds, or loading balsa with mysterious acronyms to avoid convexing yer microbevels, because of... paper!

Paper (or cardboard) is easily the best way to strop a kitchen knife.* And the secret to its success is that it's actually not very good at 'stropping' at all. Paper translates a fidelity from a stone's finish that I rather like, and find gets lost in the added refinement that leather and other stuff bring to the table.

Also - vegan friendly. By stropping on paper you'll save the cows/kangaroos/ocelots, while helping to rid us all of those meddlesome trees!

* Other valid options are available when skinning cats. Cat skin might work quite well for instance. I just like paper most.

 

[1315]

I read tips from you guys about deburring and stropping after every stone in a progression. Made sense to me so i do. When i finish on lower grit stones (1k to 5k), I strop on alternating sides each stroke, but also strop "heel to tip, heel to tip" followed by "tip to heel, tip to heel".
On the lower grits, this flops the burr left to right, then heel to tip, hopefully removing more of the burr before finishing.
Likely overthinking it, but voodoo is fun.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I read tips from you guys about deburring and stropping after every stone in a progression. Made sense to me so i do. When i finish on lower grit stones (1k to 5k), I strop on alternating sides each stroke, but also strop "heel to tip, heel to tip" followed by "tip to heel, tip to heel".
On the lower grits, this flops the burr left to right, then heel to tip, hopefully removing more of the burr before finishing.
Likely overthinking it, but voodoo is fun.

I think when a lot of us say we strop between grits, we mean we're doing stropping/de-burring strokes on the stone not going to a strop medium.

 

[1315]

Yeah, i know. I figured it was mostly referring to deburring with cork or other material, but the "counterstropping" I do applies either way ( each progression or just as a final).

P.S. I also deburr with cork (or pink eraser) tip-to-heel, then heel to tip! Countercork??

 

[stringer]

I read tips from you guys about deburring and stropping after every stone in a progression. Made sense to me so i do. When i finish on lower grit stones (1k to 5k), I strop on alternating sides each stroke, but also strop "heel to tip, heel to tip" followed by "tip to heel, tip to heel".
On the lower grits, this flops the burr left to right, then heel to tip, hopefully removing more of the burr before finishing.
Likely overthinking it, but voodoo is fun.

Sometimes when I am doing heavy thinning I will deburr a little by stropping on a rough leather strop after the really coarse stones before moving to mid range or finishers to help rip off some of the nastiest burr that forms once you get down close to zero edge. Otherwise probably overkill.

Yeah, i know. I figured it was mostly referring to deburring with cork or other material, but the "counterstropping" i do applies either way ( each progression or just as a final.

Just getting ready to post the above when you replied. Cork is same.

 

[cotedupy]

I think when a lot of us say we strop between grits, we mean we're doing stropping/de-burring strokes on the stone not going to a strop medium.

Really? That's very confusing of you HHC. When I say stropping - I mean REAL stropping!

FWIW though I think 1315 is probably in your camp too. This for instance sounds like a very good definition of 'sharpening' to me, rather than 'stropping'...

When i finish on lower grit stones (1k to 5k), I strop on alternating sides each stroke, but also strop "heel to tip, heel to tip" followed by "tip to heel, tip to heel".
On the lower grits, this flops the burr left to right, then heel to tip, hopefully removing more of the burr before finishing.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Really? That's very confusing of you HHC. When I say stropping - I mean REAL stropping!

FWIW though I think 1315 is probably in your camp too. This for instance sounds like a very good definition of 'sharpening' to me, rather than 'stropping'...

Fair. I guess I was more focused on de-burring and that was stuck in my mind. So often people ask about de-burring between grits. I do like to de-burr between grits and I do that with stropping-style stokes on the stone.

I only do "real" stropping at the end.

 

[cotedupy]

Fair. I guess I was more focused on de-burring and that was stuck in my mind. So often people ask about de-burring between grits. I do like to de-burr between grits and I do that with stropping-style stokes on the stone.

I only do "real" stropping at the end.

Haha I was only being silly, TBH I'd never really thought about the definition before. While I'm here though I might start making my own set of arbitrary rules on the subject...

1.) For REAL stropping to occur the medium must have been alive in the last 500 or so years (tree, cow, jeans &c.). The fossilised remains of single-celled Japanese sea goo doesn't count.

2.) Stropping is onomatopoeic, and so must be done edge-trailing. Edge-leading stropping is called 'ffooting'.

&c. &c.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Haha, I was only being silly, TBH I'd never really thought about the definition before. While I'm here though I might start making my own set of arbitrary rules on the subject...

1.) For REAL stropping to occur the medium must have been alive in the last 500 years (tree, cow, jeans &c.). The fossilised remains of single-celled Japanese sea goo doesn't count.

2.) Stropping is onomatopoeic, and so must be done edge-trailing. Edge-leading stropping is called 'ffooting'.

&c. &c.

Brother, if you ever find yourself in eastern Washington state while I'm still alive, we're having beers on me!

 

[BillHanna]

Since I’ve posted this,I’ve gotten two pieces of leather from Tony Miller. Some veg tanned horsehide, and euro bridle. Horse for the razors, and the cow in the kitchen. I took to them immediately.