First question

[Ryan Stasel]

Makes sense. I’m trying to be careful about that contact, and not hammering the side of the blade. =)

[wickededge]

I had a little more fun with the microscope just now and did a quick progression. Here is the blade after my well worn 1000# diamond plates:

The burr is very obvious even with alternating strokes and semi-light pressure. I could always stand to go a little lighter!

Here is the blade after 10 strokes with the 14 micron strops:

The burr is definitely getting smaller and giving us a more refined edge. That’s from only 10 strokes…

I went a step further and completed 50 strokes with the 14 micron strops. Here is the edge:

The edge is clearly a lot cleaner and the scratches are already being smoothed away. New, more shallow scratches are being cut in by the diamonds on the leather which is interesting because the diamonds in the paste are generally twice as large as the diamonds on the 1000# plates. The reason for the smaller scratches is most likely due to the pliability of the leather so that the diamonds in the paste are not making full contact and are not getting pressed in as deeply as are the diamonds on the steel backed plates. For that reason, it can be reasonable to go back to a coarser grit on your strops and still get a more refined edge/bevel.

Attachments:

• 1000_2012-10-02.jpg
• 1000-and-14um-Strops—10-Strokes.jpg
• 1000-and-14um-Strops—50-Strokes.jpg

-Clay

[Ryan Stasel]

Clay,

Great to see. It is interesting how stropping produces such a different result that stone, but as you said, obviously leather is not stone. =)

It would be interesting to see how each strop material (cow, balsa, and roo), with the same compound, compared after a similar number of strokes. It also occurs to me that one could use something like glass, with the paste on it, and get something more inline with the stone (so, a real 14µ scratch pattern), no?

Just makes me wish my USB microscope would get that magnification… =P

[wickededge]

Staze, you might enjoy reading through this post: A Theory of How the Wicked Edge Pastes Work. It’s long but very detailed with some great microscopic images of edges to which I applied a bunch of different compounds and substrates.

Clay,

Great to see. It is interesting how stropping produces such a different result that stone, but as you said, obviously leather is not stone. =)

It would be interesting to see how each strop material (cow, balsa, and roo), with the same compound, compared after a similar number of strokes. It also occurs to me that one could use something like glass, with the paste on it, and get something more inline with the stone (so, a real 14µ scratch pattern), no?

Just makes me wish my USB microscope would get that magnification… =P

-Clay

[Ryan Stasel]

Clay,

Thanks! I’d read most of it before, but went back trough and red it all now. One thing I’d love to see, that would “prove” much of what jende and others are thinking, would be to try the pastes on a glass substrate. That should give the best results as far as true “sharpening” and no “burnishing”, I would think. And likewise, would give a good indication of concentration.

The stiction thing is something I actually experienced last night. I went through the 1000grit stones, then moved to the 5µ strops, and noticed they were really difficult to move, and seemed to leave behind (on the opposite side of the blade), small “shavings” (no better way to describe it, but I’m pretty sure they were extremely thin “sheets” of stropping paste). I THOUGHT I just needed more paste because the 3.5µ side didn’t have this issue, and was very smooth. Guess it turns out, stiction is generally a “good” thing.

Biggest issue I’ve had with stropping is that I always forget to set the angle 1° lower for stropping, and worse, forget to set it back when I go back to the stones. =P

Only other issue I’ve had is occasionally looking down to see if the thumbscrews have loosened on the angle bars.

[Tom Whittington]

Yeah, I have the screws loosen almost constantly unless I really torque them down as tight as I can with finger pressure. I tend to check the screws in between grits or between “sets” of strop strokes. The left side likes to get loosey goosey all the time, the right not so much.

I’m constantly fiddling with the strop angle, and definitely noticed an immediate difference in the feel of the edge. Cuts great either way, but strangely the reduced angle “feels” less sharp despite probably cutting better. Definitely a curious phenomenon, and probably why I’m always fiddling with different settings 🙂

I also sometimes use Clay’s trick of slightly wetting down the leather. I might try -1 degree and dampening the leather this evening on my carry knife, to compare to the finish it has now.

[Ryan Stasel]

Yeah, I have the screws loosen almost constantly unless I really torque them down as tight as I can with finger pressure. I tend to check the screws in between grits or between “sets” of strop strokes. The left side likes to get loosey goosey all the time, the right not so much.

Guessing you’re right handed. =P Mine, the right side loosens more often, but I’m a lefty, so I’m guessing I am able to tighten the left a bit more than the right.

Kinda wish there was some better method than the thumbscrews.

[Todd Peters]

Yeah, I have the screws loosen almost constantly unless I really torque them down as tight as I can with finger pressure. I tend to check the screws in between grits or between “sets” of strop strokes. The left side likes to get loosey goosey all the time, the right not so much.

I’m constantly fiddling with the strop angle, and definitely noticed an immediate difference in the feel of the edge. Cuts great either way, but strangely the reduced angle “feels” less sharp despite probably cutting better. Definitely a curious phenomenon, and probably why I’m always fiddling with different settings 🙂

I also sometimes use Clay’s trick of slightly wetting down the leather. I might try -1 degree and dampening the leather this evening on my carry knife, to compare to the finish it has now.

I remember seeing something about wetting the leathers but don’t remember what solution was used. What is the preferred solution and technique does one use?

[wickededge]

I remember seeing something about wetting the leathers but don’t remember what solution was used. What is the preferred solution and technique does one use?

I’ve been using a little rubbing alcohol and it’s working very well.

-Clay

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