Is Strop Repair Possible?
- This topic has 24 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 06/04/2019 at 8:39 am by
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https://wickededgeusa.com/products/replacement-leather-strip
They use hot glue to mount it to the plastic paddles. The old gouged leathers will peal off easily enough and the glue residue can be scraped off.
Richard it won’t hurt to use the sliced strop. I suggest to keep using it for now as you acquire the proper technique. Then after you get it down, replace the strips.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)Richard, when using the strops it’s always an upward and off direction for your stropping strokes. I suggest you do not attempt anything but the shortest knives in one long stroke. Especially if the knife shape curves down to the tip. If you try to do this as one long stropping stroke you can easily gouge and slice the leather. It’s better to break the stropping stroke down into shorter knife portions or segments and do the strokes in a manner that the stroking direction is always up and off while maintaining a perpendicular angle to the knife edge for the segment you are stropping. Then overlap the stropped segments to blend the edge together.
Marc
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I sliced the first strop on the 4th pass of the fist knife.. Lucky it was near the end and I just put it at the bottom and take shorter strokes to keep it from rolling across the edge.. Stropping is the hardest part and I still have not leaned how to do it well… either not enough or I dull the knife..
Don’t feel too bad about cutting up your leather strops. Everyone has done it a few times. Like Marc said, strops with cuts in them are still fine to use. They don’t look good, but they still get the job done.
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Richard, 4µ / 2µ is where I’d start. If you don’t know, it’s recommended that you reset the sharpening angle to 1.5º to 2.0º lower angle, for stropping.
For example if you sharpened at 20º, strop at 18 or 18.5º. Also stropping is done with more applied pressure then the light sharpening pressure.
Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)5/3 then 1/0.5 should be good with good pressure and technique. Realize, mirror finish is a process from the get go. Each grit has to be used in succession to the optimal results with attention to detail. Strops will not remove deep scratch remnants from previous grits.
Marc
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Strops work quite differently than the hard abrasives (diamond lapping film, diamond plates, ceramic stones). The leather is malleable and the diamond (or CBN) abrasives are not firmly anchored. Consequently, I find it beneficial to intentionally overlap the grit ratings of strops and hard abrasives in my sharpening sequence. For example, I commonly use the 14 micron strop directly after the 0.6 micron ceramic. This results in an increase in edge polish.
With the options you have, I would suggest going from the 1600 ceramic to the 5 micron strop, 3.5 micron, 1, and 0.5 micron strop. This will give you your best shot at a mirrored edge. Keep in mind that mirror edges become much easier to obtain once your diamond stones are well worn.
Strops work quite differently than the hard abrasives (diamond lapping film, diamond plates, ceramic stones). The leather is malleable and the diamond (or CBN) abrasives are not firmly anchored. Consequently, I find it beneficial to intentionally overlap the grit ratings of strops and hard abrasives in my sharpening sequence. For example, I commonly use the 14 micron strop directly after the 0.6 micron ceramic. This results in an increase in edge polish. With the options you have, I would suggest going from the 1600 ceramic to the 5 micron strop, 3.5 micron, 1, and 0.5 micron strop. This will give you your best shot at a mirrored edge. Keep in mind that mirror edges become much easier to obtain once your diamond stones are well worn.
That’s good poop right there, sounds like I need to visit their website and plunk out some more cash!!!
That’s good poop right there, sounds like I need to visit their website and plunk out some more cash!!!
Welcome to my world! Since I’m new to this, I’m learning from all of you. I’ve already learned that at least in the beginning I need the cut proof gloves and liquid skin, I ordered three extra sets of leather strips and the shaft collars along with two sets of plastic covers for the strops. All I need now is some time to practice, dull knives I have in abundance.
Keep up the good work and remember, a mistake is just a learning opportunity with a different name.
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Ted, it is imperative to remove the upper shaft collars, (i. e., stone stops) before stropping. You don’t want anything to halt or impede your edge trailing, up and off, stroke direction and stroke movement or progress with the leather in the middle of the blade. The sudden abrupt stop in forward strop movement is almost guaranteed to cut or gouge the leather! (This I share form my personal experience while using the upper stone stop collars)!
Ted take your time. read through all the thread’s posts a couple times and digest them. I believe you get the gist of some or most of these theories and techniques, but maybe miss the nuances. There is often that one little caveat that’s easily overlooked!
Marc
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Thank you Marc, your comment about the sudden stop reminded me of an old saying from the days when I wore the clothes of a younger man and rock climbing was one of my favorite activities: It’s not the fall that messes you up, it’s the sudden stop at the end of it.
Since you mentioned stop collars, I have 3 pairs of 0.25 inch split collars I’m offering to any member here for the asking (CONUS).
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