No ceramics, no strops. Bad idea?

[sksharp]

I have tried all the strops that WE has, with the exception of the nano cloth, and can tell you that angle, material, pressure and compound all have different effects when it comes to stropping.

The best advise that I can offer is to try different pressure and angle on a few test knifes to determine what works for you.

The trick is to get the strop to “tickle” the cutting edge and not to wrap around and dull the edge. Balsa doesn’t seem to wrap around quite like leather and the kangaroo leather is harder and thinner than the others and is my favorite. With the kangaroo I don’t back the angle off (3/4 to 1 deg) as much as I do with the leather and balsa ( 1.5 to 2 deg).

There was a considerable learning curve for me with strops and I’m still working on techniques and combinations with them. Expect that won’t  change for some time if ever.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Organic, Anarchy84, Marc H

[Anarchy84]

Thanks sksharp! Since making this post I decided to pull the trigger on a set of Kangaroo strops. Glad to hear I made a good choice. Even if I decide not to use them often, I figure $55 is a small price to pay for the opportunity to learn and play around with WEPS strops.

I also picked up some diamond emulsion from Jende. Wicked Edge’s website only offers the emulsion in 1 and 0.5 micron, but since I’m planning to use diamond lapping film down to 0.1 micron I decided to pick up the finer emulsions directly from Jende. They offer 0.25 and 0.1 emulsions, so I’m going to give those a shot after the progression of diamond stones / film. ??

2 users thanked author for this post.

sksharp, Marc H

[sksharp]

I hope it works well for you and please remember that the angle you back off will be yours, might take some experimentation to find just what works for you. If the .25 and the .1 emulsions are not removing the scratches that you want  the kangaroo with the 1/.5 emulsion has been a great set of strops for me. I’ve just recently gotten the spray on kangaroo .25/.125 and I have the crystalline spray .050/.025 on the way so maybe we can share some info on them down the road. Good Luck!

1 user thanked author for this post.

Anarchy84

[Anarchy84]

Thanks man. This is definitely going to take some time and experimentation, but I’m excited for the journey. Will be sure to share my experiences as I go.

I appreciate your input!

1 user thanked author for this post.

sksharp

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