howdy,
I’m still fairly new to the wicked edge and knife sharpening in general. I want to get some 5/3.5 micron strops to get a little better edge on my knives but I’m at a lose on with type to get. Can someone please let me know the difference between leather, balsa, and kangaroo leather strops and which one they recommend? Thanks for the help.
I rarely strop. When I do, it’s with the leather and diamond paste that came with the PP2. Seems like the balsa ones have a following. I did a search on “strops”. Somewhere in the results, you might get your answer.
https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/?s=Strops
One does stropping to remove the final burr or to polish the edge a little further (with a stropping compound). A great thing about the WE diamond paste is that it not only abrades, but also seems to burnish the edge. Link
For burnishing, leather works a little better than balsa. But only a little. Cow leather has a little give to it, so you need to take care you don’t round the edge. You can do so by lowering the sharpening angle 1-2 degrees. Balsa doesn’t have this disadvantage. Kangaroo leather is thinner and has less give than cow leather. It also doesn’t abrade by its own at all (due to silicates in the leather), which cow leather does. But this only becomes relevant when you use stropping compounds << 1 micron.
Long story short: I’d use the balsa.
I have both balsa and leather and go back and forth. I use leather when I want to get more pressure, to work harder for a mirror finish. I use less pressure with balsa. Both work well. I think you are right to get the 3.5/5 paste. That is a great do all grit and will produce great results.
Is it ok to jump from the 1000 grit diamond stones to the 5/3.5 micron balsa strops? Is there an intermediate step that is needed?
It depends on the type of edge you want. Clay recently wrote he stropped with 5/3.5 micron compound after the 400 grit diamonds. But this will give you a very toothy edge.
If you want a progression that allows you to gradually refine the edge, I’d recommend using the 1200/1600 ceramic stones in between. This will also give you a semi-mirror finish.
I’m late to the conversation (just got back from Shot Show) but love strops. I use them frequently and enjoy playing with the different finishes I get when moving on from various grits. They definitely help with polish and can take a knife that is shaving sharp to hair popping sharp in a few strokes. The only blades that I get to pass HHT5 have been stropped.
That’s what I love about this forum. It’s not just about the Wicked Edge, but it attracts people who are not afraid to think for themselves in a knife sharpening world that is pretty traditional.
How was the Shot Show, Clay? We (that’s us in Holland) got some semi-live reports from a Dutch knife dealer and he was very impressed.
Hello Justin,
I to am new to the WE as well, bought pro-pack 3 2 weeks ago, and I have balsa, leather, and kangaroo strops, I have sharpened 24 knives to date with very good results. I use kangaroo for my 1-.5 mic. diamond emulsion and leather for the 4-2 mic. diamond emulsion and have had very good results with that combination. Also have balsa with 14-10 paste, and balsa with 5-3.5 paste with good results for mainly “toothy” edge knives( 600 grit straight to these strops). The leather and balsa seem to bend differently over the leading edge. I also have 2 sets of leather with 4 compounds bought at Stropman web site and I get great results with those as long as the steel isn’t to hard, S30V and such. I have ordered all the pastes with leather strops and expect them soon. The kangaroo strops are a smoother, thinner, and harder leather and work very well with 1 mic. and below. I haven’t used the nano cloth yet but will probably purchase those when I get to the .050 and .025 diamond spray. If it were me and your ordering 5-3.5 strops I would buy them in leather. I think you will love them.
sksharp