The Benefits Of Plain Stropping

Often, stropping can ruin your slicing aggression and ruin your edge. I have found that minimal stropping works best, if you have to strop. I suggest using a plain strop first, like palm stropping suggested by knife maker Joe Calton. A barbers strop works well also. I have found that with plain stropping, ie not with an abrasive paste, you can refine the edge, keep slicing aggression, and not ruin the sharpness of your edge. However, I find no stropping to be ideal for EDC use or where slicing aggression is wanted.

edit: -- Murray Carter technique of stropping on newsprint has also worked very well for me, as well as Ernest Emerson's stropping on cardboard.

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"Gotta love living in 2019 baby, (63rc too soft on a production knife)"
--Shawn Houston

"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage."
--Cliff Stamp

"Cause geometry cuts, .....steel determines the level and the duration"
--Roman Landes

"But in general, I'm all about high performance, Ergos, safety. That's why I've been accused of 'designing in the dark' "
--Sal Glesser
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StoneSharpEdges



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2019 08:37PM by jasonstone20.

for me, besides straight razors, stropping is more of a method to clean an edge, perhaps get me out of a bind where my edge is dull but I just need to make a couple more cuts before the job is done and I can get to a stone. or a rough total sharpening job in a bind.

I like palm stropping for both straights, and to clean regular knife edges and perhaps wake them up a bit

for emergency sharpening, when you are away from the truck, old 2x4's imbedded with dirt, cinderblocks, rub dirt onto your jeans leg and strop on that, sharpening on sandpaper, ect….

Performance above all else!!!
CaltonCutlery.com
CaltonCutlery@yahoo.com

Joe,
I only strop in certain situations like the ones you mentioned. Usually for kitchen knives or EDC use you don't need to strop in my opinion. For straight razors it is almost a must. I don't shave, but that is what I have read.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gotta love living in 2019 baby, (63rc too soft on a production knife)"
--Shawn Houston

"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage."
--Cliff Stamp

"Cause geometry cuts, .....steel determines the level and the duration"
--Roman Landes

"But in general, I'm all about high performance, Ergos, safety. That's why I've been accused of 'designing in the dark' "
--Sal Glesser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StoneSharpEdges

Has anyone notice steel removal with plain linen and plain leather?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gotta love living in 2019 baby, (63rc too soft on a production knife)"
--Shawn Houston

"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage."
--Cliff Stamp

"Cause geometry cuts, .....steel determines the level and the duration"
--Roman Landes

"But in general, I'm all about high performance, Ergos, safety. That's why I've been accused of 'designing in the dark' "
--Sal Glesser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StoneSharpEdges

I've been using the plain side of a strop I recently got, mostly on Class 2 steels (CPM154, D2), and I haven't really seen anything like that. I do think of it as more of a "strop for good luck" lol.

Luisknivacc,
Have you tried cleaning the leather? I get black steel residue when I clean my plain leather strops

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gotta love living in 2019 baby, (63rc too soft on a production knife)"
--Shawn Houston

"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage."
--Cliff Stamp

"Cause geometry cuts, .....steel determines the level and the duration"
--Roman Landes

"But in general, I'm all about high performance, Ergos, safety. That's why I've been accused of 'designing in the dark' "
--Sal Glesser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StoneSharpEdges

I was chatting on Instagram DM's with Tom Blodgett of Jende Industries (which was nice since we used to chat all the time when Ken Schwartz and Tom had the Sharpening Forum together, and I hadn't realized how much I had missed talking with him), and I asked him what he thought of plain stropping, like newspapers, linen/canvas, and linen. He said that he thought that most likely the edge was being aligned/straightened. I think he might me correct about that, especially when dealing with high grit finishes, and the micro-burr.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gotta love living in 2019 baby, (63rc too soft on a production knife)"
--Shawn Houston

"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage."
--Cliff Stamp

"Cause geometry cuts, .....steel determines the level and the duration"
--Roman Landes

"But in general, I'm all about high performance, Ergos, safety. That's why I've been accused of 'designing in the dark' "
--Sal Glesser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StoneSharpEdges