Qs about stropping & maintaining R2

[bruin]

I just got a Kurosaki R2 240 hammered gyuto with the finish sharpening service from CKTG. I also ordered the strop set with 2 leather strops and 1 and .5 micron diamond paste and I have a couple questions-

On top of the strop set my sharpening kit consists of Chubo 1000/4000/6000 stones. With my current knives (Sakai Takayuki molybdenum gyuto and petty, cheap, and soft at 58hrc but they get the job done) I go through each grit, deburring on a cork in between each about once a week. This works pretty well, but I've never used a strop before so I'm wondering where in this routine the strop fits in. Also I know some people use the diamond paste on strops and some leave them plain - what's the advantage of each?

With my new Kurosaki razor sharp from the CKTG finish sharpening, I want to do everything possible to keep the edge up despite being somewhat new to sharpening myself. I am a pro chef so I will be using the knife for significant volume, on root veg, and on poly cutting boards, etc... Is stropping throughout my shift or at the end of each shift recommended? And in that case do I use 1 micron, .5 or no paste?

I am also wondering about adding lower and higher grit stones to my kit... I have never used one under 1000 but from what I understand eventually I will need one to get a good edge back on R2. Finishing on 6000 also leaves me a pretty nicely polished edge, but I know some people like finishing certain knives on higher or lower grits than that but I have never fully understood the pros and cons of each.

Thanks in advance for your time and expertise.

[Igalor]

Hi. I had a kurosaki r2 gyuto, over the years i used many different approaches, and sharpening mediums, ranging from very basic stones to the more premium lines, they all worked. From diamond plates, to kings, shaptons, naniwas, suehiros, imanishis, jnats, ceramic rods, diamond rods... kurosaki's r2 was easy to sharpen on all, i dont strop, so i cant comment on that.

Before i sold it, i think the preferred progression was sg500, sp2k, hard aoto around 4k.

[jmcnelly85]

How frequently you strop depends on a multitude of factors. Both sharpening skills and cutting skills go hand in hand together as huge factors for edge life, and that’s without mentioning an individuals tolerance for dull. You may have to strop mid shift, you might get a week of use before stropping, only you will know. As you improve as a sharpener, your edges will last longer. You might find that you really like the results from jumping from your 1k to the 1 micron strop for meat, but going straight off the 6k with no strop for veggies... and then a year later you might have different preferences... there are a lot of different possibilities to experiment with with your current stones, experiment with all of them and you’ll find an edge that fits you,your knife, and your work needs. FWIW, my current work knives are either finished by lightly using a 1 micron strop following a 2k stone for my general use gyutos, a full blown 1 micron edge of multiple stropping motions following a 5k edge for my fish knives, or a lightly stropped on bare newspaper following an 800 grit edge for butcher duty. A few years of experimenting and I can tailor certain knives with certain tasks to a particular edge that fits what I like and what works for both the knife and product. Some people like really high refinement, some people like a really coarse, aggressive edge, try em all out and see which shoe fits. As your skills evolve, so will your taste in edges.

On a separate note, my overall edges improved greatly with the addition of a coarse stone. Once you start getting really sharp edges with a coarse stone, you’ll start to notice extremely sharp edges off your higher grit stones in less time with less work.