Strops
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Re: Strops
Hi There Raleigh. I was a bit of a sceptic & a late starter with strops, but am very happy to have been proved wrong. I made myself both EP & bench strops about 18 - 24 months ago using kangaroo and 4mm bovine both in rough & smooth format. I was surprised at how much difference they made (pride goes before a fall they say ).
My typical finishing stone is fairly refined at 5k to 10k. After sharpening & for touch ups I strop a progression of rough & smooth cow followed by rough & smooth roo. I use a stropping angle of a couple of degrees LESS than my final grind angle, which produces good results. (Clay from Wicked Edge did some experiments with angles, stropping & checking on a scanning electron microscope - I'll try & find the reference on the old forum & update later). I have a sequence for each of the above of 7 strokes per side, followed by 3 strokes per side followed by 3 times of 1 stroke per side. I'd be really interested in what others do here for a progression sequence. This all seems to burnish the edge & add a final touch of refinement, which I can notice.
At this stage I haven't ventured into compounds & I guess my current thinking is to use stones to grind to the final grit I'm after and simply use bare stropping for the final refinement of that. Others here on the forum have different views on that and hopefully they will chip in to provide you a fuller picture. YMMV.
My typical finishing stone is fairly refined at 5k to 10k. After sharpening & for touch ups I strop a progression of rough & smooth cow followed by rough & smooth roo. I use a stropping angle of a couple of degrees LESS than my final grind angle, which produces good results. (Clay from Wicked Edge did some experiments with angles, stropping & checking on a scanning electron microscope - I'll try & find the reference on the old forum & update later). I have a sequence for each of the above of 7 strokes per side, followed by 3 strokes per side followed by 3 times of 1 stroke per side. I'd be really interested in what others do here for a progression sequence. This all seems to burnish the edge & add a final touch of refinement, which I can notice.
At this stage I haven't ventured into compounds & I guess my current thinking is to use stones to grind to the final grit I'm after and simply use bare stropping for the final refinement of that. Others here on the forum have different views on that and hopefully they will chip in to provide you a fuller picture. YMMV.
Cheers Grant
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
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Re: Strops
Found it here http://www.chefknivestogoforum.com/view ... 13&t=10526
Quite a few of useful posts in that thread.
Quite a few of useful posts in that thread.
Cheers Grant
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
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Re: Strops
I don't see a smooth or rough ? My last stone is the edgepro 1000 stone, would that change the strop I start on. What would be a good starter set?
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Re: Strops
The EP 1000 is about a 3000 grit equivalent for Japanese stones. If you wanted to get a finer stone you could either get an EP1200 (about a 5000 grit Japanese equivalent) or say a Shapton 5000. I sometimes strop from 2k or 3k grit no problems.
As I said earlier I made my own strops & the leather I purchased had both a smooth side and a rough side. Had enough so that I could make strops from both "textures".
It would be worth thinking about whether you are looking for EP stone sized strops or bench strops (these also come in differing sizes) and also whether you want grab the ones at CKTG or make your own. I have both EP & bench sized strops, but if I was only looking to get one size I would go for the bench ones because they are more versatile & you can keep these with your knives rather than with your sharpening gear.
In terms of "coarseness" they run from coarser to smoother as bovine, horse, kangaroo, nano cloth
As I said earlier I made my own strops & the leather I purchased had both a smooth side and a rough side. Had enough so that I could make strops from both "textures".
It would be worth thinking about whether you are looking for EP stone sized strops or bench strops (these also come in differing sizes) and also whether you want grab the ones at CKTG or make your own. I have both EP & bench sized strops, but if I was only looking to get one size I would go for the bench ones because they are more versatile & you can keep these with your knives rather than with your sharpening gear.
In terms of "coarseness" they run from coarser to smoother as bovine, horse, kangaroo, nano cloth
Cheers Grant
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
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Re: Strops
I'd be purchasing the ones from cktg. So maybe I'll get the higher grit stone and a horse strop to start. Curious about compounds now
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Re: Strops
Mark can chime in, but he told me last week that they are having trouble getting horse butt these days. There could be extended lead time. I wound up buying the kangaroo strop instead.