Would love a full, comprehensive show of how to/when to load & clean stones & what the best price/performance stones are for general use! As always, thank you.
I enjoy taking the knives apart and setting the lock bar to get better action sometimes . Then the day comes where I get brave enough to do the edge but I don’t mess with the factory edge until it needs sharpens or is not sharp enough out of the box . I ve made some cheaper ok project knives into some decent flippers this way learning from you and others .thanks so much for sharing good information .
Great, I'll try this as soon as I get home. I've always used the sharp spine of a knife to scrape it off. the eraser method looks definitely gentler and the result looks better too.
@@dandildarious4849 true but it's higher effort and equipment when this works 70% as well for an in-between stage. If I'm half way through a knife I'm unlikely to bust out barkeepers vs just giving it a quick scrub. But I agree in terms of ultimate effectiveness
I bought a cordovan shell leather strop from hapstone, applied some kme .1 micron compound and it clumped up... i wiped with olive oil, but there's still a few chunks that I can't get off... I'm gonna try this before I try to cut them off.
I didn’t realize how important the compound is but when frost recd a strop it’s took a while to get it loaded to where it works very good . I also use a strip of 2000 grit paper over a stone to get the mirror polish I like to see and stropping makes it shine . This took me over a month to figure out of trial and error and I have come to the conclusion that anything electric may potentially mark the blade and a fixed angle system works best for me even the cheapest one works well (ruixin pro 008) but the stones 1500, 3000 don’t polish like the 2000 paper which has me thinking the stones aren’t what they say . They get it close tho . What after market stones do you reccomend ? Seems like a 3 stones are need for sure like a 240,:600, 1000, then the paper has been working for me .
The stones I'd recommend really depend on the types of knives and the steels you're sharpening. I have a strong affinity for diamond plates and resin bonded diamond stones. I personally like the Atoma 600 & 1200 and the CGSW 5um stones.
@@stroppystuff641 thanks for responding . I ll check them out . I m sharpening 8cr , d2 , 14c , s35 , and one mangacut . Actually I m not sharpening the last two and keeping them clean . Mostly d2 and 14 c . I m going to try freehand again sooner or later but I really do enjoy the ease of the fixed angle sharpener and I pull down to the edge because it makes sense . I see some people sawing away at their blades and it just doesn’t seem like the best way even though they get the same results .
Yes I have tried tape on wood! It works fine, it can improve vs just wood depending on the wood being used. Personally I prefer basswood over tape. I wouldn't put tape on leather though
That's a clever idea! I'll have to try it. I've always used baking powder and a green kitchen scrub pad to clean ceramic stones. I wonder if an eraser will work on the 1" x 4" Venev Dog Stones that i got for my Worksharp Precicion Adjust.
The problem with resin bonded diamond stones is not just that they get loaded with swarf, but the diamonds also dull. A nagura stone is best placed to refresh the stone, it will wear away the resin and expose new diamonds. An eraser does remove the loading though
@@kerryrwac no problem! Look for a Naniwa 600 Nagura/Dressing stone, they're around 10 euros and absolutely worth the money. Just gently scrub in circles for a few seconds and it's done.
@@stroppystuff641 are you not keen on the DC4 and if not is there any way to improve it from new,,? Sorry, I'm a recent subscriber and fairly new to all this stuff,.. Just working on your "back catalogue". Cheers,, John...
@@John..18 the dc4 is fine for the money but there are obviously better alternatives if you spend more. Diamond plates need a small break in period to fracture/dull/remove the largest and most aggressive particles. The ceramic side is also waaaay aggressive from the start and needs wearing down. You can do this on some sandpaper or something nice and flat + hard or just let it dull during normal use
Cheap, easy to make and treat, doesn't scarr/mark up as badly as leather. It also isn't very compressible so it's less sensitive to pressure. However it is punishing if you can't hold angles consistently. Also the stiffer substrate will push the diamond against the knife more aggressively and cut faster than leather.
Thank you. I just recently started stopping and have been using green compound. After watching a few other videos I have decided it would be a good idea to change to diamond paste. If I use the eraser method to clean my strop would there be any issues if I loaded it with a diamond paste?
It will still be contaminated but it's not the end of the world. With the green compound you might want to try scraping it off with an abrupt edge too like a metal ruler or the spine of a knife etc. Isopropyl alcohol will also work for removing green compound bars. There will still be some chromium oxide left but it won't matter too much
@@stroppystuff641 would you suggest a coarse, medium, or fine grit to clean the basswood? I also just bought some basswood and should have some of your Stroppy stuff (6 and 1 micron) next week to apply and test. Should I sand the basswood before applying the compound initially? Thanks
This is a bit OT, but I believe those white magic eraser sponges make the leather itself less abrasive, and this may be beneficial to those of us that are using submicron strops... like the nanocloth strops are supposed to have no abrasive properties themselves.
Todd over at science of sharp has an article showing a straight razor under SEM after 200 full laps on leather. It's safe to say leather is 99.999999999% ineffective at abrading steel
It's great to see that people are taking the time to ask questions rather than just straight up believe what people say on youtube. I use Staedtler 526 50 erasers, these contain calcium carbonate as the abrasive which is only a 3 on the Mohs scale, for example iron is 4.0. Calcium carbonate shouldn't be capable of abrading the steel. Add to this that the calcium carbonate is 3-6 microns in size and I also think it's very unlikely that the abrasives will break out of the polyvinyl chloride anyway.
Two years later and this video saved my strop. Thank you Max!
Would love a full, comprehensive show of how to/when to load & clean stones & what the best price/performance stones are for general use!
As always, thank you.
I enjoy taking the knives apart and setting the lock bar to get better action sometimes . Then the day comes where I get brave enough to do the edge but I don’t mess with the factory edge until it needs sharpens or is not sharp enough out of the box . I ve made some cheaper ok project knives into some decent flippers this way learning from you and others .thanks so much for sharing good information .
Great, I'll try this as soon as I get home. I've always used the sharp spine of a knife to scrape it off. the eraser method looks definitely gentler and the result looks better too.
I should have specified this works best for diamond compounds, bar compounds need some scraping action 👍
Thanks I’ve needed to do this on one of my strops
Works on diamond stones as well. Great trick.
and spyderco ceramics! Eraser is like the magic stone maintenance tool.
Very good idea
👍 glad you found it useful
Thanks!!!
Thank you for sharing really good and beneficial information. Appreciate it. 🙏🏼
Glad you found it useful 👍
@@stroppystuff641 It works like magic. 🙏🏼
That is really useful to know - thanks :)
You read my mind 😅I was just thinking yesterday about cleaning my strops. Will try this. Does it work also on ceramics?
Yes! I use this for cleaning my spyderco ceramic stones :)
@@stroppystuff641 great, will try on my WS
as far as ceramics go, I use it on my spyderco stones too, but nothing works as good as barkeepers friend and green scotchbrite.
@@dandildarious4849 true but it's higher effort and equipment when this works 70% as well for an in-between stage. If I'm half way through a knife I'm unlikely to bust out barkeepers vs just giving it a quick scrub. But I agree in terms of ultimate effectiveness
@@dandildarious4849 I'll pass the abrasive stuff, had good success on this
Jeez, tks!, I didn't know that.
I bought a cordovan shell leather strop from hapstone, applied some kme .1 micron compound and it clumped up... i wiped with olive oil, but there's still a few chunks that I can't get off... I'm gonna try this before I try to cut them off.
just what I wanted thank you!
I didn’t realize how important the compound is but when frost recd a strop it’s took a while to get it loaded to where it works very good . I also use a strip of 2000 grit paper over a stone to get the mirror polish I like to see and stropping makes it shine . This took me over a month to figure out of trial and error and I have come to the conclusion that anything electric may potentially mark the blade and a fixed angle system works best for me even the cheapest one works well (ruixin pro 008) but the stones 1500, 3000 don’t polish like the 2000 paper which has me thinking the stones aren’t what they say . They get it close tho . What after market stones do you reccomend ? Seems like a 3 stones are need for sure like a 240,:600, 1000, then the paper has been working for me .
The stones I'd recommend really depend on the types of knives and the steels you're sharpening. I have a strong affinity for diamond plates and resin bonded diamond stones. I personally like the Atoma 600 & 1200 and the CGSW 5um stones.
@@stroppystuff641 thanks for responding . I ll check them out . I m sharpening 8cr , d2 , 14c , s35 , and one mangacut . Actually I m not sharpening the last two and keeping them clean . Mostly d2 and 14 c . I m going to try freehand again sooner or later but I really do enjoy the ease of the fixed angle sharpener and I pull down to the edge because it makes sense . I see some people sawing away at their blades and it just doesn’t seem like the best way even though they get the same results .
This is awesome! What a great tip.👍
Have you ever tried micropore surgical tape over wood or leather?
I’m curious how the tape changes it.
Yes I have tried tape on wood! It works fine, it can improve vs just wood depending on the wood being used. Personally I prefer basswood over tape. I wouldn't put tape on leather though
That's a clever idea! I'll have to try it. I've always used baking powder and a green kitchen scrub pad to clean ceramic stones. I wonder if an eraser will work on the 1" x 4" Venev Dog Stones that i got for my Worksharp Precicion Adjust.
The problem with resin bonded diamond stones is not just that they get loaded with swarf, but the diamonds also dull. A nagura stone is best placed to refresh the stone, it will wear away the resin and expose new diamonds. An eraser does remove the loading though
@@stroppystuff641 Thanks, i'll have to get a Nagura stone.
@@kerryrwac no problem! Look for a Naniwa 600 Nagura/Dressing stone, they're around 10 euros and absolutely worth the money. Just gently scrub in circles for a few seconds and it's done.
@@stroppystuff641 I found one for 15.00 Canadian from a Canadian knife store 👍
Does this also work to remove green buffing compound from a strop, like chromium oxide?
Does this work for diamond plates? (ie a DC4.)???
Absolutely
@@stroppystuff641 are you not keen on the DC4 and if not is there any way to improve it from new,,? Sorry, I'm a recent subscriber and fairly new to all this stuff,.. Just working on your "back catalogue".
Cheers,, John...
@@John..18 the dc4 is fine for the money but there are obviously better alternatives if you spend more. Diamond plates need a small break in period to fracture/dull/remove the largest and most aggressive particles. The ceramic side is also waaaay aggressive from the start and needs wearing down. You can do this on some sandpaper or something nice and flat + hard or just let it dull during normal use
What are the benefits of basswood over leather?
Cheap, easy to make and treat, doesn't scarr/mark up as badly as leather. It also isn't very compressible so it's less sensitive to pressure. However it is punishing if you can't hold angles consistently. Also the stiffer substrate will push the diamond against the knife more aggressively and cut faster than leather.
another benefit is that you can carve the basswood into any shape you want.
Here from DBK and new sub!
Thanks for the sub!
What’s the best ( or your favorite) strop material?
@@101skills. Basswood or smooth side bovine shoulder
@@stroppystuff641 thank you for answering. I’ll buy one from you as soon as I can if you sell them.
How long will the mixture be allowed to dry on the strop before sanding? Thank you.
Depends on the climate. About 20-30 minutes usually does the trick
Thank you. I just recently started stopping and have been using green compound. After watching a few other videos I have decided it would be a good idea to change to diamond paste. If I use the eraser method to clean my strop would there be any issues if I loaded it with a diamond paste?
It will still be contaminated but it's not the end of the world. With the green compound you might want to try scraping it off with an abrupt edge too like a metal ruler or the spine of a knife etc. Isopropyl alcohol will also work for removing green compound bars. There will still be some chromium oxide left but it won't matter too much
@@stroppystuff641 ❤️
How do you clean a basswood strip?
Pencil eraser if it's loaded with swarf, lap with sandpaper if it's gouged or not flat 👍
@@stroppystuff641 would you suggest a coarse, medium, or fine grit to clean the basswood? I also just bought some basswood and should have some of your Stroppy stuff (6 and 1 micron) next week to apply and test. Should I sand the basswood before applying the compound initially? Thanks
This is a bit OT, but I believe those white magic eraser sponges make the leather itself less abrasive, and this may be beneficial to those of us that are using submicron strops...
like the nanocloth strops are supposed to have no abrasive properties themselves.
Todd over at science of sharp has an article showing a straight razor under SEM after 200 full laps on leather. It's safe to say leather is 99.999999999% ineffective at abrading steel
@@stroppystuff641 I'll have to read it after... I'm pretty sure plain leather can mar a mirror finish though.
Could have used this 2 days back
Sorcery
yeah man it's a game changer!
@@stroppystuff641 Can you use a pink colored eraser or does it matter the type of eraser?
@@stevestory8483 any should be fine
I use wd40
Petroleum in the WD40 will dry out the leather
...so what abrasives are imparted to your strop from rubbing it with the eraser...? that's how erasers work: they abrade. seems like a bad idea.
It's great to see that people are taking the time to ask questions rather than just straight up believe what people say on youtube.
I use Staedtler 526 50 erasers, these contain calcium carbonate as the abrasive which is only a 3 on the Mohs scale, for example iron is 4.0. Calcium carbonate shouldn't be capable of abrading the steel. Add to this that the calcium carbonate is 3-6 microns in size and I also think it's very unlikely that the abrasives will break out of the polyvinyl chloride anyway.