How To Clean A Knife Sharpening Strop | How To clean a Buffing Wheel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- How To Clean A Knife Sharpening Strop | How To clean a Buffing Wheel for knife sharpening/ knife making.
In this video I show you how I clean my knife strops. I also show how I clean my buffing wheels.
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Knife used in this video
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Buffing wheel
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About⬇️
Hi, Im Alex, im a knife maker and TH-camr, based out of southern Pennsylvania and my youtube channel is Outdoors55. This channel started as an outdoor backpacking channel, but quickly grew into a knife/ knife making channel. Everything I do on my channel is family friendly. I primarily focus on knife / knife making videos but occasionally throw in something different. Thank you for watching!😀
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I've been sharpening my own knives for 15 years, and with COVID out there, I've been doing it as a side-hustle. As a fairly experienced knife sharpener, I want you to know that your videos are probably the only ones out there that I genuinely learn from on the subject. Keep up the good work.
I'm a sharpening newbie, and his sharpening videos are the ones I also refer to. Thanks to his tutorials, the first knives I sharpened came out razor edge. ....I'm here because I wanted to see what kind of maintenance a strop block needs. Good work indeed.
I wanna know which spyderco that was
@@voxpopuli905 Looks like a carbon fibre Sage 5
Same I pretty much just started sharpening well 2 years ago. Before then I used a coarse file and paid no mind to my angles. Needless to say, I had some pretty lousy "edges" this guy's a pretty good teacher and now my edges look like mirrors.
I have a lot of experience, and lots of stones, is there some profit in your venture, of is this more of a pass-time for your day, Thanks.
First time I have managed to get a razor sharp edge on my knives, failing with all the other techniques in books and here on youtube. Rough stone and then a 1000 water stone and then a strop. That has worked for a dummie like me. Thank you so much!
I have watched a number of videos that didn't answer my questions about making a strop and then cleaning a strop. I watched two of your videos and they explained everything I needed to know. Appreciate all of your other videos keep up the great work and thank you for the great info.
I recently tried cleaning my buffing wheel with a used (but relatively clean) 80 grit belt from my 4x36 grinder. They are relatively rigid and if you cut off a piece and fold them in half, they form a nice edge that catches a lot of the built up compound. A bit safer too. Figured I'd mention it since it seemed to work pretty well.
safest way to clean any soft rotating buffing wheel is a buffing spur. They can be found in most automotive paint supply stores and there is little to no danger in using it... just ggogle 3m buffing spur.
Great tip👍
I've been experimenting with different types of strops, smooth side up with compound, rough side up with compound, regular leather and natural tanned buckskin. What I've found is that the smooth side up acts more like a very fine grit stone, the buckskin is softer and curls around the edge more both smooth and rough sides, the smooth side seems like a more aggressive type in both case's, I use the smooth side to finish new edges and the rough side to maintain used edges. Natural buckskin might be hard to come by (got mine from an old pair of moccasins at a goodwill) but you might want to try it if you can find some.
Which compound do you use??
I always use the smooth side up. The edge get even a little sharper that way. I avoid the skin curling around the edge. The edge would perhaps be slightly rounded if I used the suede side i guess.
I've been using the 90º spine on some of my more bushcraft type knives for both operations. I imagine a cabinet scraper would work really well on the strop without the risk of severing a tendon.
i've been cleaning my strops with 800 grit sandpaper for about a year now and it's been very effective for me
I was watching H.I.S. Survival on TH-cam, and he cleaned his strop with a school eraser! LOL...I kid you not. It seemed to work really well, and there is zero chance of damaging the leather. I’ve never tried, but seems like it’s worth a shot. His compound came off in clumps until the strop looked virtually brand new.
Interesting. Never heard of that method but ill have to try it. Thanks for the suggestion 👍
Fun tip, you can use any carvable wood as a strop for gouges or shaped tools. Just use the tool and carve into the wood the exact shape of the tool and then add rouge
I love the channel bro. You are always posting stuff that I am interested in good job man!
Thanks man!
I actually started using automotive compund to rub into a strop I made from your videos, works really well and you can see much clearer when the compound is getting old cause it is white and turns to an obvious greyish black. To get that off is a bit trickier, I usually just wash it off with water and let the strop dry.
ThisIsAPrettyLongUserNameWhyTheFuckWouldHeDoThatSoThatEveryoneWouldThumbsUpIt First off awesome name lol Second Automotive compound is probably the best you could use! I only wash my strop when it gets really bad but I can see where its nicer to fully wash it 🙂
Flitz works awesome on strops as well
yes, I use Mother's aluminum polish. I had it laying around and gave it a try. works great for both stropping, and polishing the blade
I just used some olive oil to clean some motorcycle chrome polish off mine that seemed to loosen it up pretty well then I wire brush it and scrape off all the black stuff with a knife then scrub with paper towel.
Great tips as always. I have recently started using diamond paste and sprays on my strops.I am finally happy with the sharpness on my knives edges. Ain't this stuff fun? Thanks again.
I see you on every knife vid I watch holy shit, you and Captain Spaulding lol
Than you for the "safety warning" and the way you said it. So many people do fun and interesting things in videos and go on and on about why you are not supposed to try this at home. That is a surefire way to get most people to try it at home; tell them not to. The bad thing about that is that once people hear the huge warnings, they tune out all of that and also tune out the precautions that may be mentioned after the warning.
Of course, part of me wishes I had listened to one of my favorite crafting TH-camrs' warning about glitter, but the rest of me is satisfied that everything is so sparkly. It's a woman child's dream come true. My entire house and, after several showers including a Silkwood style shower, I are all covered in glitter....still. Now we know what is in Pandora's box. Glitter.
Subscribed for the "safety warning" that worked by making me listen instead of tuning out like the "na na ne boo boo, I get to do this, but you can't." aspect that most warnings have.
Good info! I just cleaned my hand held strop and the circular strop on my Tormek machine. I sharpen knives every day over and over again as part of my job.
Nice job my friend. Sometimes I use a bit of heat when loading a strop, especially with the finer compounds. It seems to make the process easier for me anyway. Wade
I have done that as well. I does definitely help load the strop. I usually get too aggressive with it though and end up way overloading the strop. That’s my problem though 😉👍👍
Another channel mentioned heat, and because the compound vehicle is some kind of wax, it made sense to me to soften it. That's what I did and it worked great.
Your videos are both informative and entertaining….never boring as most. Thank you
I recently have gotten into Spyderco knives and I can tell that you really like them as well. If you have a little extra time at any point it would be fun to see your Spyderco collection as big or small as it may be. Including things like which knife is your favorite and why you like the brand Spyderco. I really love your channel and you inspired me to make my first knife and find a joy in both making and collecting. Thank you for what you do and for providing me with the knowledge to make my first knife and start a new hobby!
I may do that in the future! Thanks for the suggestion😀 I really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment! Good luck with your knife making. It’s definitely a fun hobby 👍
I use a piece of scrap wood and 60 or 80 grit sandpaper to clean my buffing wheels.
Great channel, cheers !!!
Personally I use a brass wire brush(toothbrush sized) to recondition my strops and buffing wheels. For strops I lightly brush the surface with the brass brush then tap the strop on its side and the crud falls right off. The wire brush leaves me with a really nice surface. To apply compound. For that I LIGHTLY heat the strop(heat gun) then apply the compound the same way as you did. For me, this seems to work great. For the buffing wheel I just hold the brush up to it for a minute or till its clean. Not nearly as dangerous as the putty knife technique but works just as good!
I've been scraping the old compound off my strops using basically the same way before your video.
Been wondering how to clean my strop but hadn't looked for an answer. Your vid just popped up in my list so checked it out. Nice.
As all of your videos, educating, entertaining & the right amount of humor!
Greetings from Germany💚🤘
Perfect! I have feather artist club blades I use for shaving. That'll probably work just as well as that carpet blade for cleaning. Thanks for the tip.
Good tip about the Carpet razor blades (you could wrap one side with paper tape for protection) . All this time I have been using regular single sided razor blades . Now I have 1 more thing to worry about . Not cutting my fingers off (that would make knife sharpening a bit difficult lol!!!) .... Thanks .
Thank you for the video, I appreciate it. As far as adding mineral, or other oil to condition the strop, I just let it soak in good for 24 hrs before adding the stropping compound on the top, after wiping up any excess oil. Also, adding oil to the strop, then wiping it off with a cloth seems to work pretty good for pulling off the load up.
Old chisel is as good as anything for the wheel. Believe there are also buffing wheel paddles that have multiple rows of sturdy teeth. Quick touch under the wheel, add some fresh compound...back to work. Cheers
I have a little heat gun I use to get the compound on nice and smooth and soaked in
I looked this up this morning because I'm a newbie sharpener wondering about cleaning a strop, but didn't comment. But as a wise guy, I couldn't not mention this. Based on some of your other videos (the $24 ebay Damascus, for example), you seem to have a sense of humor. That said, after using the carpet blade to clean your strop, could you use said strop to get the edge back on the blade? ...more seriously, one thing you could do to minimize a finger cut from the double edged blade is fold tape over the side not being used. I do that all the time, and fold blue painter's tape over spent box cutter knife blades when disposing of them. Anyway, thanks for your videos.
My knife and newfound sharpening addiction thanks you greatly..
Denim works very well. One, two or three layers (depending on prefered sponginess, three for me) held in place with double sided tape. Unloved jeans, very cheap! The roughish weave takes compound well.
Do you put it on a piece of wood like my strop is? How do you find the jeans do with polishing? Does it seem like you get a mirror edge faster than leather? Or same you just like the denim better than leather???
@@timpande6900 Yes, on a piece of wood just like leather. The double sided carpet tape holds it just fine, (full contact), glue (PVA) soaks into the denim and makes it too hard (or so it was when I did just one layer). Polishing seems to be no different from leather, that depends on the compound some I expect?, I only have one compound, Smurf Poo. Nice shiny bevel! I just like/tried denim as it's cheaper/free and more available. It's certainly tough enough, it doesn't seem to wear out at all, but for some fraying at the edges initially, and the weave does, as I say, strip the compound from the bar more readily, which is useful. Thanks for replying.
@@timpande6900 .... also, glue requires clamping and this helps to make the denim too hard, and the first layer (glued) of denim will show all imperfections in the wood's surface. I put two extra layers, with tape, on the first glued layer (which was too hard and imperfectly flat), now it just fine.
Rockstead knives recommend maintaining their convex blades on a denim strop.
I'm going to make one myself. Thanks.
I use to clean my strop with an old piece of sandpaper that was course back in its day
thanks! I actually needed this...
I've found that one of those huge erasers works well to help pull the compound off. I'll use a razor blade to scrape a majority of the compound off and then the eraser to help get a bit more of it off. Works best on smooth leather but will work for both.
Keep it simple. Thanks.
So I did some temp work at a metal finishing shop and I learned there they would take an old band saw blade and break off like a 12 in chunk and use that to clean the buffing wheels. I now do that and works well.
Wow the razor info is awesome, much thanks I didn't know that
I don't cake my stops with compound to the extent that you do. The way I like them, a light sanding with 180 grit sandpaper does the trick to refresh them.
Nice cleaning tip bro...thanks
I use a flat head screwdriver to clean a buffer works like a dream
I know this is an older video
I made a strop using brown duck fabric. Seems to work pretty good.
Great info. I have a couple knives plus strops. Every time it gets full i order a new one. Probably not the best idea. haha Anyway thanks for the video Alex.
Hey thanks for making these types of videos man. Your videos are really Informative.
Not a bad idea. however after having bought 3 or 4 garbage hair clippers over the years, ive dismantled them for parts and one thing ive noticed is that the teeth work great in prepping a new strop and removing the old compound filled with metal dust particles.
Nick Brown - Great idea!!!
Nick Brown interesting method!
SOMEDAY just came!I found two in the workshop yesterday! So great to tell the wife, I TOLD YOU I could find use for these...someday!
I was always told as a kid to apply buffing compound to your strop then warm the strop a little with a blow dryer. Compound soaks in a little deeper. But it might be an old wives tale.
Matthew M I will have to try that!
Matthew M Lol for sure buddy 😂
Yep heat works just fine. I have a couple videos demonstrating that. For me I find I end up overloading the strop with heat but that’s my problem lol. Adding head can definitely help👍👍
@Matthew M lmao,but that's true
I scrape my strop the same way with the off side of my sharp spine. I like the side I scrape a Ferro rod with sharp and the other a little knocked down for thumb assists so using that side works double duty.
All Very Very Good Advice!!! Remember people practice makes perfect! Thanks Alex!!!! ⚔️
The fresh surface is called "the napp" The best thing i've found is pure rubbing alcohol. Spray on the strop, and use a flat edge to scrape off the melted compound (mud) onto a paper towel. Allow to dry and you have a new napp (knap?)
Nap.
For the buffing wheel, I use a fine-toothed saw, like a metal saw. Not sure if it makes much difference, as I've never tried using anything else, just seemed to make sense to me, as the fine teeth can "get in there" to better remove the compound. More or less same technique though.
Thank you so much for what you do
Excellent video!! Thank you!
A regular old pink eraser will remove the green compound nicely also.
Ik I'm Hella late lmao but my uncle has one and I just made one idk how to apple the compound the first time cause he said theirs several steps for the first one but when you strop a knife metal shaving (the Grey stuff) get in to your stop as you showed. Ut it helps shape ur knife bc it removes some material and it shapens it lol idk if that makes sence to you. Ut it just works and every time after that you just applied the compound when needed you don't scrape anything off cause over time it's WeReS out and you just need to add more
Looks like you could use a card scraper for the strop for a reusable option. For the wheel, the chisel makes sense where it's thicker
If youve got green compound on the furry side of the strop... can you then scrape that off and apply diamond emulsion??? How would you clean it well enough to apply diamond emulsion
I have found that's be helpful also I found guitar picks for the leather strap to be helpful
Love your stuff, keep up the great work and advice 😁👍
Thanks, good Tip!
Can anyone recommend the best way to remove the compound that accumulates on the knife blade from stropping?
I go over my strops with a large rubber eraser. I’m not saying this a better way though. Just an alternative.
Good info. And I think that was the first time I’ve seen you smile.
Haha! It’s a rare thing😉
I use lighter fluid to help loose the compound from the block and also help soak it into the strop.
I do something similar but instead of a carpet blade, I use the disposable straight razor blades.
Thank you for another great video
For the wheel cleaning I use a wire file, that seems to clean things fairly well and if a wire comes off in the process it is thrown away from me as I approach the spinning wheel from the bottom or at a downward angle. I have also tried a Brillo pad, but that was gross; the next closest was a brush used for scrubbing bathroom tiles. The hard plastic bristles from the bathroom scrubber worked well for removing grime from the cloth wheel without destroying the cloth as much as the wire brush; however, I thought the wire brush was faster at cleaning it.
Found it!!! Thanks a lot
Instead of a razor blade, I use an old extra cabinet scraper to remove to old compound. Works exactly the same way but with much less danger of getting cut.
I've done superfinishing for years on medical devices, do not remove compound in this way its far to dangerous! Use a stainless steel wire brush near the bottom of the wheel. Lightly remove all the old compound off. Leaves the wheel fluffy and ready to give you a mirror finish.
I use a heatgun to melt the compound slightly and apply it then. Much easier and faster.
Mr Beal fron the Beal Buff system recommends some rough sandpaper wrapped around a board. can still be thrown Into to your skull, but less likely to penetrate.
Great info Alex. I didn’t know about the carpet razors.
Извини что без перевода,но, можно просто пройти строительным феном. Паста расплавится ,протереть тряпочкой и всё,так и экономия пасты,не надо искать лезвие, и пропитка коженого ремня. Удачи👍
Thanks for the video ... I was wondering how to take the caked sheen off my strop 👍
Maybe a link to a good buffing machine. Not wheels but grinder. Thanks Alex
using a scraper is way safer, wiser, and easier than a double sided carpet blade. Knives with sharp spines such as mora garberg, cansbol, bushcraft or any lt wright knives work well too.
What are your thoughts on different compounds for stropping? Like the diamond paste vs. the type you used in this video??
I thought about reversing the motor and working on the top rear position to protect myself but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not 🤷♂️
you make awesome vids, been a while since you made one, keep at it, you show good ways to make knife making and maintenance easy
i dunno if this in the comments below, its a lot of comments to read through, but i recently learned that a little bit of olive oil a paper towel and a razor blade will clean a strop down to bare leather. a little olive oil and a some paper napkins will take out any compound and a razor at the end (at an angle like you demonstrated in the video will make it look like new. i know, it sounds (and sounded to me) like horseshit till i tried it.
Great vid lots of good info here ,TKS
I’m not sure if it’s a better way or not it’s just how I’ve come to clean mine. I basically wash it in the sink with Dawn dishwashing soap and steel wool. And in a matter of minutes it’s back to the leather color and all the green and metal is gone. I use an older knife to run across it and the water comes right out of the leather. Then the next time I go to sharpen it like I have brand new strop. I reapply the compound and off I go.
TecheMan
Hope your doing well Alex and things are going well for you!! Looking forward to your return
Things are going well! Busy, so hopefully ill be back into it soon! Hope things are going well for you too👍
How about diamond compound. ? Same method
For your buffing wheel that is electric you can also use sandpaper to clean the buffing compound out too
I dont do that due to grit contamination. I know it works but once you get sandpaper grit into your strop its hard to remove. Just a thought😀
You can cover one edge of the double edge blade with masking tape for safety.
I use a normal everyday eraser ✏️ works great for cleaning a strop fast cheap easy and safer than razor blades
Yep, I use a pencil-eraser too, works really well and gets rid of the glaze.
Me too! Been using a white eraser. Works super well.
Thank you all for the insight. Never would have guessed to use an eraser
Great vid
Dear Alex.
I wish you could explain how to clean a buffing compound entirely from the strop and apply a new compound.
TIP: NEVER use oil, because it will soak into the leather and ruin the strop. I tried it once and the result was terrible: compound became so soft from the oil and started to stick to the knife during stropping. The strop is not buffing now.
Thank you.
Good to know. There’s a lot of videos of people saying to use oil. I was gonna try it until now.
I think you’re only supposed to wet the tip of your finger and rub it evenly through the strop then let it sit and dry a little... at least that’s what he said? I’ve seen other videos recommending this as well but I don’t know much. My only strop is that cheap Flex strop from the wood shop store
I’m seriously nervous when buffing handle material even with a well taped up blade. Maybe I’m not using the right type of buffer. I could never stop the wheel with mine yet I can stop most job site table saws. Not so with cabinet table saws.
good stuff dude OUTDOORS55 great videos
For buffing wheels, try using a farriers rasp. Safer and effective
Damn Alex your a mind reader too? I was just wondering how to clean my main strop🤔 thanks for the idea and your timely video!👍
Yes this is just one method. I have found compound seems to break down fairly quickly so I do this often. You might be surprised at how much better your strops work after cleaning them😀
Hey Alex can you do a video all about how you get your knives so darn perfect looking in the finish of the blade and handle?
I think its just consistency and patience my man.
Nice video my man. For me I usually just use this shitty scissors I have and that seems to be working for me.
ALOHA!!!
I lost my strop, thank God it was a DIY and have lots more supplies.
Haha I’ve done that before. 👍
I was always told to use a big heavy duty flat head screw driver
I’m new to stropping and buffing. I have two questions, first I made a strop and tried to load it with green compound but all the videos I saw said to rub it on like a crayon. The compound stick is extremely hard and not waxie like a crayon and isn’t really going onto the strop so is it old perhaps and should I buy a new one? Second, if I want to experiment with different compounds on a buffing wheel should it be a different wheel for each color compound? Thanks
You can use some heat (from a heat gun or hair dryer) to help melt it into the strop. You can also use a dab of mineral oil to help cut the compound, and help it into the strop. Or you can just rub it on. Less can be more in some circumstances, you don’t need a lot. And yes in order to get the full benefits of one particular compound you would need different wheels for each compound. Hope this helps 🙂
Use pliers to hold the razor or gloves that’s a good idea
I appreciate the rough side cleaning tip but how do you clean the smooth side of a strop, do you use the same method by dragging a razor blade over the smooth side?
Very interesting. Never actually thought about doing something like this.
What is the best method for getting cuts out of a strop? I have only seen one guy on yt ever do that so I tried.. and there was the cut in the leather...
KingJL25 If the cut isnt very deep in the leather dont worry about it! It will work just fine for you, but if the leather you have on it isnt very expensive you could just replace it