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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'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.
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 was watching H.I.S. Survival on RUclips, 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.
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.
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 👍
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 RUclipsrs' 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.
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.
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 .
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
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.
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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 🙂
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.
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?
thanks for the video, Do you have any input on the Cliff Stamp plateau method of sharpening, and have you tried removing the old edge [as done by Cliff Stamp, and Stefan Wolf, for the same reason, removing the fatigued metal], before sharpening, as they do. It seems to make a difference for me, but I don't have a 30 gigawatt ultra magnifying glass. Once again, many thanks
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.
Any difference between the smooth and the rough side of the leather? I made a strop with the rough side up. Compound came in today, so I'll try stropping tomorrow. Do I need to made a strop with the smooth side up as well? Or will a rough strop suffice?
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
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.
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.
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.
I’m a pretty avid knifemaking hobbyist working about 5 hrs a day in the summer and about 2 hrs a day during the school year, I’ve got about 140 dollars laying around and my dad is willing to help pay to encourage me to stay active, the tools I use right now are an angle grinder, hand drill, a bench grinder, and a 1x30, after your 4x36 vid I’m pretty sure I want a 8in drill press but I’m not so sure about the 4x36 now what would you recommend I buy?
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.
I have done this but I usually use just a piece of scrap steel to scrape off the old compound. I tried using a blade to clean it today and it worked a lot better and faster. Can you do a sharpening video on a saw, I have a dull saw but I don't know how to sharpen it. If you have the knowledge and skill required to sharpen a saw please share it with us. Right now I'm just using a pretty blunt saw.
Matthew M Thanks for your reply. My saw is a cross cut saw, it has 7tpi and it's a pull saw. I have seen people use a special diamond file to sharpen these saws but I just can't find the same type of file is any store I go, my resource are limited so that's a problem. I'm thinking maybe I can shape a piece of wood to be a little bit thinner than the space in between the saw teeth, it will probably look like a knife a bit. Then I can secure a sandpaper around the piece and adjust my angle on the saw and start sharpening. I have 120, 320, 800, 1200 and 1500 grit sandpaper, what do you think about my idea and what grit do you think is good for sharpening and polishing the saw teeth?
Matthew M Thank you for your answers and suggestions. I can use a needle file but the problem is I don't have any and I don't see any nearby store that sells them. I have been searching for those for sometimes now. I'm good with knife but still a newbie with saws. Again, thank you for your reply and recommendation, your word will be remembered.
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
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.
I have a question should I strop the knife after sharpening always? Even after I use the 6000 grit belt on the darex worksharp ? Will it still be beneficial
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?)
I was watching this again, along with some other videos of yours because I'm a beginner at knife sharpening and I find your videos very helpful and I can't help but wonder why you didn't tape the one side of the blade before cleaning your strop, I believe that would help not cut yourself
I use these blades daily and also cut myself daily. I’m not really worried about it. I guess you could say I like living on the edge😉 Thanks for watching my videos! I really appreciate it 👍👊
@@OUTDOORS55 then keep living life on the edge 😉 and thank you for your videos, they really are a huge help and I so enjoy watching them again and again!
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.
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.
Outdoors, I wanted to ask you, is sandpaper better sharpener than a whetstone. I want to know that before I buy a whetstone. Because if it is better or even same I wont be spending extra bucks for a whetstone since sandpaper is cheap.
IMO, I like stones over sand paper. Sand paper can, and does work very well for sharpening, but in the long run it will be ALOT more expensive. At least if you do a lot of sharpening. Theres just not a lot of abrasive on sand paper, and it wears out quickly. Yes, if we are talking about knives a strop will give better results. You have to be careful with buffing wheel as to not round off the edge. A strop is much more delicate. Again just my opinion. Hope this helps😀
OUTDOORS55 thank you for the advice. I will buy both then. I just wanted to hear your opinion because as we all know you are the best at this stuff. Thanks a lot for the help ❤
Just Got a ganzo fire bird aka a good quality copy spyderco para 4 Can u try to sharpen one and compare it to the actual spyderco? Ps love your vids keep it up pal
Hey Alex, I gotta ask you: what's your favorite stopping compound, just based on your experience? The stuff I've been using is almost finished and I'm looking at trying a new brand of compound.
For several years I have used my own compound. Its a diamond "paste" compound. I sold it on my website but am not selling it at this time due to a restructuring of the brand and company. I still use it though. I like diamond compounds as they last MUCH longer than chromium oxide. I would look for something with a heavy diamond concentration. I wasn't real happy with DMT stuff but that was several years ago so maybe they changed.
I love your sharpening vids. I feel like my strop gets loaded with metal after only one use, even if I try to deburr on wood or a whetstone beforehand. Any advice? I’m wondering if I got a bad strop off eBay
No that’s pretty typical. The steel type plays a roll as well. You can’t really get a bad strop. Some do seem to work better then others but for the most part they will all work. The compound mattered more then the strop itself. Hope this helps 😀
I am having a hell of time finding actual stropping compound. The closest knife guy sells little broken fragments at 5$ a dime bag. What I have found is polishing compound it seems the same only difference being it says for polishing wheels only on the packaging. Can this stuff be used on a strop?
Hey Alex, great vids. I have a question that the answer to has eluded me forever. How much "pressure" do you apply to the strop when stropping a knife? Is there a way to quantify that-2-3 pounds of pressure? I've asked this on forums, other channels and can't seem to get a satisfactory answer because what to one person is "moderate pressure" to another it's "light pressure" or vice versa.
Its hared to say, and also depends on steel type. Some steel seem to require more pressure than others. I always lean to the side of light pressure but if your not seeing results with light pressure add some. I usually vary pressures not angles on a strop. It also depends on the strop itself. With a new strop I experiment with pressure till I get the results I'm looking for. Some strops and blades require heavy pressure while others seem to be fine with super light pressure. Just my experience😀
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.
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
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 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.
i've been cleaning my strops with 800 grit sandpaper for about a year now and it's been very effective for me
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 use a piece of scrap wood and 60 or 80 grit sandpaper to clean my buffing wheels.
Great channel, cheers !!!
Your videos are both informative and entertaining….never boring as most. Thank you
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've been scraping the old compound off my strops using basically the same way before your video.
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.
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
I was watching H.I.S. Survival on RUclips, 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 👍
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.
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 👍
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 RUclipsrs' 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.
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.
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 .
I love the channel bro. You are always posting stuff that I am interested in good job man!
Thanks man!
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
Excellent video!! Thank you!
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.
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.
Keep it simple. Thanks.
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.
As all of your videos, educating, entertaining & the right amount of humor!
Greetings from Germany💚🤘
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.
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.
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!
Hey thanks for making these types of videos man. Your videos are really Informative.
Thank you so much for what you do
My knife and newfound sharpening addiction thanks you greatly..
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.
Nice cleaning tip bro...thanks
Great vid lots of good info here ,TKS
Maybe a link to a good buffing machine. Not wheels but grinder. Thanks Alex
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
Alex, what would you recommend to clean kangaroo leather? Also any tips on refreshing and maintaining it would be appreciated.
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 🤷♂️
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.
I have a little heat gun I use to get the compound on nice and smooth and soaked in
thanks! I actually needed this...
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 🙂
Hi how long do you have to wait for the new compound to dry or can you start stropping straight away? Great video!!. 👍🏻
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.
Great info Alex. I didn’t know about the carpet razors.
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?
I do something similar but instead of a carpet blade, I use the disposable straight razor blades.
Thank you for another great video
good stuff dude OUTDOORS55 great videos
thanks for the video, Do you have any input on the Cliff Stamp plateau method of sharpening, and have you tried removing the old edge [as done by Cliff Stamp, and Stefan Wolf, for the same reason, removing the fatigued metal], before sharpening, as they do. It seems to make a difference for me, but I don't have a 30 gigawatt ultra magnifying glass. Once again, many thanks
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.
What are your thoughts on different compounds for stropping? Like the diamond paste vs. the type you used in this video??
Any difference between the smooth and the rough side of the leather? I made a strop with the rough side up. Compound came in today, so I'll try stropping tomorrow. Do I need to made a strop with the smooth side up as well? Or will a rough strop suffice?
A regular old pink eraser will remove the green compound nicely also.
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
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
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.
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!
All Very Very Good Advice!!! Remember people practice makes perfect! Thanks Alex!!!! ⚔️
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 have found that's be helpful also I found guitar picks for the leather strap to be helpful
I’m a pretty avid knifemaking hobbyist working about 5 hrs a day in the summer and about 2 hrs a day during the school year, I’ve got about 140 dollars laying around and my dad is willing to help pay to encourage me to stay active, the tools I use right now are an angle grinder, hand drill, a bench grinder, and a 1x30, after your 4x36 vid I’m pretty sure I want a 8in drill press but I’m not so sure about the 4x36 now what would you recommend I buy?
And I have a mini forge btw
I would buy a drill press if you already have a 1x30. The 4x 36 won’t be much better.
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.
I have done this but I usually use just a piece of scrap steel to scrape off the old compound. I tried using a blade to clean it today and it worked a lot better and faster. Can you do a sharpening video on a saw, I have a dull saw but I don't know how to sharpen it. If you have the knowledge and skill required to sharpen a saw please share it with us. Right now I'm just using a pretty blunt saw.
Matthew M Thanks for your reply. My saw is a cross cut saw, it has 7tpi and it's a pull saw. I have seen people use a special diamond file to sharpen these saws but I just can't find the same type of file is any store I go, my resource are limited so that's a problem. I'm thinking maybe I can shape a piece of wood to be a little bit thinner than the space in between the saw teeth, it will probably look like a knife a bit. Then I can secure a sandpaper around the piece and adjust my angle on the saw and start sharpening. I have 120, 320, 800, 1200 and 1500 grit sandpaper, what do you think about my idea and what grit do you think is good for sharpening and polishing the saw teeth?
Matthew M Thank you for your answers and suggestions. I can use a needle file but the problem is I don't have any and I don't see any nearby store that sells them. I have been searching for those for sometimes now. I'm good with knife but still a newbie with saws. Again, thank you for your reply and recommendation, your word will be remembered.
Love your stuff, keep up the great work and advice 😁👍
Found it!!! Thanks a lot
I made a strop out of my belt and a piece of board wood. May I use general purpose polish paste as compound? Thanks a million in advance
Daryoosh Fatemi mother’s brand mag polish is good
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
Can you use different compounds on the same strop after it's been cleaned?
I use a flat head screwdriver to clean a buffer works like a dream
Was this before you started using diamond compounds?
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.
I have a question should I strop the knife after sharpening always? Even after I use the 6000 grit belt on the darex worksharp ? Will it still be beneficial
for the most part stropping will alway be beneficial. Unless the finishing stone grit is finer then the stropping grit.
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.
I was watching this again, along with some other videos of yours because I'm a beginner at knife sharpening and I find your videos very helpful and I can't help but wonder why you didn't tape the one side of the blade before cleaning your strop, I believe that would help not cut yourself
I use these blades daily and also cut myself daily. I’m not really worried about it. I guess you could say I like living on the edge😉 Thanks for watching my videos! I really appreciate it 👍👊
@@OUTDOORS55 then keep living life on the edge 😉 and thank you for your videos, they really are a huge help and I so enjoy watching them again and again!
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.
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.
Outdoors, I wanted to ask you, is sandpaper better sharpener than a whetstone. I want to know that before I buy a whetstone. Because if it is better or even same I wont be spending extra bucks for a whetstone since sandpaper is cheap.
and is a strop better than buffing wheel?
IMO, I like stones over sand paper. Sand paper can, and does work very well for sharpening, but in the long run it will be ALOT more expensive. At least if you do a lot of sharpening. Theres just not a lot of abrasive on sand paper, and it wears out quickly.
Yes, if we are talking about knives a strop will give better results. You have to be careful with buffing wheel as to not round off the edge. A strop is much more delicate. Again just my opinion. Hope this helps😀
OUTDOORS55 thank you for the advice. I will buy both then. I just wanted to hear your opinion because as we all know you are the best at this stuff. Thanks a lot for the help ❤
it looks like you are using the rough side of the leather, I dont know if the "Razor" method will work with the smooth side?
Good info. And I think that was the first time I’ve seen you smile.
Haha! It’s a rare thing😉
I wonder if a dull card scraper would work for this?
I've been using balsa and tossing them when they get loaded.
Thanks for the video ... I was wondering how to take the caked sheen off my strop 👍
Just Got a ganzo fire bird aka a good quality copy spyderco para 4 Can u try to sharpen one and compare it to the actual spyderco? Ps love your vids keep it up pal
How about diamond compound. ? Same method
how do you go about doing this with a smooth sided strop? or how would you do it with something like a paste, spray or emulsion?
It still works on a smooth sided strop. 😀
Hey Alex, I gotta ask you: what's your favorite stopping compound, just based on your experience? The stuff I've been using is almost finished and I'm looking at trying a new brand of compound.
For several years I have used my own compound. Its a diamond "paste" compound. I sold it on my website but am not selling it at this time due to a restructuring of the brand and company. I still use it though. I like diamond compounds as they last MUCH longer than chromium oxide. I would look for something with a heavy diamond concentration. I wasn't real happy with DMT stuff but that was several years ago so maybe they changed.
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 love your sharpening vids. I feel like my strop gets loaded with metal after only one use, even if I try to deburr on wood or a whetstone beforehand. Any advice? I’m wondering if I got a bad strop off eBay
No that’s pretty typical. The steel type plays a roll as well. You can’t really get a bad strop. Some do seem to work better then others but for the most part they will all work. The compound mattered more then the strop itself. Hope this helps 😀
I am having a hell of time finding actual stropping compound. The closest knife guy sells little broken fragments at 5$ a dime bag. What I have found is polishing compound it seems the same only difference being it says for polishing wheels only on the packaging. Can this stuff be used on a strop?
FOG BLADES thank you
Hey Alex, great vids. I have a question that the answer to has eluded me forever. How much "pressure" do you apply to the strop when stropping a knife? Is there a way to quantify that-2-3 pounds of pressure? I've asked this on forums, other channels and can't seem to get a satisfactory answer because what to one person is "moderate pressure" to another it's "light pressure" or vice versa.
Its hared to say, and also depends on steel type. Some steel seem to require more pressure than others. I always lean to the side of light pressure but if your not seeing results with light pressure add some. I usually vary pressures not angles on a strop. It also depends on the strop itself. With a new strop I experiment with pressure till I get the results I'm looking for. Some strops and blades require heavy pressure while others seem to be fine with super light pressure. Just my experience😀
Thanks, good Tip!
I use to clean my strop with an old piece of sandpaper that was course back in its day
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
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.
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😀
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👍
What strop and compound do you use?
Does this work with the knifes plus strop ?