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Do You Need Compound to Strop?

Alexander Ross • • 7 min read
Do You Need Compound to Strop?
Do I need a compound? A strop can be used without any compound. Sharpeners of straight razors for instance often prefer using a smooth leather strop with no compound applied. The leather polishes the metal and removes any burr from the edge, leaving it crisp and sharp.

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Herein, do I need a strop?

Stropping isn't necessary, but can "fine tune" the edge. As an edge gets sharper, finer, you generally need to ease up on the pressure. Each grit change, lighten up some more. Even when stropping, light pressure is key, as well as angle.

Also Know, can you strop a knife too much? There gets to be a point where no more stropping is going to refine the edge any more than it already has. At this point, stropping is just needlessly removing extra material, albeit extremely slowly. As long as you maintain the right angles and light pressure, you aren't dulling the edge or damaging the knife.

Besides, what can I use as a strop?

The paper texture and printing ink serve as an excellent medium for stropping. The ink even acts as an abrasive of sorts, polishing the edge of the razor. While not nearly as good as leather, newspaper serves in a pinch. To strop on newspaper, fold the newspaper so you have approximately a 3″ wide stropping surface.

Can I use a leather belt as a strop?

Can a leather belt be used as a replacement for a leather strop when sharpening a small knife? Yes, it could work at a pinch, but then so can your jeans, some newspaper, or the inside of your forearm. In order for it to function as well as a purpose-built strop you will need to do some work on it.

Related Question Answers

Why do you strop a knife?

Polishing the edge of a sharp knife is called stropping. Usually this is done on a leather strap, mostly applied to a hard surface. Stropping removes the last imperfections of the cut. It also has an aesthetic goal: stropping makes the cut shine like a mirror.

Do you strop after sharpening?

If the edge into sharpening on the hone is done correctly, stropping has no benefit unless you change the grit (so just use the appropiate stone in the first place), and can weaken the edge by causing deformation with no abrasion to remove the weakened metal, same as steeling.
Alexander Ross
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Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.