Loading strops with metal polish

This was a requested video for Steve Milk.

[@umakako]

Thank you sir 🫡

[@Jef]

Thank you 🙏

[@max88nielsen]

A lot like the chrome shine metal polish i use here in Denmark. Works perfect. Thanks for some great videos :-)

[@paddyspotatopeelers2154]

Thanks jef great advice mate, ive never used wood before but im going to now. Lol. Atb paddy 👍😃☘️

[@Jef]

Hell I've used glass, wood, paper, newsprint, cardboard, denim, felt, leather, floor tiles, plastic. Just about any surface you can think of. Obviously, not all of em work well :p

[@TheKnifeBeater]

Thanks for the video Jef. Excellent info.

[@Jef]

👍 Thanks for dropping by!

[@jamesmiller360]

Never used Flitz on a strop. Now I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for posting.

[@Jef]

Polish can't be beat

[@JDStone20]

Nice video! Metal polish on strops works well for me. I have used Metal-Glo, Mothers Mag, and Blue Magic.

[@Jef]

Any work better than others?

[@JDStone20]

@@Jef I am not sure. I tend to use Mothers Mag more, but that might be because is has a pine smell vs the others which reek.

[@Jef]

@@JDStone20 lol yea my NuShine is some nasty smelling stuff, but it can really remove scratches. The abrasive inside it, just erases flaws. I should show that in a microscope vid sometime. It is excellent stuff, esp on softer metal like aluminum

[@JDStone20]

@@Jef Yeah, Mothers Mag is the same way. I really polishes well, best stuff I have for right after the sharpening stones.

[@charliemaddock3459]

I use a wood file to remove the load on the leather and it brings the leather back to rough like a new pice . I have used autosol metal polish for years however I used some green compound from my dremmel kit the other day and it cuts more I felt but it loads worse than the polish

[@Jef]

How do you actually remove the compound with the file? Just as if you were filling down a piece of wood? Not all compounds are created equal. The green from dremmel kits will work, but it’s not the best stuff. I prefer to use white compound from strop bros. Really, if your results from autosol are enough, no real reason to switch 👍

[@jamesnicky9423]

Thank you this is helpful !

[@Jef]

Right on. Glad it helped

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

Looks very good and it works good too mate

[@Jef]

👍

[@lucacadianalbert]

I had no idea you could use simple metal polish on strops like that. I always a pre-loaded strop block, compounds by bark river, Wicked Edge paste or sprays. I'll have to give this a try since I have plenty of Flitz and Semichrome at home.

[@Jef]

Works a treat :) Nothing wrong with all those others btw. Just another alternative to add to the ole arsenal. Have you seen my video where I use slurry from stones, to strop on? Got the idea from the maker of the washboard. Create a little slurry, mop it up with copy paper, let it dry. Wrap your stone with the paper and strop on it. To make it finer, run it with a paper towel, so only a fine thin layer remains. Works fantastic. One stone, and you can really get a super fine edge, even if it's a Norton Crystolon.

[@lucacadianalbert]

Jef Jewell yeah I had seen (read) about that a few years ago on Blade Forums (also from Martin of washboard). Good stuff

[@apmgold]

Hey man, nice informative demonstration of using the two types of metal polish. Do you ever use Balsa as a stropping board, or do you feel it is just too weak/compressible ? Thanks for the video. 👍

[@Jef]

I prefer basswood, but balsa isn't bad. Really, it is what ever my Hobby Lobby has available, when I go in lol

[@txmarine7557]

Use a wire brush to get the old compound off, works great

[@Jef]

Good idea. Thanks for the tip 👍

[@Rancherinaz]

Cool vid . I was thinking about trying Mothers Mag on one of my strops . I'm wondering if it would be better on the smooth side or the rough side . Bay be both ? Any ideas?

[@Jef]

For just polishing the smooth side would prob be better. For burr removal and such, the rough side. I want to say i tried mother’s mag and didn’t get much out of it. It may have been another brand, however. It’s been so long i can’t recall.

[@Rancherinaz]

I know it's a fairly fine grit but I figure if I get things right on the hard Arkansas stone , I shouldn't need a heavy grit on the strop . I'm new at this but that's my thinking . I also wanna just try a plain strop without any compound on it . If that works out for me , I might just stick with it . I'm just doing traditional slip joints for the most part . 1095 and 440A kinda stuff so pretty soft as knife steels go .

[@Jef]

Oh yea just bare leather will produce results. I think you may actually like it better than polish. Polish seems to work better for more modern high carbide steels and such. Although just about every edge seems to benefit from stropping. Experiment with both and see what you like better. Personally i don’t like to strop slip joints. I think it polish them too much and the edge gets slick. So much so that they won’t cut certain materials. Tomato skin comes to mind

[@Rancherinaz]

True Jeff . And mostly a pocket knife should have a bit of a toothy edge I think for a good all around cutter . I'm more thinking just a few passes in the strop to knock debris off it and give it just a slight smoothing . Hey . I appreciate your feedback as I'm really new to this sharpening thing . Your technique is down pat and hopefully I'll pick it up and make it look as easy as you do some day . Thanks man .

[@hidude2124]

You absolutely must!!!!!! Try!!!!!! Semichrome!!!! It cuts faster than flitz and leaves a slightly better edge

[@Jef]

You know I saw this stuff advertised while I was hunting for Flitz to buy. Good stuff aye? I'll give it a go.

[@rbs1889]

Hi Jef, thank you so much for this video. Right this morning I was wondering how to clean my strop and then your video popped up 😳Don't you use these special green compounds that everyone uses on their strops? Regards, Ron

[@Jef]

I used to. Green is just fine, but I prefer to use white. I use metal polish, cbn, and very rarely, diamond. Just depends on my mood. White compound sees about 80% of my edges, I would say.

[@rbs1889]

Thanks

[@nathenwallis5664]

Where do you get the bass wood?, that's one I have never come across....but I have never looked for it either, so I guess I might have seen it and not known, lol

[@Jef]

I got mine from Hobby Lobby. They sell it in bags, with multiple sized pieces. Some are thick some skinny, some wide, some toothpick thin. I've made so many temp strops that I am running out of it. Next time I grab a baggie I'll show it off, if I can remember. They sell balsa too, if I am not mistaken, but basswood is just harder. here is a photo if you care to see the package home.hiwaay.net/~jj/basswood.jpeg

[@whocares3986]

@@Jef I wish we had a Hobby Lobby in town. They sell leather packs like that too from what I've heard.

[@bp-hx9ts]

Nathen Wallis a good way to try wood strops is also paint stirers

[@stevemilk4526]

Jeff Thank you so much for doing this video. It answered the question of removing my compound. I think my issue was the mother’s mag I use is almost exactly the consistency of the NuShine and I am trying to put it on leather. The oily consistency doesn’t let it dry on the leather and on the cardboard it flakes like yours did on basswood. Seems like for leather the Flitz is the way to go and I’ll save the other for surfaces that will allow the oil to dry and not just soak in. Have you ever tried the NuShine on leather? Does it not dry out like it does on the basswood? Thanks again this was exactly what I was looking for.

[@Jef]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXnLp5mVlsuIma8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/h52mZmmtdtFretU kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6qZc3yIraidf7M - show it off in this video, and talk about busting my Flitz tube I got tons of videos using this strop with NuShine on leather. Check my video descriptions, and I almost always mention it in my video, when I go to strop. When used on leather, it behaves just like it did on the basswood. It develops a layer on the top, that flakes off easily. I occasionally put it on there, and use it wet, so that it really impacts down into the leather. Sometimes, I apply it and forget about it. Next time I sharpen, is a day or two later, and it is completely dry. Flakey, but dry.

[@Naddan49]

Can I borrow your finger for that? lol I hate it when the draw grinds like the basswood one did.

[@Jef]

It is messy, and I do little to alleviate that 🤣

[@bp-hx9ts]

Never tried metal polish strops I think I’m gonna soon

[@Jef]

Heh, just like any other compound, imo. lol. We had this discussion is why I laugh. I can't tell much difference between any of em, other than polishes

[@bp-hx9ts]

Jef Jewell never really seen many people do that before do you notice a difference in this compared to bark river coumpounds if you have used

[@Jef]

@@bp-hx9ts I've only used Bark River green. It was pretty coarse, i thought. Much coarser than my normal green. It behaved more like my stropman black compound. Wasn't a fan of the stuff, so never bothered with any of their other stuff.

[@bp-hx9ts]

Jef Jewell I liked the white and black coumpound from bark river the green wasn’t that great from what I know it’s not all chromium oxide it’s a mix of chromium oxide and aluminum oxide the aluminum oxide makes it coarser

[@Jef]

@@bp-hx9ts Maybe that was why I didn't like it. It cut too aggressively, for my preferences. If I had a fairly dulled edge, I have no doubts it would have made it sharp again. Like the black stropman compound I have, it's almost like using a 1k-2k stone. I got some Harbor Freight compounds awhile ago. They actually work fairly well. More wax than most, but in my testing, did what they were supposed to do.