Stropping with basswood

[@tau4320]

Great video, I'm just getting into sharpening a few months in now. Got recommended your channel and have been learning a lot.

[@codyshannon24]

Basswood is the goat! The absolute best way to learn imo. Leather is pretty damn unforgiving as a beginner. Work your ass off to get a good edge, only to dull it from improper stropping angles.. lol. Basswood is much harder to make that mistake! Thanks again for this video. I refer it to those who want to learn stropping!

[@stroppystuff641]

thanks man! yeah leather is killer. The number of times I sharpened a blade and then stropped it dull is crazy XD

[@arthur9103]

Next order basswood 😂 sick and tired of f ing up in leather need , to take a step back if I follow your very wise advice

[@jakehu6671]

Basswood is the substrate that empowers me to just go MONKE mode. -Feedback feels more disinguishable (You can feel the full contact better), which may play to the stropping life you speak about in basswood -Cheap (as you mentioned) -Better reshapability (as you mentioned). For mirror finishing (full bevel, not just edge), I don't really notice a big difference between leather and basswood with the same compound. They both kinda have the harsh scratch pattern in mid-strong light. Edgar even said that he wouldn't do compound work with basswood over 3 micron, because that is the scratch limit he found from his experience.

[@stroppystuff641]

Yeah you're absolutely right the feedback is so much more obvious, much easier to keep the correct angle

[@tacticalcenter8658]

I use basswood occasionally, way better than balsa as commonly used in sharpening.

[@John..18]

Great video, I've just bought a length of basswood, and so far made a paddle strop, with one side covered with micropore tape, and both sides, sprayed with 2micron diamond,, seems to be working well so far.. Gonna repeat with making another, but using either 1 micron or 0.5 micron.. Think I prefer the bass over balsa now, 👍👍 ps, should I stick with the 2 micron, if I want to keep the "toothy" edge on my S110v ukpk..??

[@stroppystuff641]

Thanks! Oh man the toothy thing is a whole rabbit hole, really difficult to answer. So in my opinion the "tooth" has to be achieved on a stone lower than 1k jis. The coarser the more toothy. The more you abrade this apex with finer grits, the more of the tooth you will lose. Basically turning a low tooth per inch saw into a high tooth per inch saw. In my opinion grits used for stropping (0.1 to 9um) are FAR too fine to "strop tooth" into an apex. So this basically means that you either need to not strop, or strop lightly enough that you don't remove all the tooth. This would actually suggest that finer compounds are better for keeping tooth as they abrade slower. If you strop with 9um you'll blast the toothieness right out of the edge because it's so fast. If you went straight from 600 jis to 1um it is my opinion that you'd be left with a very aggressive edge assuming you didn't strop for 6 hours straight.

[@John..18]

@@stroppystuff641 thanks,, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out,, cheers,, John.

[@stroppystuff641]

@@John..18 no problem, I hope it helped! Let me know how it goes. I might do a long investigation video into toothy edges, how to keep and how to achieve them in the future, with some macro shots and stuff.

[@John..18]

@@stroppystuff641 that would be great, thank you,, Incidentally, I try my edge as I go along, on Rizla papers, should I use something else? As the "toothy edge" seems to catch like mad, and not give me an indication of the sharpness, what's best to use, in your opinion,, I really appreciate any help I can get, especially yours,, cheers,,, John..

[@stroppystuff641]

@@John..18 This is another really difficult question 😅. As I said before different levels of "thoothy" edges are basically like higher or lower TPI saws. Low TPI (very toothy) saws are used for hacking through green wood and high TPI saws are for finishing cuts in carpentry etc. I'm talking about this because I'm suggesting that you try and fine tune the level of tooth you have to be most suited for the cutting tasks which you perform. You don't need your knife to feel like a savage saw blade to be high performance in draw cuts. It's much easier to get a "high TPI" toothy edge to be keener than a "low TPI" edge, so I'd suggest only making your blade as "toothy" as it needs to be for the cutting tasks that you perform. Having said all this it might still be suitable for you to use a Rizla (that's what I use). Maybe try cutting them length ways (this is with the grain and easier). If it hangs up on the Rizla too much then back off to a paper which is a touch thicker, like news paper but you shouldn't have to go thicker than this.

[@BryonLee]

Does it have to be basswood or can another wood be used?

[@MichaelE.Douroux]

New subscriber, very helpful. On basswood what micron diamond compound would you recommend? Thanks!

[@stroppystuff641]

Thanks! I would always suggest that 1um is a great starting point and general purpose compound especially if you might consider 0.25 as a progression in the future. If you want to stick to a single compound then either 1um or 0.5um would be perfect.

[@MichaelE.Douroux]

@@stroppystuff641 Thanks!

[@101skills.]

Will any soft wood work?

[@TheLeesto]

why basswood over poplar or walnut etc?

[@JohnJez]

Hi there, your videos are great! Do uou recommended a spray or an emulsion for a basswood strop? Thanks ahain, John

[@stroppystuff641]

Thanks for the support! The compound is the same in both bottles, only different dispenser type. I personally like the spray

[@JohnJez]

@@stroppystuff641 brilliant thank you! Do you recommend the use of basswood strop over leather? Thanks for the help, John.

[@stroppystuff641]

@@JohnJez personal preference, I like both but maybe I prefer basswood. Also basswood is cheap! A good leather strop is expensive

[@JohnJez]

@@stroppystuff641 thank you, I'm just getting into sharpening and thought maybe basswood would be a good start as it's cheaper as you mentioned. Does it require more maintenance etc compared to leather?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@JohnJez basswood is great for a beginner because it's harder to damaged and then even if you do damage it you can sand it flat again 👍

[@Fishhuntliveoutdoors]

What size microns do you recommend for general use? I currently run the spyderco medium, fine, then leather strip with wax compound. I’d like to switch to the spray/diamond by not sure where to start?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@Fishhuntliveoutdoors 1um

[@notawix8542]

informative 👍 what angle and grit did you use to cut the paper tissue

[@stroppystuff641]

I freehand sharpen and don't measure my angles. Usually between 12 and 17dps depending on the knife

[@100BearPaw]

Nice

[@ghiblinerd6196]

Serious question: why basswood specifically? I think I have some pine lying around. Wouldn’t that be fine?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@ghiblinerd6196 anything is fine, basswood is particularly good because of the nice balance of hard but not too hard. Gives a nice draw and tactile feedback without being overly hard. The fibers also hold the diamond nicely. You can honestly strop on any wood

[@emmanuelvergne1955]

Hello, thanks for the videos. I read here and there about stropping on MDF. Any thought on that ? Have you ever tried it ?

[@stroppystuff641]

MDF has lots of contaminants in it, it can have sand and grit particles in there. If you wanted to use MDF I'd suggest trying with paper taped over the top of it.

[@emmanuelvergne1955]

@@stroppystuff641 Oh ok. Like regular print paper ? Or newspaper maybe ?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@emmanuelvergne1955 yeah printer paper works! You have to change frequently though. I'm not suggesting it's the best thing ever but it's certainly worth trying, better than leather imo.

[@emmanuelvergne1955]

@@stroppystuff641 Interesting ! I'll git it a try. Thank you for your replies.

[@stroppystuff641]

@@emmanuelvergne1955 no problem 👍 let me know how it goes

[@slalomnorth]

Just ordered some basswood off eBay. I’ve been meaning to try some for awhile. Does over stropping on the basswood reduce the bite of the edge?

[@stroppystuff641]

Depends if you're referring to bite from "tooth" or from how keen the apex is. All stropping materials result in stock removal which will result in the edge becoming finer which will result in less tooth. Depending on how much you strop and which grit compounds you use, you can minimize this loss of "tooth" to a point where it's not even worth worrying about. Conversely you can completely remove all tooth from stropping.

[@slalomnorth]

@@stroppystuff641 Gotchya. What do you prefer to do? If I wanted to keep some bite to the edge, what micron diamond compound would you use?

[@stevestory8483]

Where would you recommend getting Basswood from in the US?

[@stroppystuff641]

Luckily the US is a great place for basswood. Check out some model shops (for model making) and shops which sell wood carving stuff. People use it to practice carving frequently because it's quite soft

[@stevestory8483]

Any particular thickness or should I put it on top of some thing? Also, how should I prepare it or will it be flat enough when I get it from a craft store?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@stevestory8483 if you go too thin (like 3mm) then you're in dangerous territory if it being warped and bendy. I like to get it 10mm or thicker so I can sand it down. I like to sand mine down to a 600-1000 finish and then vacuum all the left over grit out of it. You can experiment with different grit finishes. No need to glue it to something unless it's very thin.

[@stevestory8483]

@@stroppystuff641 thanks

[@dennisdozaii1984]

Hobby Lobby carries it in the US.

[@jeffhicks8428]

a course diamond on a compressible substrate is an excellent way to get a quick and well done convex edge. diamonds are a serious abrasive, and move metal with very minimal pressure and it cuts basically any steel the same. hand grinding most folks can hardly notice a difference between vg10 and 10v on diamonds in many grits. anyway tons of woods work... and basically any wood can work as a substrate. i'm using mostly birch and moved to some poplar now for knives, but I have balsa I use for razors and things like that. I've even used hardwoods like oak and ofc it works, its just much harder and thus aggressive. Who knows what is better for what use, and not sure it even really matters. it all works. whatever works. so many ways to skin the cat.

[@ahmedejaz1125]

if you are going to use a hard material for stropping why not just strop on sharpening stone?

[@lvl18abilities]

do you guys think basswood and balsa is better than nanocloth? can you ghuys rank these and lmk why please?

[@stroppystuff641]

Nano cloth is really bad imo. It absorbs FAR too much compound and is FAR too compressible. It's good for polishing large flats because it's durable and doesn't load much. Basswood is much better for edge refinement.

[@lvl18abilities]

@@stroppystuff641 thanks, do you prefer Basswood over Kangaroo Leather?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@lvl18abilities yeah I don't like roo that much really. The grain is kinda meh compared to high end bovine shoulder

[@MrWeedpeet]

thanks for the info! what have you found is the best finish on the wood itself? Does it matter? Thanks :)

[@stroppystuff641]

I usually use a worn out 600 grit paper which makes the basswood feel very smooth but it reality it gives a similar finish to fresh 800-1000 grit paper. I like to use worn out paper so I'm less likely to deposit particles from the paper into the wood which will scratch my apex. But either way, clean it off nicely before you apply compound. In my opinion a nice smooth/glassy basswood strop is best because it gives you the most clear feedback from the knife, you can feel when your bevel is flat on the strop and make adjustments as required.

[@MrWeedpeet]

@@stroppystuff641 Thanks man! I bought bass wood in the past but I somehow gave up on it. Your take on it makes me try it again. :) Best regards from Germany.

[@stroppystuff641]

@@MrWeedpeet good luck! Let me know how it goes :)

[@MrWeedpeet]

@@stroppystuff641 Thanks, I will. Does other wood also work? Have you tried any?

[@stroppystuff641]

@@MrWeedpeet yeah you can use basically anything you want, not just wood. Basswood is nice due to the density of fibers, it holds the diamonds nicely etc.