STROPPING?!

Overview and details

[@daveglarner2138]

I just learned more about this stuff in the past 11 minutes than I have otherwise in the last 3 months. I've been connecting the dots, but it's nice to see someone say it in a reasonable way. With, ya know......facts n shit.

[@FearNoSteel]

Yeah, people have donated to the channel so it was time to share more. Otherwise I just would be another tease video showing off da strop without really any details

[@Stassa23]

Another super useful video 👌 BBB for President 😎

[@FearNoSteel]

LMAO right on brother 👊

[@aray9628]

Absolutely!👊💪

[@mikelikesknives428]

That's customer service. You are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for all you do.👍

[@FearNoSteel]

😁👊

[@thiago.assumpcao]

Nice video. Steels loaded on carbide shine while using draw cuts on abrasive materials. Makes sense to pair them with low grit sharpening to enhance that. For me polished vs agressive edge really depends on the task. Cutting hair, paper, raw meat and impact resistance I go with polished. Cutting vegetables, barbecue and rope I go with agressive edge.

[@jamesmiller360]

Nice strop. Some good information. I watched all your videos on maxamet and learned a lot. I now sharpen my maxamet on 2 stones, 400 and 800 venev and strop with 1 micron diamond. Leaves a great great edge. Thanks to you for all the good information and entertainment.

[@mikafoxx2717]

Science of sharp confirms pretty much all of this. Toothy edges are a chipped off burr, which is mostly the same thinness but with a coarse stone the burr is strong enough to handle loading without failing. This kind of burr is the kind left after burr minimization. You can strop from there to sharpen the apex of the burr a little bit more, but it retains most of the serrated form to it. Finer stones remove that excess steel drawn out past to true triangle of the sharpening angle, and the burr gets so small that it flakes off or folds much more easily and won't hold up to cutting, so when you refine it, there's pretty much just an apex left, stropping can remove that tiny burr from 2-4k+ grit stones by microbeveling it off and leave a perfectly smooth apex of shaving edge. The strops don't put enough pressure on the very apex to deform it, instead the strop deforms first, so the burr stops being created and a micro convex happens with an even smaller apex angle. The steel you use and it's hardness matters a lot for how easy the burr goes away, because of how easily the steel fractures instead of bends back and forth continuously, but can be a detriment to ultimate sharpness if it fractures too easily, too.

[@raiderbowl]

I watched this yesterday and it dawned on me today what a great video this was. Thanks for sharing some very knowledgeable information.

[@FearNoSteel]

thanks bro

[@ozyrob1]

Man that micarta strop looks great!!! Great advice too. Subbed

[@FearNoSteel]

Welcome aboard.

[@robertherrick9186]

Nice touch with the micarta backing on the looks good man.

[@FearNoSteel]

Thanks bro

[@zachstuff]

Oh my goodness that is very nice! BBB's HD strop!

[@FearNoSteel]

Oooo HD strop!

[@sdjohnston67]

Man, you are like the Gandalf of blade knowledge. Great stuff.

[@the_sharp_carpenter]

Sweet pocket/pack strop. And a very concise video on the toothy vs polished Edge reasons.

[@FearNoSteel]

Thanks my bruddah 🤙

[@Outpost_76]

Awesome strop, you make some killer stuff. I always enjoy listening to you.

[@jrclad2964]

Beautifully done. Very pretty. and, as a gift, knowledge :-) Thank You very much.

[@FearNoSteel]

Thanks brother, I love my customers.

[@JDStone20]

Nice strop! I was thinking the same thing, it is complex and simple at the same time, you can get into it as deep as you want or just do what works for you, that's the beauty of it really.

[@scottward4055]

Great to see you making videos again.. I know you are busy with knife making and I'm hoping to get one of your customs in the future.

[@FearNoSteel]

Very good, I'm knee deep in making them now xad

[@aray9628]

Just beautiful work brother... Thanks for all your information it helps a lot.

[@atomedgesharpening]

I like drywall sanding screens to lap up leather with. They remove material well and dont load too much and leave a nice texture too.

[@FearNoSteel]

Nice

[@glockgaston2922]

Awesome information brother thanks for sharing!!!

[@FearNoSteel]

Thank the patreon folks, brought to you by them. Otherwise this would have been a 30sec video showing the Stroping xD

[@bp-hx9ts]

You could probably sell those strops willing to bet people would pay for it if you sold it in a kit with your stones right separately I know I would buy em

[@FearNoSteel]

Hahahaha thanks brother

[@JDStone20]

I'd buy one!

[@bp-hx9ts]

Big Brown Bear see lol already another person who likes it

[@wesstewart6073]

I’ll take 5 of them. No joke

[@bp-hx9ts]

We got another one lol

[@misterbaker9728]

My goal for this year other than buying certain knives is to tackle the sharpening monster. What’s a good beginner stone? Strop?

[@anthonyp7051]

Here’s where I’m at,,,own and use fixed blades. Love all the knife outdoors community. Bought a few sharpening systems that work but really gave me the grounds of knowledge and how to work the blade. So before I step into some high dollar full on machines or sets of stones that will be another strain of limited income I humbling ask you to privately line me up with the stones you use and oils/compounds. I’m totally willing and wanting to pay coast. I’m not looking to save or cut corners. I’m simply looking to get right and have my edges work optimally. I’m over 30 semi and full customs deep and wide range of styles and rarities. I do see many new folders and the direction it’s going has me excited! By now it’s clear the thickness of spine matters but not all that much when the geometry is everything. Getting the steel thinner at edge and behind the edge with nearly a V ground edge with a properly heat treated steel is what I’m after and I been seeing it now on market. Also there’s the technique and proper tools to do a total overhaul(regrind). Thank you ahead of time for hooking me up with this info.

[@evictioncarpentry2628]

I just buy leather scraps from a local leather shop, usually only a couple bucks each. Take some scrap MDF cut to size and wood glue the leather to each side and trim edge. One rough side and one smooth side. Green compound the rough side. Done.

[@tinman1955]

My favorite strop is the one I made out of Dorothy's ruby slippers. Works great on my woodsman axe.

[@FearNoSteel]

What stone you rocking? Emerald?

[@tinman1955]

​@@FearNoSteel >​ Ever strop on lion hide? Cowardly lion is preferred for safety sake but he can be hard to find.

[@madmullets]

I like to use Roo leather with my diamond sprays. Bit thinner but the grain of the roo leather is amazing. Thanks for bring up the point that you are just refining the carbides when you strop. My go to strop bases is 1/2 inch glass I get from a local glass company. on my working edges I like to go to a Chosera 3k then strop with a 1 micron spray. I have a cordovan strop I made that I use with a .25 micron spray I use when Im after that show off edge and on my straight razors, but its not practical for EDC use.

[@FearNoSteel]

Nice, my favorite edge is a 1k to 1um. Nice bite but still has polish.

[@southerncross100]

Nice work Shawn.

[@FearNoSteel]

Thanks Mick

[@AnthonyFister]

BBB, if you wrote a book and called it: “How to get sh*t f*cking sharp” … I’d buy it in a heartbeat. ;-)

[@FearNoSteel]

LMAO

[@ColossalSwordFormAndTechnique]

I just use a second cut file, using the stropping motion. Not sharpening motion. But only already sharp edges, that just need a quick touch up. Much faster than using an Arkansas stone or a man made whetstone. And then i polish the edge with my short and wide smooth rock as good as an Arkansas stone. And then i finish with my leather strop block. Basically 3 steps. A second cut file and or a lansky puck are both great for sharpening a very blunt edge though. 👏

[@alivekicking5415]

ThankYOU always for sharing your wisdom 🐻

[@FearNoSteel]

Haha thanks bruddah 🤙

[@fightingusik4265]

I know they aren't your gig, but I've recently been delving back into traditional folders. Especially multi-bladed ones and part of the reason for that, is being able to carry a knife with two different edges. Right now, my Case Mini Trapper has a the clip point sporting a 300grit diamond edge, stropped and the Wharncliffe I took all the way up to a black Arkansas and then stropped. One is nice and aggressive and the other refined and somewhat polished. And I use them accordingly. I know, Case, TruSharp, Arkansas stones...But, it's the same basic concepts and principals.

[@FearNoSteel]

I approve xD well done.

[@seanb6986]

However, strops create the idea that they solely create a sharp edge, therefore they not only enhance, but create. Boom, there you go, that’s science right there!

[@FearNoSteel]

Ya schooled me xD

[@markanthonystringfellow3923]

Great Work B!!! The strop is a bit like T-Cut and polishing a car after a good washing :-)))

[@FearNoSteel]

Yes, exactly!

[@darichard11]

Very interesting post - thanks for sharing. I'm doing a bunch of strop testing. You never get it back to a sharpened. But in my limited experience, a hard stop will get it back to 75% of performance, maybe higher a least a few times. It doesn't eliminate sharpening, but it will bring it back to almost as sharp for a while. The trend I'm seeing is the harder the steel and the duller the edge the less a strop gets close to performing like a sharpened edge. A strop does almost nothing for a very dull edge. All my limited experience. I mostly use wood strops with diamond applied. Maybe this is closer to fine stone sharpening than stropping? Not sure. I resurface them frequently.

[@FearNoSteel]

Whatever works, in my experience, I just touch up on the stone if I lose that crispy edge. I'll still strip to prolong the edge but if I want the sharpest knife it's always fresh off the stone then strop.

[@darichard11]

Don't disagree. Doing some Cedric & Ada style rope cut testing after stroping. So I have some data but it's admittedly a one-dimensional view of what a strop can do. On harder steels, it goes progressively downhill after each time you strop (for me).

[@philipp594]

Does this strop have the „rough“ side up? Leather gets shaved to thickness from the rough side I don’t think there will be much more material (to refinish) on the shiny side.

[@pilesofpoodles4954]

Would love to see you sharpen the micro on your Malanika. Preferably on ceramics :)

[@FearNoSteel]

Pretty much beat that subject to death. Lots of videos under the M4 Malanika I have back in 2016ish

[@pilesofpoodles4954]

Big Brown Bear Thanks my wiener. Hate sharpening the flats on the Mali and has wondered if it was possible just to hit the micro. I'm stropped out. Oddly enough it sees most use on leather work. Handle is a bit thin for high pressure cuts in the bush.

[@nebulamask81]

That's beautiful!

[@mickkeim4142]

What is a good spray to look for? Also, do use a separate strop for each grit? Do you also use a clean strop as the last strop, or do you always load them with a compound? Thanks for your great vids...very concise and informative.

[@FearNoSteel]

I use the Portland Knife House Brand. Once loaded you just keep that grit size.

[@FearNoSteel]

Nah, I just wipe the edge with a clean cloth.

[@John..18]

Great video bud, good point about the diamond "waxy" paste,,, gonna get me some spray now,,, Atb,,, John,,,

[@FearNoSteel]

Good call, nice.

[@RutgerMulder]

What diamond spray are you using? All the pre-made stuff is pretty expensive over here so i decided i'd make my own instead. I ordered 500 carats of diamond powder (several grits/micron) and a dozen of empty spray bottles for about €25. Gonna have some fun with that when it arrives. Maybe even try make a stone with some epoxy and filler.

[@FearNoSteel]

I always encourage trying stuff out, sounds cool man.

[@steeltoez8345]

I'm probably in the minority who has pretty much given up on dedicated strops completly. I just De Burr off the stone I'm using. I might do some slow deliberate alternating strokes afterwards to double check if the Burr is completely gone. With good technique I don't think strops are even necessary. Provided the Stones can handle the steel being used on it. And the user has the base line skill to sharpen a knife. I figure Strops as a maintenance tool could leave fatigued steel at the apex leading to chipping later down the road. Diamond or cbn compounds probably remove it but I can't speak on that from experience. Two stone sharpening 3 at most covers a wide enough platform for my use. A coarse or medium stone gives me peace of mind my edge is staying healthy. The finish then depends on the stone I end with mostly a spyderco fine. I saw Cliff stamp get results off a brick, technique is everything. I've never used maxamet but it's not a novice friendly steel from what I've seen. The diamond loaded strop on the 10 oz just makes sense for this on all fronts. I find explaining what a strop actually does educates people properly. Cool video I enjoyed it.

[@mikafoxx2717]

Strops do a different task to stones. Debuting on stones often still give you a burr, but the chipped off burr is what gives you that toothy edge, even if the burr is sharp even in the valleys. Strops don't put enough force on the apex to bend the thin piece of steel near the apex like a hard stone, so it puts a microbevel and truly deburrs it to a shaving finish. Burrs aren't always bad, it's just anything that isn't inside the perfect sharpening triangle at the very apex. You can have a longer portion of thin apex steel thanks to a coarse "deburred" edge that stays sharp for longer, though weaker than a perfect triangle apex from a finer stone. It's complicated. Like he says, coarse grit brought to a fine strop sharpens the large burr to a sharper edge, but keeps most of that sawtoothy chipped off aligned (strong) coarse grit burr. A sharp straight razor won't necessarily cut vegetables better with a slice than a 600 grit finish.

[@littlewoody5539]

Nice strop good video .

[@anthonyp7051]

Part 2 of my earlier comment and request,,,I’m making some moves that will get some extra coin and my goal is to obtain a knife from you. You have all the understanding and skills to get these super steels fine tuned and that’s where good sharpening instruments and time put in completes your knife. I know having a knife from you will keep my group home even though their all well made and the connections I have with their makers makes it where I don’t see splitting from them. With you it’s the end game. To have a knife that’s doing what it’s meant to with ease for the user,totally comfortable in hand getting it all day,then hit the strop after each use and occasionally going at the stones.

[@darichard11]

FYI, Cedric & Ada just got his best Maxamet results with a polished edge (5K stone + 3K wood strop).

[@FearNoSteel]

Mileage may vary xD

[@darichard11]

Yep. Could be that edge at 10 micron would have done better.

[@martinleb23]

Hey BBB what kinda compound do u use?

[@bp-hx9ts]

That strop is sick where do you get your leather

[@FearNoSteel]

leather r us, anywhere that sells leather bruh, its been sanded and loaded so any leather work fine, I just rock 10oz

[@JDStone20]

That 10oz looks interesting, I might have to get some and try it out

[@FearNoSteel]

I love how it feels man, gives you more options.

[@thelastron]

You should sell that that is really good looking and worthy of a All In or at least a little sell it to make money.

[@convex7456]

The bark river cbn i wasnt too impressed with. But i need to try lower grits i think to see better results

[@danmichell7516]

keep them comin so we dont ask uninformed questions ty ty

[@FearNoSteel]

Haha thanks Dan.

[@komandoklucha]

OLD STUFF BACK! Hey dude, I got two questions for you :) Im thinking about regrind my vtoku endura, how much would you left behind the edge, mostly for food but some edc also? Do you have any expierence with diamond plates from aliexpress? 7x3 inch for ~3,5$ seams to cheap to be any good

[@FearNoSteel]

I use a belt sander, it would take a lifetime to use a stone to do a real regrind.

[@komandoklucha]

@@FearNoSteel I'm super lazy so for sure I would use belt ginder.

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

Good video as always mate 😊 if i ever get enough money i would love to test a blade from you mate on my channel

[@FearNoSteel]

I'm a perfectionist so I don't make them very fast. I'll put them up as I complete them.

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

@@FearNoSteel jupp im to broke to buy a blade anyways hehe but drooling is allowed

[@Zayaraq]

where can I get leather to make my own strops from? :O

[@FearNoSteel]

Google search "leather" it's everywhere xD

[@housevollmer9106]

I usually run a few passes over the thousand before I strop even if my knife is only kind of dull, I only touch it up ever week or two anyway, so a few passes on the thousand just to freshen that edge before the strop... just seems right anyway... I have buddies who sharpen everyday, and to them I recommended just stropping, and they never listened and would do a full series of stones from course to ultrafine, some just just like sharpening, some guys just like a zombie killing sharp knife all the time, and others like to brag about “using their knife so much” and wearing a blade out on a notoriously wear resistant steel... when really all they used it so much for was sharpening practice... people are funny!

[@bellumwar1342]

Where did you get the spray

[@FearNoSteel]

Portland Knife House

[@Nate196501]

Make some 8" X 2" and I'll buy them!

[@DrGurple]

Great shit

[@jasonburns956]

When resurfacing strops how do you stop the sandpaper from contaminating the strop Super nice work by the way but you already knew that didnt ya

[@FearNoSteel]

Don't use friable SiC sandpaper use AlO, also, it's just soft leather so it's the leather breaking down not the grains and paper. Afterwards, I wipe it down with dry paper towel and apply diamond. Haven't noticed any problems my edge seem to be sharp enough to cut warm butter xD

[@mickkeim4142]

Do you just use sand paper to resurface the strop?

[@FearNoSteel]

being a knife maker, I use a Belt sander, but some 120grit AlO paper would work too.

[@tyronemorrissey4728]

Thanks good video

[@ferizb]

Nice video man!

[@Jef]

I got annihilated for using "too much" diamond compound on my strops. Heh what is correct? More or less?

[@FearNoSteel]

Haha There's no answer to that xD. I stated my reasons for why I frosted this Boi and what I regularly do. If it feels good, do it xd

[@reispab]

o amigo el video es mejor que las fotos te quedo exelente, lastima que en mi pais no se consiga esa emulsión de diamantes

[@MsKatiepeter]

Very nice bbb!

[@Lars1540]

FUCKING KZbin!!! BBB - I just spent like 25 minutes composing a well written question for you, then I hit post, and poof, the comment disappears and doesn’t get posted! Fucking fantastic! So let’s try something different, shall we? BBB - I want to get your thoughts on something and I quite honestly don’t have the patience to sit and type that shit all out again. Do you think it’s possible that I either chat with you on facebook messenger, or simply FaceTime call you at your convenience? Thanks bro!

[@FearNoSteel]

Instagram @triplebhandmade

[@Dafoodmaster]

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