Is stropping really an effective practice?

I can get my knife very sharp, easily blowing hair off my arm. That's my biggest test anyhow. Easier to do by stropping, but I can definitely do off the stones. I'm actually starting to second guess stropping, or at least my frequency. I've been stropping as soon as my knives no longer shaves. Just a few quick passes on a diamond strop.

My problem is I've been finding stropping actually draws out a burr. So I had a sharp tough edge using it with no issues. Then trying to maintain perfect sharpness I strop, then cut something mediocre after stropping a few times and the burr just rolls over and turns my knife into a butter knife. I just sharpened again on stones. I'm going to not strop and see how it holds up. Or wait until the edge is more worn down so the apex is wider and hopefully it would be impossible to draw a burr out then but still see minor improvements in sharpness to maintain thr edge a little between sharpening.
 
elevator man said:
I can get my knife very sharp, easily blowing hair off my arm. That's my biggest test anyhow. Easier to do by stropping, but I can definitely do off the stones. I'm actually starting to second guess stropping, or at least my frequency. I've been stropping as soon as my knives no longer shaves. Just a few quick passes on a diamond strop.

My problem is I've been finding stropping actually draws out a burr. So I had a sharp tough edge using it with no issues. Then trying to maintain perfect sharpness I strop, then cut something mediocre after stropping a few times and the burr just rolls over and turns my knife into a butter knife. I just sharpened again on stones. I'm going to not strop and see how it holds up. Or wait until the edge is more worn down so the apex is wider and hopefully it would be impossible to draw a burr out then but still see minor improvements in sharpness to maintain thr edge a little between sharpening.
Click to expand...
What kind of steel and what micron diamond are you using?
 
Blade Lab said:
What kind of steel and what micron diamond are you using?
Click to expand...
K390. .5 micron diamond on balsawood, maybe 3 micron diamond on balsawood if .5 doesn't do anything.

I'm rotating between a couple knives right now and this ones been a pattern of a durable edge that looses sharpness like normal, slowly wearing away until I've stropped it a few times then I tend to get a burr roll or edge roll from a material that it was fine with right off the stones.

Ive got another knife in 15v that doesn't seem to have this problem at all, even stropping it on .5 micron occasionally, I've never had it do that.

I'm thinking it could just be something about the heat treat on that k390 I have. I'm experimenting also with the edge angle, I increased it to 40 degrees (from 30) and it made no difference. The same situation just repeated cutting plastic wrap similar to a trash bag, completely folded over.

I do wonder if this is more steel specific than having to do with stropping in general. But as I use my knives daily I get to know them per se.
 
I don't really strop to maintain usually(mostly)... usually i strop to finish after sharpening on a stone.
 
Yes, it's a delica. I've really been trying to pay attention on sharpening and use a guided dmt system, take a meticulous amount of time sharpening to be pretty confident there's no burr left, and I've cut some gnarly thick hard plastic and other things that didn't phase it, I was impressed. Then other times I've cut relatively easy things like some thin bag type plastic and an shocked to have a rolled edge that I can feel the burr with my finger, but that's after stropping.

I'm not at all trying to Blame spyderco or k390. It could just be that batch of knives the way the steel is combined with the strop materials I'm using and how I do it not jive well together. I'm trying just not stropping it for now. Gotta try to adjust to find what this knife likes. Way too much good feedback on k390, I doubt it's a botched HT or something.
 
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