Learn how to use a knife strop
Let’s cut to the chase, and talk about exactly how to make your knife cut quickly and smoothly. That’s what you need it for, isn’t it?
First and foremost, make sure you have a leather strop for knife sharpening and a set of diamond polishing compounds. With them, you will be able to sharpen your blade as sharp as the Valyrian steel catspaw dagger.
To start, apply a small amount of the 4,000 Grit compound to the rougher side of the sharpening strop. A thick layer of diamonds is not what you would want (in this case). You need a thin even coat covering the whole surface of the leather piece. Thus, use a flat utensil to spread out the product. You can also do it with your finger if you don’t mind a little mess. After you spread the diamond polishing paste across the strop, leave it for a few hours to dry up. What’s the exact amount of time? 3-6 hours. It depends on the room temperature. Therefore, to play safe, have some patience and wait longer.
Now, when you prepared the leather strop, ensure that the blade is ready. Always wipe it diligently to prevent contamination of the surface. Take a look at it. If it’s clean, it’s time to introduce it to the strop.
1. Put the knife, one side up, on the strop, the heel goes first. Keep in mind that the angle you want to strop it at is the angle you sharpened it at. Otherwise, there is a chance that you’ll make the knife duller, not sharper.
2. Now, gently drag the knife to strop the entire length. It is important to not apply pressure and let the weight of the knife do the work.
3. Alternate blade sides and repeat steps 1 and 2 10 times for each side.
That wasn’t too bad and we’re halfway done! Repeat the process with the 8000 Grit diamond paste. Now you can call yourself the mighty stropper! Congratulations!
If you still have questions, here you can find an article written by our good friends from HoneyBadgersKnives.