Do you strop your knives to maintain?  Or to finish your sharpening session?

I have been getting into stropping more lately, especially with my EDC knives (which are mostly used for box opening and breaking down).  With the newer supersteels (M390, S30/S35, etc), I've found that stropping can help extend the time between when I sharpen with stones.  Similar with kitchen knives.  It's a fast and convenient way to maintain knives when I am too lazy to break out the Wicked Edge for my folding knives and whetstones for kitchen knives. 

Never tried stropping but always looking for ways to make the edge last longer. Not sure if it would help with our kitchen knives because Mrs Barrels sometimes "forgets" to use the cutting board.

Never tried stropping but always looking for ways to make the edge last longer. Not sure if it would help with our kitchen knives because Mrs Barrels sometimes "forgets" to use the cutting board.

Oh man.  Yikes!   

I've recently invested in a couple of nicer cutting boards that are supposed to be better for knife edges.  I have a couple of rubber (one for meats and one for veggies) and a wood (hinoki cypress).  Will see if I am able to notice a difference.  Prior to that, I was using a few cheapy plastic cutting boards. 

One good thing about strops is that even an inexpensive one can get good results.  I have a $10 one from Amazon and it works great.  Only "bad" thing is it's on the smaller side, so I ended up getting a larger one for kitchen knives. 

Do you strop your knives to maintain?  Or to finish your sharpening session?

I have been getting into stropping more lately, especially with my EDC knives (which are mostly used for box opening and breaking down).  With the newer supersteels (M390, S30/S35, etc), I've found that stropping can help extend the time between when I sharpen with stones.  Similar with kitchen knives.  It's a fast and convenient way to maintain knives when I am too lazy to break out the Wicked Edge for my folding knives and whetstones for kitchen knives.

i recently bought a cheap strop off of amazon to try on the one supersteel knife that i don't own
it seemed to work a tiny bit, we will see if it helps in the long run

Oh man.  Yikes!   

I've recently invested in a couple of nicer cutting boards that are supposed to be better for knife edges.  I have a couple of rubber (one for meats and one for veggies) and a wood (hinoki cypress).  Will see if I am able to notice a difference.  Prior to that, I was using a few cheapy plastic cutting boards. 

One good thing about strops is that even an inexpensive one can get good results.  I have a $10 one from Amazon and it works great.  Only "bad" thing is it's on the smaller side, so I ended up getting a larger one for kitchen knives.

story of my life...

I have a strop but generally only use it after stone sharpening.

I use a honing rod for the kitchen knives before every third or fourth use.
Works well.

Don’t leave them in the dish drying rack.
My wife and I have different sets of knives.
Wives go dull Because she leaves them in the rack.
Trained my kids to dry mine immediately after washing.
Wives are expensive.
Mine are cheap as I just look at the steel.

For the folders and EDCs I use a ceramic rod for touch up.
Might have to try the strop on the folders.

Here’s a video that I’ve shared with a few friends who were asking about stropping. I like this video because a) it’s sort of a regular Bubba and b) aligns with my uses for EDC knives.

There are many videos on stropping for kitchen knives as well. One of my faves is Burrfection.

I have a strop but generally only use it after stone sharpening.

I use a honing rod for the kitchen knives before every third or fourth use.
Works well.

Don’t leave them in the dish drying rack.
My wife and I have different sets of knives.
Wives go dull Because she leaves them in the rack.
Trained my kids to dry mine immediately after washing.
Wives are expensive.
Mine are cheap as I just look at the steel.

For the folders and EDCs I use a ceramic rod for touch up.
Might have to try the strop on the folders.

When I used whetstones, lately I’ve been finishing with honing passes on a higher grit stone. I’ve been using the strop for intermediate. Since I’ve been cooking a lot more at home lately, the knives get used a lot more. My better knives get washed and hand dry after. On a rare occasion, I forget and they end up drying in the rack.

Here’s a video that I’ve shared with a few friends who were asking about stropping. I like this video because a) it’s sort of a regular Bubba and b) aligns with my uses for EDC knives.

There are many videos on stripping for kitchen knives as well. One of my faves is Burrfection.

focusX2
you forgot the link

focusX2
you forgot the link

Maybe that's where my real focus was on. . . 

Anyone sharpened SV110 before?

Anyone sharpened SV110 before?

Not me.  Of 2a members, maybe Jaynick has. 

In that "range" of steels, I have (or have tried) M390, CTS-204P, CPM-20CV, CPM-S90V, and Elmax.  Out of those M390 is my fave.  I've read that many say these steels are difficult to sharpen, but one of my daily carry is the 204P.  It was tougher to sharpen than some others, but that just means it takes me more time to get sharp.  But with the Wicked Edge, no problems. 

The "takes me more time to get sharp" is mostly my impatience.  Some of the steels that I have that are easier to sharpen (1095, 440s, etc) I can get a pretty good edge with whetstones.  With the supersteels, I have found that the Wicked Edge is really helpful. 

I just sharpen, razor sharp isn't that important to me.

Here’s a video that I’ve shared with a few friends who were asking about stropping. I like this video because a) it’s sort of a regular Bubba and b) aligns with my uses for EDC knives.

There are many videos on stropping for kitchen knives as well. One of my faves is Burrfection.

Nice video. I have that same strop but the smaller version
I only strop as a last step on my better knives but after watching that video, I'm going to try regular stropping instead of the sharpening rods like I usually do. It seems like a good concept. 

Nice video. I have that same strop but the smaller version
I only strop as a last step on my better knives but after watching that video, I'm going to try regular stropping instead of the sharpening rods like I usually do. It seems like a good concept. 

Stropping was (or still is) a learning curve for me.  I think part of my problem is that the difference in process/intent between stones and strop.  Once I started looking into just strop to maintain, it helped overall.  I have the no soak stones, which aren't that humbug to setup.  But stops are way easier, at least to me. 

There are some videos about which steels are better served with stropping and which are the ceramic rods.  The video I am thinking about was mostly with kitchen knives and differences between Japanese and German steel, but could be applied to all knives.  I still have sharpening rods in kits and stuff as they are super helpful for sure. 

Revisiting this thread after spending some time to sharpen and hone/strop some knives, including a few that I carry often.  Two are M390 and one S35VN.  One of the M390 is my range and camping knife, and somewhat of a beater.  I use all of my knives, mostly for opening and breaking down boxes, but all of them are used, no matter the price range.

Have discuss differences in steel before, but that's something I've definitely noticed in my recent use and sharpening.  It may have to do with the exact steel or company who produced, as well as the blade profile/grind, but I'm definitely noticing that the M390 blades keep their edge a lot longer than S35VN and aren't that difficult to sharpen.  At least based on common ratings compared to other supersteels.

One knife with M390 that I carry often is a ZT 0770CF.  It was one of my first ZTs and bought from a 2a forum member.  This is one of the M390 knives that got me really interested in this steel.  It doesn't get beat up as much at my ZT 0566, but it gets a lot of use.  I was thinking it needed sharpening.  I had just finished sharpening my 0566, so I had the Wicked Edge out.  After cleaning the blade off (mostly tape and adhesive residue), I decided to strop it first and see what that did.  After some stropping, it was sharp enough to still shave hairs off of my arm.  I was surprised since I had used that knife a lot in the past many months since last sharpening.

The other M390 I used often is a Kershaw Dividend.  I think I got it for around $70 a while back.  For that prices, it's been great.  The "hardest" use it gets is at the range and camping.  It definitely gets a lot of use, and more than boxes and tape.  That one gets sharpened quite often.  I should try stropping here and there.

The reason I busted out the Wicked Edge was the ZT 0566, which is S35VN.  That knife is my carried the most and most well used.  I "think" I can noticed a difference in how quickly the edge degrades through use compared to M390, but just might be due to how much I used this knife. 

I have a Lion Steel M390 that I don't carry as often.  I might have to try carrying that one more often and seeing how it compares to the ZT 0770. 

Wives are expensive.
Mine are cheap as I just look at the steel.

  million dollar Robo-wife
Nice 2a quote.
 

    I keep one of those tungsten carbide chips in my truck to edge when Rockette runs into store.
For quickie stropping, I'll just use a piece of cardboard if available.
You'd be surprised how good that works. 
Not  a scalpel but always better than it was.