3 Stropping Tips Beginners Must Know (Knife Sharpening) 

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Congratulations, you're the first knife guy I have come across that understands stropping. The closeup of the blade sinking into the soft leather answers the age-old question "Why does my knife get duller the more I strop?" You gave a good solution, but mine is different: I use a hard rawhide strop that the blade does not sink into. You can actually sharpen a knife with this, though I rather a stone for real dull blades. I use 1-5 micron diamond on the rawhide because it's faster and just as cheap. You can also impress a shallow checkered pattern into the rawhide to retain the diamond lapping compound. Well done sir!

Been using a strop on my knives for ages and had no idea about the scratch pattern direction thing. Been doing it the opposite this whole time lol. Great video 👍🏻

6:27 The bonus tip about reversing your sharpening method on the strop so you don't change the scratch pattern was exactly what I needed to hear. I appreciate your visuals and the way you explain everything. Thanks!

Thank you so much for the energy and time you put in your videos! I'm also glad RU-vid recommended me your channel!

This is the video I didn't know I needed! Have put these into practice and my results are 1000x better!

i love all these comments here, i like how this knife enthusiast community is so supportive, kind, and helpful

A very detailed and helpful video. Great job, man!

Great tips. Thank you for the breakdown on the cheap diamond compound vs quality! Never thought of it in that way until seeing your video. Thanks again

Thanks, This was the most understandable content on stropping media that I've seen.

Just Started being serious about sharpening. Your advice and examples are definitely very helpful.

Always a happy day when Alex releases a new video!!!!

Your videos are really helping me take my sharpening to the next level. Thank you.

Im so happy U r back I can"t say how many times i"ve tryied too look after U and Your leesons. I'm glad too have u back. I'm sorry for spelling , Trying my best. Hope you poste more .

Always excited to see a new video from you. Great material! Thank you for sharing!!

Best sharpening videos on RU-vid. Straight and practical, like your knife selection. Thank you sir

High praise for your work: I created a playlist for knife sharpening with this video as the inaugural save. Your stuff is it easy to follow, makes sense, and includes just the right amount of detail and explanation and visuals.

You hit on all the visuals that are needed to get a good understanding of stropping. You got a sub out of me. I appreciate your knowledge.

Excellent information. I am much bigger on sharpening with whetstones than constant stopping. I generally use a good leather with mineral oil. I did not know the direction of stropping would matter. Makes sense. Thanks.

Those close up shots were really nice. Well done.

Excellent detailed tips and amazing microscopic video footage!!!

You have been very helpful! I have just got my wet-stone running after several years, I have worked out the angles for straightening, sharpening, and putting the second angle on. I knew nothing about fine-honing or stropping. Will be buying some diamond compound and I have a couple of friends in the equine world who will be able to get me some strong saddle leather for stropping.

Good work, I didn't think about the compound wearing that much. Thanks.

I've transitioned away from strops completely at this point and do all of my finishing on high grit stones. No risk of round over, lapping the stone gets you new, clean abrasive every time, etc.

thanks for the nice tips Alex. Great video

Awesome tips as always, brother! I'll definitely take your advice on being light on the strop and follow the scratch patterns. I also tend to drop some oil on my green compound (chromium oxide) given it's dry and somewhat flaky. A little oil helps color the strop an even green. Cheers!

I've only seen a few dozen of your videos but every one has been interesting and informative. Not to mention entertaining. Thanks for the info and the effort you spend getting it to us. It's appreciated.

This is good to know, thank you, Alex!

Platitude. Tangential anecdote. My unsolicited opinion. Just like many of the comments. But 8:04 to 8:15 reveals why I have had to plough through so much utter rubbish when searching on RU-vid for sharpening advice as good (and as entertaining, including the offbeat reflection on Internet access) as yours. By chance, one of your videos appeared in my suggested list, and like a lot of people, I have done the decent thing and Liked and Subscribed. (The person who uploaded his opinion that the pinnacle of sharpening methods was to use an electric bench-grinder had me shouting at the screen. Glad to have found your channel, thanks.) 👍

I thought i knew how to strop knives after sharpening... I only knew 1/4 tips you shared! Lot of valuable informations! Thank you 😉

Very helpful. Just got my first ligit sharpening stone And leather strop. Appreciate the bonus tip

This is why I love your channel I always learn something good

Superb advice! Thanks!!!

Glad you got internet again. When you get back to selling some strops i want to get one from you. Just been using some scraps from belt making. Happy to see you posting again !

Always giving great info

I wanted to say thank you for helping me getting better at sharpening my knives. I've always used green compound so far and will switch to Diamond. It may cost more but the difference ain't that bad considering you don't need to use as much. Again, thank you very much :)

Well presented. Thank you. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

Remarkably useful and info dense. I learned a lot. Thank you. Subscribed.

You have helped me man for over 4 years I've been sharpening knives while watching your videos I'm 15 BTW with this I have made over $200 in a week thank you hope to see more from you I was the one who asked about the folding knives sorry

Damn dude, I was sharpening to the point it would shave and call it good. Figured my skills wernt quite there for hair splitting/whittling sharp. After following your tips I just achieved my first hair whittle. Thanks my dude!

Great Video ! Thanks for the great advise!

Excellent information! Thanks!

Well done video! Nice humor too. I use 2.5 micron silicon carbide powder on the roughout side of the leather, and then naked smooth veg tanned leather for the final strop. Has worked very well FOR ME for over 20 years. The custom made mahogany and leather strop, and the stropping powder are from a now defunct company called Hand American Made. They were quite well known at one time. Thanks for this informative video!!

I am so envious pf your sharpening ability

Thanks, very helpful!

U deserve a huge like for this video. I will save it in my library also. Have to watch it again. Thank you.

Very helpful, thanks.

Thank you for the very informative video, again.

Thank you. God bless

Helpful. Even though I strop using a motor, I find this video (and others of yours) helpful. "Good show." Thanks!

After watching this video I am ready to head towards the garage and apply what I learned. In the past I've done all the mistakes: -overstropped -used tons of pressure -used too fine grit -used cheap diamond paste that led me to so much frustration, it's hard to express. Thanks for the valuable information!

Wow, this video was really helpful, thanks.

Great vid! I made my own pocket strop from a piece of pine moulding and my old leather belt. Now I just strop my Spyderco Sage 1 every other week.

Hahaha. "Now if you're a weirdo.." 😄😆😅😂 Had me rollin' bro.

Great video love the finer details 👍

I appreciate the authentic Phoebe call in the background

An addition to tip 1: Don't overstrop, but strop often! The less you need to bring the sharpening stone, the better to the blade's longevity

Thanks, you just made sharping more complicated. I’ll have to work my way up to this. But seriously thanks

I’m always fine tuning my stropping technique.. thanks for the tips!

I'm glad to hear you mention the diamond compound quality. It's a real problem with the diamond past. Don't go, Cheep.

Great tips. As I sharpen on a guided angle system (Edge Pro w/ ceramic abrasives, digital angle finder & loupe at the moment), I've been alternating heel-to-tip and tip-to-heel with each grit as this provides both touch and visual feedback for when the scratches from the last grit are removed. I always forget which direction of (from heel or from tip) I hit with my last stone at 1200 grit. If stropping is refining the last scratch direction, then perhaps I should be aiming for a consistent perpendicular to the spine for my final passes on stone, so that stropping isn't removing the microteeth at the apex. Great macro video on depressing the leather here. I just discovered that some strop on balsa wood, and I wonder whether that mignt be less prone to rounding the apex.

Great video Alex! I really like how you dive so deep into these topics. I learned a lot. Cheers buddy!👍

This is the channel I’ve been waiting for

Thanks, good explanation.

Awesome breakdown. Good job

GREAT vid as always. 👍👍🔪

Good episode. Straight to the point, succint, really sharp 😁 Thank you for sharing your knowledge good Sir! I've been using green goop for some time for my wood carving knives and yes, it does need frequent reapplying... Like every stropping frequent... Fortunately i have a few carving knives but i think i will try out that diamond paste too.

Interesting. Really enjoyed the information. I learned about stropping from the straight razor community. At the time the advice tended to be use a compound with a canvas strop and use the leather strop without compound, or have a dedicated leather with compound, and still finish on a clean leather strop. I know a straight razor is different from a knife, but it is still an edge. I am kind of inspired to break out my straight razors again. I enjoyed shaving with them and the super smooth shave they gave.

The sharpening skill was a worthwhile skill to learn and master . I ve done over a hundred edges now and some take more time than others but it’s all worthwhile . Thanks man . We need someone to test hrc hardness on knives . There’s a general fee they charge for each knife but it might be fun , or not , lol . LTK is doing it but I think they want to test more knives , and more knives .

a lotts videos i see that try to give advice end up being rambles with vague ideas, or just things that dont matter at all/effect anything. This video is possibly the best general advice for stropping i have ever seen.

Another great informative video!!!

Excellent presentation, thanks...

Green compound is ok. Right now I’m saving so I’m only using the compound I have right now I can get knifes hair with long sharp chest takes a lot more work. Love the channel keep up the work. Ps when I started I was using those horrible whetstones and thinking I was horrible but after watching you for a bit I picked up a few dmt stones thank you for the recommendation.

great video this is my new hobby and i loved your video Greg here in Florida,funny following the last comment Greg stold my thunder with the scratch pattern direction cause I was doing it wrong and to find out early on is lucky so thanks for the great advice .

Great video! Super helpful.

Great explanation 👍👏

Thanks for sharing this great content!

This helped alot thanks.

Wow, this is exactly what I needed to know. I push too hard when I strop. Thank you!

Great video! I like that you kept it under 15 mins. Nice touch of humor as well. Welcome back, glad to see your back online making videos. Thanks for the useful information about stropping. I have been looking to purchase a strop for quite some time now. I was looking at Knives Plus strop, after seeing about diamond compounds it has changed my mind. Can you recommend a quality strop and 💎 compound?

Taking the stropping advice with me forsure! As to the rest, do what works for you but there is always something new to learn.

thanks for vedy good and clear advice

Great video as always, good to see you posting more regularly. Would love to see a deep dive on strops. Whata the best way to clean a strop

I started leatherworking not too long ago, so my sharpening skill has really been tested recently haha. Definitely going to start using lighter passes on my strop, paying attention to the direction of the scratch pattern, and looking into diamond pastes. Or at least something other than the green compound I've been using...

Another tip - use basswood as your strop. Diamond compound works great on it, and it give a much more solid surface to use, which helps prevent rollover.

Awesome information

Sharp presentation!

Thanks for the video

Thanks for the video 👍. Great tips I will use because I was pretty wrong…

Hello, Alex; Thank you for another fine video, it's good to learn even MOOR! I appreciate your stropping tip RE: direction, i'll have to try that. Yeah, I don't strop on leather. It is just too hard to not roll/round the edge I just finished sharpening. I strop, just not on leather. Back in the day I used fresh flat cardboard to strop because paper will work a burr. A good piece of hardwood, w/ a smooth surface is great, load your compound & strop on. I have some Moras, I often strop w/out compound on the front of the Mora sheath. Works great on a burr or just to finish up a sharpening. Hey Alex, have you tried "sword sharping" on your fixed or folding knives? I just heard about it a few months ago, it sounds real interesting. It is how they sharpened swords (?) back when they were the main war weapon. I'll have to think about the diamond compound, it might make sense to load it on wood. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!

Learned somthing new, Thankyou. I have always stropped with a ceramic honing rod and light strokes. It has worked well. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Really enjoy your videos. Hope you and your family are well.

*Which leather strop would you recommend?* I was recently gifted a handful of "super steel" blades in CPM-3V, k390, S110v, and want to be able to maintain a decent-good edge on them using a strop every couple months so I don't loose the edge profile, or have to put them on a stone too often and possibly make the edge worse or loose too much material. The only higher end steel I have any experience with is S35VN. Also, will a fine/ultra fine ceramic stone work on these steel's? Or are the carbides too hard/large/small? I'm not knowledgeable in this matter. I have a good amount of experience sharpening high carbon blades and lower end stainless. I'm working on becoming a better sharpener, and just trying to educate myself. Thank you

👍 thanks for sharing. Subbed!

Great video! Super helpful. Where do I get good diamond compound. What do you recommend?

Thank you for the education. I am the proud owner of two Knife Point Gear strops and the lightest backpack saw (while they were still being made.) THANK YOU 👍

Thank you!

I grew up in the 50's and 60's and High Carbon Steel still has a magical ring to it for me. As a child, all of my "good" knives were HC steel, often of German origin and l still have a few from my Boy Scout days. I even spent several years making my own knives. And yes, today l tend to depend on "stainess" steels, but l fight the trend to steel snobbery...the heat treat is the most important factor in knife performance. Your info on stropping is appreciated.

Thanks mate Cheers Rob

Good info. Thanks.