Properly Stropping Swivel Knife/ Learning Proper Technique

[LilRay]

I have a few swivel knife questions;

#1 How do I properly strp or sharpen the knife? Tandy video says take cardboard and the jewelers rouge, but how will I know when I've got it right?

#2 How deeply do I cut with it?

#3 Are there any practice tips, beginning videos you might recommend?

God Bless, Ray

[pete]

I would give Kevin a call at Springfield leather 800.668.8518 and tell him what you need. He will set you right.

Not a big deal if you know how but must be done right and alot!

Get a sharpening jig they sell. It puts the blade at the correct angle to strop and sharpen.

Let us know of you need more information WE'RE HERE TO HELP!

pete

[Tree Reaper]

You can make a stropping block, strop the knife until it is polished and every time you use it and while using it.

I just made one a few weeks ago....http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=29391

Cutting the leather will depend on what you are carving, decorative cuts sometimes won't be as deep and outlines can be up to half the thickness of the leather.

Try doing a search here and see what you come up with.

[BearMan]

Hi Everybody,

There are a couple points that should be addressed. First off, while "stropping" the blade, you have to make sure that you aren't rolling your wrist, if you do, you will wind up with a rounded over edge. The stropping movement, comes more from the shoulder & elbow, so that the blade stays flat at the correct angle. The "trick" is, to pull it back, without changing the angle, or tilting it.

Also, when making your stropping block, make sure you don't use anything thicker that about 2oz leather. If the leather is too thick, it will actually round the cutting points off of the blade. Some people suggest poster board, or cereal box material, instead of leather as it doesn't give nearly as much,,, yet it will still hold the stropping compound. Whatever you use, it needs to be mounted, on a very flat board, heavy glass, plexiglass,,,ect. A type of board called MDF, usually works pretty good, as it very flat. Sometimes regular lumber, even though you'd think it's flat, it's really not.

I hope this helps,,, Ed the"BearMan"

[LilRay]

I would give Kevin a call at Springfield leather 800.668.8518 and tell him what you need. He will set you right.

Not a big deal if you know how but must be done right and alot!

Get a sharpening jig they sell. It puts the blade at the correct angle to strop and sharpen.

Let us know of you need more information WE'RE HERE TO HELP!

pete

Pete, I'll give Kevin a shout as soon as I can, either tommorrow or Monday morning. Thanks man!

You can make a stropping block, strop the knife until it is polished and every time you use it and while using it.

I just made one a few weeks ago....http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=29391

Cutting the leather will depend on what you are carving, decorative cuts sometimes won't be as deep and outlines can be up to half the thickness of the leather.

Try doing a search here and see what you come up with.

Reaper, I'll view your thread ASAP! And I thank you for the tip on cutting. I've been practicing with the pattern that Tandy provides with their checkbook kit, as it was the first they had shown in their video that came with the kit.

Hi Everybody,

There are a couple points that should be addressed. First off, while "stropping" the blade, you have to make sure that you aren't rolling your wrist, if you do, you will wind up with a rounded over edge. The stropping movement, comes more from the shoulder & elbow, so that the blade stays flat at the correct angle. The "trick" is, to pull it back, without changing the angle, or tilting it.

Also, when making your stropping block, make sure you don't use anything thicker that about 2oz leather. If the leather is too thick, it will actually round the cutting points off of the blade. Some people suggest poster board, or cereal box material, instead of leather as it doesn't give nearly as much,,, yet it will still hold the stropping compound. Whatever you use, it needs to be mounted, on a very flat board, heavy glass, plexiglass,,,ect. A type of board called MDF, usually works pretty good, as it very flat. Sometimes regular lumber, even though you'd think it's flat, it's really not.

I hope this helps,,, Ed the"BearMan"

BearMan,

I'll try the cereal box tommorrow. Believe it or not I have one of those LOL! And I may have some plexi left too.

Thanks everyone!

God Bless, Ray

[JC Javelle]

You do have to be careful how you pick the blade up to pevent from rolling the tip. I don't know if leather is such a bad idea for stropping, particularly if you pull the blade lightly. It takes longer, but you shave off less each pass and any mistake isn't as deep. I tried putting the rouge on cardboard, and I dunno if my stick was to hard or what, but it was tearing the cardboard up!

From a beginners stand point, I am teaching myself to strope by feel. I lay the blade against the leather and put a gentle pull pressure on the blade, not quite enough to move it. Then I roll the blade until I feel it go from a rough drag to a smooth drag. I can feel the coating on the blade, it feels rough, like tiny vibrations when the blade is pulled. I can lean it forward until that pull feels smooth. That's when I know I am stroping right.

I use Tandy's steel blade's, and if you have a good eye, you can just look at them and see how rounded they are. Using the light reflection on the blade is easiest to tell how badly curved it is. A smooth, uncurved blade looks like a polish surface that lights up entirely. Curved blades you see lines of light, and the entire surface doesn't light up at all. If you have a really, really good eye, you can see a "third" surface on the edge/point of the blade.Stroping, in my experience, is a slow but measured method to polish/sand/grind/cut down two surfaces of metal until they meet at a perfectly sharp, crisp edge. Which is why you strope both surfaces equally, so you do not polish down one surface so far as to crook your blade.

My $0.02.