Stropping Kitchen Knives

[cotedupy]

There are an awful lot of ways and things you can use to strop a kitchen knife, and I've probably tried most of them. Different people like different things, but here's a very short video showing what is probably the easiest and actually still my favourite way to do it: Any kind of paper or card, as long as it's not shiny, is excellent for knife stropping.

In the picture below that you can see the black line on the newspaper of oil and swarf that was on the knife before, and which shows where I've been stropping, i.e. where the paper is folded over the work surface. I don't have the knife laid flat on the newspaper to strop large sections of the edge at the same time (though of course - there's nowt wrong with doing that either if that's what works for you!)

 

[Elliot]

Kipp is one of the few makers I never got around to trying. Heard good things.

 

[captaincaed]

We may have the first thing to have a polite, professional difference on. I have never stropped a kitchen knife and liked the edge better afterward. But I also don't sharpen to a very high polish.

Really I'm just grumpy you have a Kip and I don't.

 

[cotedupy]

Kipp is one of the few makers I never got around to trying. Heard good things.

Good spot! Certainly justifies the reputation I think, if there was one thing I could change - I don't like 52100 as much as the blue paper steels.

We may have the first thing to have a polite, professional difference on. I have never stropped a kitchen knife and liked the edge better afterward. But I also don't sharpen to a very high polish.

Really I'm just grumpy you have a Kip and I don't.

Yeah but, yeah but, yeah but, that's kinda why I like paper and cardboard... Strictly speaking it's actually nothing like as good at 'stropping' as leather is. But it translates the finish from the stone with a level of fidelity that gets lost in the refinement that leather and/or compound brings. Paper probably doesn't hide small flaws in technique as well as other things do, but if you've nailed your deburring then it's perfect for that quick final bit of edge cleaning.

So you see - actually we're agreeing after all! (Kinda ).

 

[Hopalong]

The way my wife abuses kitchen knives I don’t bother stropping, I’ll use a steel thoug.

 

[Dnallehekaj]

I strop on denim, either an apron or pant leg. I feel the edge before and after each time, and stropping always makes it feel more refined.

It doesn't take long, so there's not really a down side to me

 

[Go West Young Man]

What would that do versus running across a steel every couple uses?

 

[Tirvine]

What would that do versus running across a steel every couple uses?

Especially a polish steel.

 

[Alum of Potash]

I have a set of bench stops I made, one side being pasted on balsa and the other side plain vegetable-tanned leather, with a thick slab of plywood in between. Works well for me in maintaining carbon steel kitchen knives when my use of a steel has fallen off. For smaller folding knives for all around use, I'm inclined to strop on my thigh while seated and wearing blue jeans. Met a guy once who swore by stropping his straights on jeans like this, but I've never worked up the gumption to try it. But why not? Strikes me as a being similar to a very large, convex-padded paddle.

 

[Legion]

What would that do versus running across a steel every couple uses?

Final deburring after honing.

 

[cotedupy]

What would that do versus running across a steel every couple uses?

Fair q. and I realise I possibly should've been a little more clear orginally! But basically what David said above ^.

Stropping like this, without paste or compound, is entirely non-abrasive. It's something done just after sharpening to clean and/or align the edge. Slightly different to maintaining a knife using a steel between sharpening sessions, not completely different, but a little bit.

 

[Dnallehekaj]

No wire edges here! And it's more fun than running it through a cork.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

I will use my thigh wearing my poly-cotton checks. I used to keep a 6"x18" piece of leather in my kit but it got ruined when my knife bag got submerged when a pipe broke near our lockers. Handles and sayas dried out. Paper recipes and the leather stuff, not so much.

@cotedupy I'll agree with you on the 52100 regardless of the knife. It is sharp, cuts smooth, holds an edge great; it just hits the board differently and I swear has a different sound to it. I have traded or sold nearly all of my 52100 knives.

 

[captaincaed]

I’ve had 52100 done really well, but it’s not everyone that can do it. And I paid out the nose for the good one! But it was a worthwhile celebration getting that knife.

 

[rideon66]

I have a well done 52100 gyuto from Jonas Johnsson in Sweden. It wasn't cheap, but am very pleased with it. It is pretty close to my Aogami super, but the AS does feel a bit different on the board.