# I don't get the newspaper strop.



## Don Nguyen (Nov 17, 2012)

Every time I've tried it I've been unsuccessful.

The paper starts to bunch up and sometimes fall apart. I don't get an even surface for stropping, and it's just so inconvenient and annoying. Can't comment too much on actual results; I've never actually followed through with trying it. Am I using the wrong kind of newspaper? I've tried Vietnamese papers, grocery store stuff, and even mall catalogs.

I've been just finishing on a 3k stone, sometimes a quick strop on plain leather and that gives a really good bite. Maybe it's because I'm just looking to get a decent edge and not an extremely insane one that I don't see the merits of newspaper - at what point does newspaper actually give good results?


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## JBroida (Nov 17, 2012)

can you explain how you're using the newspaper? I've never had it fall apart


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## Don Nguyen (Nov 17, 2012)

I put a piece to cover the stone and try to crease the edges a little bit to keep it from going everywhere. The stone is still a bit damp. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong?


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## Keith Sinclair (Nov 17, 2012)

Could be Murry Carter uses this tech in his advanced Sharpening DVD,after seeing this I tried putting newspaper on the stone stropping my spyderco's..Stropping on dry newsprint on a table is good for burr removal,cleaning up the edge.Chiharu Sugai says it works well wt. stainless steel knives.I have found it works for both SS & carbon.


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## GlassEye (Nov 17, 2012)

Don Nguyen said:


> I put a piece to cover the stone and try to crease the edges a little bit to keep it from going everywhere. The stone is still a bit damp. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong?



Try wrapping a sheet around the stone a couple of times, so water doesn't get to the top layer, and it won't move if you tuck the edge under the stone.


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## JBroida (Nov 17, 2012)

try using the newspaper not on the stone and not damp... just find a clean dry surface and give it a shot there


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## stevenStefano (Nov 17, 2012)

I usually get about 3 sheets and fold it over my dry Atoma and sorta fold it underneath it so it is a tight fit


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## Don Nguyen (Nov 17, 2012)

Ok, I'll give that a try next time. Thanks everyone


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## SameGuy (Nov 17, 2012)

How about an old phone book?


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## tk59 (Nov 17, 2012)

I was at Jon's shop a few months ago and I witnessed a miracle: Junpei-san sharpened a knife for me and deburred by taking a magazine in his hand and lightly rubbing the edge on it from side to side on it. It took 5 seconds. As far as I could tell, the burr was nearly all gone when he was done.


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## Don Nguyen (Nov 17, 2012)

I'm having trouble visualizing that - do you hold the magazine like a roll, and then swipe the edge perpendicular to it? Sounds like a neat technique!


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## GlassEye (Nov 17, 2012)

tk59 said:


> I was at Jon's shop a few months ago and I witnessed a miracle: Junpei-san sharpened a knife for me and deburred by taking a magazine in his hand and lightly rubbing the edge on it from side to side on it. It took 5 seconds. As far as I could tell, the burr was nearly all gone when he was done.



Please, explain this further.


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## JBroida (Nov 17, 2012)

he put it over his thigh as i recall


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## tk59 (Nov 17, 2012)

GlassEye said:


> Please, explain this further.


Well, if there's some explanation, I wouldn't be able to give it to you. The dude doesn't speak english. He sharpened it. I tried to convey the fact that I saw a burr and asked him (non-verbally) to deburr, just so I could check out how he does it. He just picked up a magazine in his hand, half-rolled up and just swished the blade back and forth a few times and handed it back to me. I looked for the burr and found just a little left on the heel. It was pretty nonchalant-looking. I'm used to seeing people be pretty careful about it.


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## JBroida (Nov 17, 2012)

if you do a solid job in your sharpening, burrs come off easy


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## hax9215 (Nov 17, 2012)

JBroida said:


> he put it over his thigh as i recall



:sad0: Braver men than me. Not with MY knives!!!

Hax the Cook CLEAVERS RULE!!!


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## makanouchi (Nov 19, 2012)

I think we need a video.


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## JBroida (Nov 19, 2012)

i've got a long list of videos to get around to... i'm working on it.


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## Mrmnms (Nov 20, 2012)

Use light pressure, use same angle you sharpened at and draw the knife away from the bade edge, holding the paper behind the blade edge. No crumpling. Just a convenient alternative.


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## Mrmnms (Nov 20, 2012)

Wet newspaper ? Really now


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## Zwiefel (Nov 20, 2012)

I'm hardly admirable at any of this sharpening business but....I decided to give the newspaper strop a go. It's been a couple of weeks since I put a new edge on anything. I tried: suisin inox honyaki, watanabe nakiri, gengetsu petty, zakuri petty, and a carter funy. In each case it clearly touched up the edge nicely. I compared before/after by cutting copy paper and news paper...no spare veggies hanging about.

It was also my first attempt at using anything for a strop except my waterstones. seemed pretty easy/straightforward to get decent results. I just laid one thin, folded section near the edge of the counter and used the same motion as I do on the stones and as I've seen other KKFers do in various videos.

I'll definitely make this a regular part of my sharpening routine.

My $.02.


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## Benuser (Nov 20, 2012)

Dry newspaper, some three sheets, preferably with a lot of black ink and no other colors, I would say. My stones are always somewhat damp, so I use a cedar cigar box.


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## cookinstuff (Nov 20, 2012)

It's funny, I have tried stropping with compounds and leather, but nothing does it for me like a nice piece of inky dry newspaper over a stone, best strop I have ever tried. My boron carbide, chromium oxide and my kanoyama go unused, but I love a piece of newspaper.


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## Benuser (Nov 20, 2012)

Try the roll: it makes it much easier to follow the blade's profile than a flat surface.


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## ajhuff (Nov 20, 2012)

Who gets newspapers anymore?

-AJ


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## Lucretia (Nov 20, 2012)

We get a weekly local rag. It's got the police reports, which are pretty darn entertaining. Although not so much since a local dive of a bar closed.


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## Keith Sinclair (Nov 21, 2012)

ajhuff said:


> Who gets newspapers anymore?
> 
> -AJ



Yeh two Newspapers are now down to one here.Since Craigslist they are hard pressed for advertising,how times change.


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## Mike9 (Nov 22, 2012)

I use a piece of cardboard held with spring clamps to the edge of a table. When I'm done stopping with that I put the fold of the newspaper under the C-board to hold it in place while I strop. I tried fresh news print paper, but it didn't raise the micro bur like ink does.


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## Dr_Jim (Nov 23, 2012)

My very old & sagacious friend 'Tex' Grove kept all of his boat-working chisels in spooky sharp condition - he carried a long, narrow strip of what he called 'Pretty damn fine Flatland Bluestone..." which I think was from northern Europe somewhere, and that he claimed:

"The little guy works like a sum-***** 'cause of all the tiny Garnet chunks put lots of tooth on the edge with just a couple of strokes. Ya see the trick is to get some bite ta the edge and then sort of whap it inta shape with your strop - leave the teeth be, but polish the rest of the edge like heck and your chisel will just fly through cedar."



Tex's 'strop' was a recycled cardboard Safeway Egg carton - "Look, they're light, pack in my ditty bag, put down a polish like God's Teeth, and heck - I get a free one every week..."

On all my white and blue steel knives, a few strokes with a Mac ceramic hone followed 10-20 strops on a egg carton seems to keep them about a sharp as I'd like in my kitchen. The VG-10 Shun and Ryusen knives seem to want some work with a 6000 grit shapton stone followed by the strop - they seem pretty unimpressed by the ceramic hone, I'm not sure why.

Cheers

Jim


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## Sarge (Nov 23, 2012)

I tried this the other day as well and found it to be great at removing the last of whatever remains and even an ok touch up medium. Glad I gave it a go.


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## Chifunda (Nov 23, 2012)

I read the New York Times online every morning. Tried stropping one of my knives on it and all it did was f#^& up the screen of my laptop. What's up with that? :scratchhead:


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## Don Nguyen (Nov 23, 2012)

Chifunda said:


> I read the New York Times online every morning. Tried stropping one of my knives on it and all it did was f#^& up the screen of my laptop. What's up with that? :scratchhead:



:laugh:


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## daddy yo yo (Nov 30, 2012)

ajhuff said:


> Who gets newspapers anymore?


you can try with an ipad too! :eek2:


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## Keith Sinclair (Dec 1, 2012)

OOO:rofl2:can't store carbon blades wrapped in a screen reader either.


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