All fixed (see above)

Hello Glenn...and welcome!

ElizabethGrifffin wrote:


If you go into your profile, I think you can change the name (if you want to).

Hey guys what about when you see that you have build up of metal shavings on (in) the paste? I'm talking about it turning black in color? I've been completely cleaning down the strop and starting fresh? Now I'm thinking this is wrong after reading this thread?

How many kives have you done with the stops that are "turning black in color"?
What specific grits are you talking about? What kindd of steel (some leaves more metal on the strops and looks different than others..)

This matters. I have used, for instance, the 5/3.5 strops until they looked to me..(relative) pretty nasty...
But I have never let them get to where they looked predominately black. I ran out of the WEPS pastes and have been using DMT 6/3 micron paste. Same thing, over a hundred blades before I do anything to them.

When they get "pretty nasty" to me, I clean them well with alcohol, then abrade them with 240 then 600 sandpaper, then reapply the paste. I have only done that after ..lots of use! Clay says, the ones he uses in the shop can get real nasty..and even well nicked up, before he does anything at all to them..
He sharpens LOTS of knives...

Can you post pictures of what you are looking at?

Came back for a minute to clarify... I have added a bit of paste...or as I more often use diamond spray...over the course of the number of blades that I talk about... just referring to the color per the original question...before needing much attention, other than adding some "stuff" to the strops..


Phil

Phil, I'm sorry I do not have a camera hook up to my computer? Also maybe not clear enough in my description? This was more of streaks going down the strop. When I wiped it away it was deep in the paste down to leather. Kind of spotty in places. The knifes are a bunch of cheap ones I got to practice with. Unknown steel? This was also my first ten knifes. I'm using the 5/3.5 paste that comes with WEPS. Sorry I'm not more clear?

No big deal Eamon. I was just trying to understand better what you are seeing. I go way more tha 10 knives before stripping my strops. If the paste seems to be geting thin I add a bit sometimes. There are some that point to the steel particles in the paste as a drawback to stropping in general. I guess you can't go worng cleaning them down to leather and recoating often, if you just don't like the black streaks. That will get expensive though. I do think that you could go far more than 10 knives before doing that though. I can't say that I count, but I sharpen quite a bit. There are acouple of set of strops that I have had for maybe a year and a half. I have stripped them twice. It was really more about nicks that I had put in them than because of the way they looked though. I would bet you could let yours go a good while more without worries. As always, look at the edge. Use magnification. Whe you see that the strops are not performing the way you want then to, consider replacing the abrasive.

Phil

BTW, I have to think that softer steel as might be found in your practice knives, could very well blacken your strops faster than harder and more wear resistant steel found in some of the better knives.

As always Phil thank you very much. I really appreciate having someone whom I can turn to and check what I'm doing? I now believe I have been wasting paste! I got really good results from one of the knifes I did, so just kept that practice up.
Thank you to all the rest of you that contributed to the tread as well as I'm heeding your advise as well!!