7years later and these are still the best sharpening videos on the internet

"I just did a 30 minute video on my knees." That's what she said! I'll show myself out...

Your video inspired me to make my own strop. i got a nice piece of leather 3"x9" and a 2x4 ripped and some rubber feet with screws. i also got some 3.5 m paste. SMOOTH side up! Im making it tomorrow. Also some sandpaper to finish the wood a bit. Im excited. I bought a handheld strop for 20$ recently and the leather was 1.5"x5.5" and crappy leather that got all cut up. Came with some fine compound. Did OK but i know i can make better. Building it tomorrow wish me luck! Just started a knife collection too. Got a spyderco raven 2 cts bd1 and a böker h6 blue sheep. And a crkt and kershaw and colt cts bd1. I can't stop. Gonna get some better ones too. Good video def has helped me out

this video deserves gold stars . thank you for the information and not promoting crap, best most honest video i have seen like ave . this is gold .thank you

"I just did a 30 minute video on my knee's" # that's what she said

Thanks my man. Getting caught up on everything. Love the vids!

Awesome video. Lots of great tips. Very helpful.

Definitely still my favorite KZfaq person.

Thanks man. Really appreciate the thorough info! Just subscribed to the channel.

Great video series! I like that strop.

I like sharpening to a toothy edge and then going straight to a strop also. It seems to be the best of bolth world's. Very high cutting aggression and very easy to keep that way. Great points in this video. Thanks for doing it.

Nice thank you for the info. I’m always learning. It’s the beauty of this hobbie

Great info. Thanks!

Great Video thanks

I'm in my 50s and just started using a strop last year.I was amazed how much of a difference it makes. Takes it from sharp to hair wittlin'.I use a different technique. I use a piece of an old belt glued to a block of wood, rough side up. I buff metal for other hobbies, so I just use rouge and white compound (two different strops) and I load the strop dry. Whatever works, I guess there's no prison term for using different methods. If you haven't used one, try it. You may be surprised.

Have you tried a rubbing compound called Auto-Sol? I've used it for years on my wood carving knives. With little effort it produces a mirror edge. Thanks for your videos

Good video! Thanks for sharing. :)

One thing about strops. I agree with putting the compound on the smooth side, but I have very good luck putting leather on the opposite side of the board, putting the rough side up, and using it as a final buff with no compound at all. On this side, I greatly prefer suede, so the "rough" side is still very soft, and almost fluffy. I guess I must have some Japanese in my blood somewhere. I don't care if it takes six hours to get a knife where I want it, and an hour a day to keep it that way. I enjoy sharpening, and find it gives my quiet time to think.

randy your the man! as it took me forever to change to the DMT past from green compound,but the stuff is truly amazing at getting a supper sharp polished edge in alot shorter time!it takes us old farts a little longer to change are habits/ways,thanks for taking time to post this video,hopefully this will change peoples minds with what to strop with.

awesome videos keep it up I am getting it thanks

great vids... thanks

Thx, that helped

I thank you for your informative videos. They are always worth the while. I wonder if you could sometime discuss Cliff Stamp's views on stropping. He and his devoted followers contend that stropping is basically a bad idea as trailing edge honing inevitably weakens the edge. They advocate that you should simply use very fine stones if you want a very fine edge and always use leading edge strokes on the stones. I think Cliff is an engineer of some sort, but it is strange to me that few in the knife world seem to share his point of view. Thanks again for all you share with the knife collecting world.

DLT Trading strop with Bark River black and white compound > DONE! I can easily strop and maintain the edge of a knife with a S30V steel blade (i never try harder steel). People should watch stropping videos from VirtuoVice,this guy know what he is talking about!

Can you make a vid on how to properly strop a Convex with a a huge sweep.Actually the new Bark River CPM 154 Bushbat.JX4 Not sure how to twist it as I rub.Hate to mess it up. Semper Fi

Both vids were solid and on point, thx for posting them.

Hey. I am 64 years old. When I was a little boy(3,4,5,6) I remember my father shaving with razor blade. He had s trop(might have been impregnated with some either diamond or ruby rouge). But the strop itself was a free piece of leather(like piece of wider belt). He hooked it up to top of door and then, with one hand, he pulled the other end down towards himself and with the other hand was touching up the razor edge by movements similar to what you show here. There was not support under the leather. Here is a link to something what looks very similar: search for "Razor emporium: Straight Stropping FAQ's"

can you do a video on like a ZT0350TS with the stone and strop where the blade is so round

Appreciate the video! Great, useful tips! And I am not a complete newbie. I am new to your channel, so I wondered: do you use sharpening systems of any kind at all? I wondered if there are the economical ways to strop with films, or tapes that are easily replaced, when needed? Leather is getting clogged, you see. Aside from the obvious: what cam did you use? What tripod? What mic for this vid? I liked it's quality! Was the room fairly lighted with extra lighting added, or not? I am sure all that it's interesting to many watchers of your videos, not just me. Liked your cheerful attitude! Thanks for all you do!

Cool.whats in the tanks?

okay I noticed that on your stropping back and forth your angle was not always the same wouldn't it be better if you put your knife on the stone at 15 degrees and strop it at 15 degrees.... I've been thinking of purchasing the Arkansas Stone. what do you think.. I'm just starting to get into all this stropping

is there a place I can buy a strop like this?

Hey man...can you please tell me how to clean or recondition the leather? I've been searching all over to find some advice with no luck. I'm using the DMT paste (3 separate blocks - 6, 3 & 1 micron) and they look super dirty after running about 25 blades on them...not sure if it's even necessary.

I use painters tape when using stone and strop. That way I don't have to be worried so much about scratches. Jewelers Rouge works just as well as those expensive micron diamond pastes also.

How much diamond paste should you put on?

sup with ur fish tank what u got in it

You know Murray Carter from Carter cutlery sharpened a field knife then to show it was...."REALLY".... razor sharp he shaved with it. Lots of people say their knives are razor sharp but very few actually make a video of them shaving with a knife.

9 Minutes in b4 he starts.....lol

did you make the strop or buy... if u bought it can u post a link?

I just got a white strop compound in the post but it seems too hard - cant rub on to leather. What can I do?

Is just a question for knives... How can i take out the edge from knives? making the edge side flat. I want to buy a balisong and for practicing with it without any cuts on my hand i would like to take out the edge

Take the white Bark River Compound that is much cheaper than the diamond paste, and the results are similar.

every time I strop I end up dulling the blade and have to go back to the stone

Randy, im so oilly, that i have to wipe off my thumb before using the fingerprint scanner on my phone.

I just use an old leather belt and metal polish. Lol

What knife is that?

So, in conclusion... paper is Italian.

great video but I need to continue to use the wicked edge idiot proof system, hard to teach a old dog new tricks

Thank you... you're a knife God!

i have to disagree with one point you made. stropping can absolutely screw up everything you worked on to get a knife sharp. stropping incorrectly can easily round the edge to the point of bluntness. however, it is difficult for competent people to strop "incorrectly" unless you're going for perfection. Of course these are my opinions, but they are the same as some other guys who have a ton more experience than myself in these areas. i would like to hear your thoughts on this. great video nonetheless!

What's your Instagram account name?

A real bummer that you spent 20 minutes stropping a knife just to perform the paper demo with a different blade. I was curious to see how the stropped blade performed. "Earth quake simulator!" *straight face* "that's really not funny" *laughs at that*

Really ??

nice vid but dude u talk too much, just be precise on instructions thats it dont ruin ur nice video by talking too much

Diamonds will get any knife razor sharp, but they will also shorten the lifetime of the knife dramatically, if you use knife often. Diamonds sharpen by cutting, rather than polishing, as stones, and many strop compounds do. The difference between how diamonds and stones sharpen has to be seen under a microscope to be believed. One cuts, the other polices. I wouldn't let a diamond anywhere near a knife I cared about.

I hate digs, grrr.

Please, you don't need 2 fingers buddy, you must be new

first 5 minutes are useless