I have watched hours and hours of sharpening videos produced by everyone from amateurs to master bladesmiths. In my opinion, your instruction and methodologies are the best on KZfaq

I really am glad I found this channel. 20 years ad a chef, and 100s of chefs have told me the "proper" way to maintain my knives. And I've always felt the same way you do. I'm not a pro. In just always looking for a "better" way. And trial and error is necessary. Thank you for sharing you technique.

I appreciate the fact that you have created your own way sharpening. I think it’s great. Form your own opinion from what you do yourself.

Heyho Ryky! Props to you for emphasizing that you are a non professional sharpener and that you and we as well should always keep our eyes open, not to be blinded by proclaimed professionals. I learned a lot from your videos and you are great at explaining why you do the things the way you do. Got myself a tojiro shirogami gyuto, dp-3 hq nakiri and gyuto to start with. Keep it up and continue to drop your knowledge and experience on us! (:

Thank you for the disclaimer. There is no one right way. I do not see that the "experts" agree in technical practice. Learning is a process; the result is the of all that you know. Each must discover what work best for them. Very respectfully to all.

Stroping elevated the edge sharpness so much, worth it every time! Great explanation!

I'm in the same boat and I was a master butcher for 7 years .keep doing you thanks

I first saw this motion several years ago from another individual, a superb sharpener. I use it on a finishing stone to prevent the tip digging into the stone as you mentioned.

Just starting your video and would like to immediately tell you that I DO appreciate that you are not doing this "the right way" but rather the way that you've found works for you. You go as far as to say you don't care about doing things "the right way" which (obviously to some degree not entirely) I love and agree with. There isn't necessarily always a "right way" and sometimes better methods and "things" are developed BECAUSE somebody did it a different way and found that it, in fact, works better than "the right way" or the "original way". Whether this is true or not for knife sharpening, I appreciate that you take that approach. I'll continue enjoying and learning from your video thanks! I have many different steel blades and am regularly finding new ones to acquire, including cooking knives, axes and hatchets, a straight razor for shaving, hunting and utility knives. I'd like to learn how to keep these well maintained and I highly doubt I'll buy or make unique sharpening tools for each and every one, and that each edge will require a slightly different method and technique that I will discover for myself. Thanks for the video!

So I stropped my miyabi Birchwood gyuto and went to slice through the corner of some paper really fast like it did from the factory and it didn’t cut it!! Came back to this video and payed attention to what I might be doing wrong. I was applying too much pressure and rolled the edge. I had forgot with the strop it’s little to no pressure at all. The “let the knife guide itself” tip was very helpful for me as well as going slow and just paying attention to my movements. Put the knife to the paper and it’s just as sharp as it was out of box!!! Problem solved!! I am so happy that I was able to figure it out because I was worried that I would never be able to get the factory Miyabi edge back. I love my premium equine leather strop with the hinoki base by the way. It works beautifully. Thanks!

Amen my brother.because of your channel and th e Grace of God I’m free handling after trying for 20 yrs

I’ve just been using the heel of my hand as a stropp to de-burr and ordered my first actual stropp from Lancelot Leather, trying to learn as much as possible before it arrives so Thanks for the vid 😎

Love this studio space. I miss the worn wood backdrop and hung denim in your more recent videos. The ‘DAD’ picture is so sweet as well.

Awesome videos!! Thanks for what you do, it's very educational and fun to watch and learn. Keep up the good work.

I always like seeing different ways of doing things because there are defiantly more than one way of accomplishing a sharp edge. As a general contractor for years I'm a firm believer that there are many ways to a quality result in all types of trades. I enjoy and have learned many new ways from watching your videos to get a good edge on my knives!

Great video. I haven't done any stropping yet but you are making it tempting. It appears to me that when you J strop you actually contact the blade with the leather more than the other methods so may be getting a quicker result.

I just got my first leather strop and green compound. Lots to learn.

I AM LEARNING. GREAT JOB AND INSTRUCTION. YOU ARE DOING WHAT WORKS AND PROVING IT. LOVE IT. LOVE YOUR OWN STYLE.. I DONT WORRY ABOUT SO CALLED EXPERTS. GREAT JOB. AND WE KEEP LEARNING MORE TECHNIQUES TO GET THE JOB DONE.

Hi! Thank you for your videos. today when I saw the position in which you were working suggestion I would give you would be to change the strop position leaving it horizontal. that way you only have to change the grip. Thanks again.

Very honest, thank you for that. I agree, I use many different techniques, some work but are quite unorthodox bit as long as they get the job done. Love your videos, youve gotten me to branch out from collecting folding knives to kitchen knives aswell.

"Go watch another video." Very convincing with that big knife in your hand :))))))

Great video this method works great and really fun to use. It’s much easier to get the first 1/4 of the blade sharper with this method! I do not care what “your suppose to do” either keep coming up with these great ideas and sharing please it is appreciated!

Comment: Ryky. You need to stop bashing yourself about not being a professional sharpener or even not knowing the correct techniques. When you said that I paused this video and as you suggested, looked for other sharpening videos. I spent about 10 or 15 minutes looking for the "Masters". What I found was, most of their techniques were the same, but what they lacked was a solid explanation of the sharpening process (i.e. repairing/sharpening, polishing and stropping) and how you progressed through those stages. In my opinion they assumed was too much and just jumped right in. In your basic sharpening videos you provide so much detail, I have watched most of them several, because I see something new almost everytime. So that being said, stop bashing yourself and be confident you have built one of the best sharpening (I know you do other things) channels. :-) You are providing a great service to those of us who are new to hand sharpening. Keep up the great work.

Awesome video! This helps me so much, I've only now gotten into stropping. Thanks, keep up the good work

Young MAN, I was born with a knife in my hand. I'm proud of you defending your methods. As a native of the America's we have different kinds of material including wood! Wood Stropping is actually 'Blade' in the softwood,(only good for the tip to half of the spine). So you tell those folks as you did, to go away or they can complain to me! I am a Blade-Master. ENJOY my friend!

For the leather strop is there any optimal Dimensions or is big as you can make it what works best for you

Thank you for a very clear and concise video on stropping.

5;53 'STROPENING" you are a wordsmith too LOL i like it.

Thank you so much for the explanation!!

What an incredible channel. Thankyou

I can see results and that says it all!! You know how to sharp that is a fact keep the good work my friend👍

Hi, love your videos, when should I use a whetstone and when should I use a Strop. Thanks

Not a professional sharpener? I have been working on a KDS wet stone with some good results. It's still a challenge, you sir are a pro at what you do!

You are a freaking Rockstar! One day, I hope to possess a sliver of the talent and knowledge you have 🙏❤

I have adjusted your methods a bit to accommodate arthritis in my wrists. It works. Thanks for demonstrating on the Dalstrong Shogun Kiritsuke! I recently acquired it and I use it as my primary all purpose knife for nearly everything, generally with a push cut. The only pressure I have needed to cut with it is just a tad more than the weight of the knife for root vegetables. For meat I use a push, pull, push, pull and that takes me through a 2" piece of beef with no pressure.

I always follow ur method and it works really well, thank you for that!

Hi Ricky, can you please advise why one would need to strop on both a high grit stone and leather strop? Is a leather strop for purposes of a quick touch up or to be used after a high grit stone?

That Dalstrong Kiritsuki is gorgeous.

When stropping do you have to use the compound red/green as I’ve seen on prior videos?

Well explained, thank you.

Very good and clear explanation.

Thanks for the explanation ! I got my strop leather today, just one question: Do you strop everytime you swith to a higher grit stone or just specifically that stone you used in the video ?

A bit late to comment, but your videos have made me wonder whether it is possible to remove scratches from the sides of a knife using stropping compound. I have a kitchen knife that I scratched when I first started getting into sharpening (long before I found your videos).

Did u ever notice that the mini serrations make a difference when depending what direction you making them go in? Btw your vids are truly amazing

QUESTION: what is the correction in the amount of pressure to exert when the hardness of a steel changes? I mean, do you change the pressure you exert if you strop a harder/softer steel? And what about common steels like stainless with 53-55 HRC hardness? Thank you Riky!

This is exactly what I wanted to know before I bought a leather strop as I only have the chosera 800 and 3000 stones, Do I have to have a leather strop to finish? Thank you for your opinion on it. I just recently found your channel and appreciate you so much. In my opinion you are absolutely an authority and expert on the subject so thank you for your videos they are helping me learn so much.

Hey, this may be a dumb question. But what does stropping do to the edge and why is it a good idea to do? Also can you use water on a whet stone or should you use a specific liquid

Like the t shirt, thanks for a useful video

Just wondering if stropping with Work Sharp ken onion is a good option?

Hello Riki Really like your videos, do you have any tips regarding being able to use strop without it moving as I don't have room for a wooden vice, and have looked online but No luck yet . I'd very much appreciate any ideas you may have . Best wishes Tony.

How do you strop knives with a big ricasso? Just in sections?

Do you have to strop on leather after the stone? If you strop on the stone, is there any benefit to going to a leather strop after?

Do you do this in place of stone or in addition to stone?

Hi Burfection, awesome video! just a question.. can I use this J strop technique to "deburr" before moving up to a higher grit stone? Thank you so much

"I have no interest in doing things the right way or the proper way", Liked.

I love the photo on the wall!

I have a couple of bushcraft knives with scandi grinds and I can't get the hang of stropping the tip of the blade without gouging my strop. Heel to belly is so sharp I could split a gnat's pube down the middle but the tip still has the factory machine marks.

if you watch Murray sharpen you can tell he applies the same pressure with his strops when he sharpens too? His own knives hitachi steel is hard? IS that the reason.. I was wondering about the pressure too even when he stropped on stone and then newspaper it looks like Murray really goes to town on the pressure haha thoughts?

I experience some strange thingswith stropping: most times i strop my knives at the same angle or a bit lower like on the whetstones and beeing not satisfied with the results. If ithen do a few pulls on even an higher angle than i´v done on my whetstones, my knife is a good measure sharper and smoother. Although it should be duller because of the rolling of the edge - right? Has anyone a good explenation for that behaviour? :-?

Dear Ryky, dude, I'm been watching your YT channel and everyday a new lesson is learned. My question is. My best sharpening results is with a Santoku, extreme sharp, but I can´t repeat the same result on a Chief and a Boning Knife. All your sharpening videos I have watch it's always Chefs or Santokus or similar blades. Well, I have no idea WTF i'm doing wrong.

(Recent subscriber.) Thanks for the disclaimer. Your comments are valid. Are you a professional chef, or hobbyist/enthusiast?

What would be the issue with just turning the strop? To produce better angles for your wrist. Nothing wrong with that right?

The right way to strop or sharpen is whatever works best and most consistently for you.

I use a piece of belt leather I found for my strop and I can get it up to scary sharp.

As long as you're not ruining the integrity or geometry of the blade, do what works best for you....experimentation is how you learn....a lot of the nay-sayers obviously don't understand the mechanics or science of sharpening/stropping...just ignore them and keep doing what you do...you're doing just fine

Thank you !

Nice ! I think that the knife (first one) is not a single bevel kiritsuke - is a bunka double side :) only the tip is a "kiritsuke like" like takobiki are made in Tokyo area. good luck Mrs Ryky.

Yeah I kinda "dug into" my leather, and yeah, really irritating to see a deep scratch on the leather surface LOL... Good Vid, keep it up man...

Any reason you don’t strop heal to tip? Eliminates issue of catching the tip. Works for me

If it ain't broke don't fix it! Keep it up ryky!

Hi Ryky amazing job and first comment. I feel that you're my brother from another mother as we have the same passion for knives and expirementing but only difference is i dont have the nuts to make videos instead i am a bulk catering chef where sharp knives and edge retention are important. I have hundreds of japanese knives just like you with almost the same collection!!! But only use whetstones but now... you changed my life and possible future arthritis with leather :). I promise i will buy more from your channel soon as i live in Australia and kind of impatient waiting for something 45+ DAYS! Would you know the estimate time if i oredered most of your strops and a knife from burfection site? Love your work and stay safe!

Q: if leather at best is 10 000 grit and compounds go to 160 0000 grit what grit is the finish. A: ??? I have been looking everywhere and have never found anyone who addresses this issue. Any ideas on this Ryky ?

May I ask where you got tour water bath? Love your show 👍🏻

I’m new to all of this and have a question......why not simply strop at a perpendicular (90°) angle to the cutting edge?

What glue do you use to glue the leather to the wood?

I sometimes switch hands, when sharpening each side of my knife. Is this correct?

Ryky, I’ve been trying to practice stropping, but I was diagnosed with MS a few years ago and have lost a lot of ability in my left hand. Can you strop with just your right hand, and if so, do you have any pointers?

Can you do a steeling verses stropping video?

Thank you

When I have to strop the left side of my edge I just rotate the strop or the stone so that my body movement is more natural 🙃

Do you have any comments on stropping curved swords such as a katana? This would be a modern blade using modern steels with relatively sharp edges that need some touch-up. Understand this may be a little out of your wheelhouse, but would appreciate some thoughts.

What about compound do u recommend it?

Good for you and great video. Exactly right, I do what I want the way I want. And if I want to change how I do something 6 months from now I will. Ha.

Did you know sure la table sells a cheap stone branded Kai combination Stone what do you think of it

Just for clarification for those who don’t know, the stone will always by corser than leather. So do leather last. I doubt Ryky would disagree.

Riky......google Chrome will not let me connect to you. Do you have a solution? Previously I could but Chrome updated and now I cannot.

Hey Ricky where do you suggest i could get some equine leather to strop my knife?

I have the same approach for life...💥💥💥👏👏👏👍

What grit level do you start stropping at?

Is there any compound on your strops ?

I've noticed that your fore arms are almost level, and you rock your whole body to maintain the angle. You mover your arms the most at the end of the stroke. Your left arm seems, a bit more level, but it doesn't matter, you rock your whole body. I've been sitting, which I assume is the root of the problems. I move my arms in the sitting postion, and would guess that makes it difficult to maintaining the correct angle. Is standing, and rocking the trick? I was assuming that sitting would be more stable, but it appears not to be the best method. Seeing you practice makes it clearer. Thanks.

I found the J-strop naturally and thought I was doing some esoteric nonsense lol

Are you going to make videos of restoring the badly-shaped knives in the earlier videos? I am looking forward to those!

Lots of different techniques. But honestly the CHEAPEST way is to shave a piece of 2x4 with either a plane or a table saw and charge the soft wood with compound and run your knife. MDF is better for straight edges. You can also use a smaller piece of flat softwood and strop the wood against the knife instead of the other way around. Both works fine.

swag

The "RIGHT WAY" ....your methods work very well thank you for sharing.

What beautiful blades. I somehow think that the camera doesn't do them Justice.

I copied my sharpening style from Murray Carter and it is is similar to to Ryky's but check out Michael Christy or Dean O if you want to see really different styles. The way Michael sharpens should never work and it looks so difficult that I wouldn't even try it but it works for him and he gets his knifes stupid sharp.

Everyone has their own way of sharpening. I don't think that one way is better than another in most cases.

You are doing it on your way. No need to be scientific, I enjoy your Movies, thanks for showing this video. Your way works for me too!