Thread: Can I use my strop to sharpen my pocket knife

I have a little sabre pocket knife. i was going to use my strop to sharpen it, but the blade isn't the smoothest. I didn't want to nick the strop. Is my assumption correct?

I wouldn't try that. I would expect you might scratch the strop at the very least. Maybe not with a spear or sheepfoot but a clip blade would be dangerous. You can do it on your shoe/boot or even the palm of the hand...... carefully.

That would be a better use for an old belt than a good strop. You would need to have quite a nice edge on that knife already before a strop would be of service anyway.

I will tell you my grandfather uses the strop his father left him to sharpen pocket knives. He still has the straight razor as well but is afraid to use it. His is a paddle strop though and I don't think I would try it with a hanging one.

Put the strop upside down on a flat surface and use the back (flesh) side for non-razor stropping. Your knife will never know the difference and your razor(s) will remain happy.

Yea, I wouldn't think a strop would do anything for most knives out there.

Originally Posted by Bruce

Put the strop upside down on a flat surface and use the back (flesh) side for non-razor stropping.
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+1.

Most of my knives seem to respond a bit quicker to the flesh side of my leather strops. I mostly use a separate leather strop for knife use. The skin side is quite easy to scratch up if the knife point is at all acute.

If you take your pocket knife up thru the stones as you would a razor, just with a bit more angel to the edge, then you could strop it. But don't take a knife that hasn't, and has rough grinding marks on the edge to the strop. It will do nothing fot the edge, and may scratch up you strop.