I never really took notes or anything to really do it more scientifically. I just play around with what I find around at different places. I also found that lightly sanding the smooth side of the leather with some 220 grit really helps out on some leather. I’m a pro at hand sharpening but I have always had problems with stropping compound application. Also just the weight of the knife or the tool you are sharpening is plenty, restist the urge to put pressue on it like you do on stones, let the compound do the work. Be sure and listen to your knife on the strop too as you can tell by the sound when it is right.
Note that honing compound is the final abrasive used in the sharpening process. The abrasive particles are extremely small and will polish an existing edge to a mirror finish, but are not aggressive enough to bring a dull edge back to sharp. The edge being sharpened must have been taken through the finest sharpening stones before the compound is used for it to be effective.
Understanding Strops
If they do get real dull get some sandpaper and fold over the strop to get the main edge back. My BU blades typically have a 25 degree primary bevel and a high secondary/micro bevel (e.g. 50 degrees, to create a 62 degree included angle). The microbevel makes it difficult, if not impossible, to freehand strop accurately . This works well enough to give the blade a second lease on life. Note that this involved drawing the blade towards oneself, with the sharp end trailing.
Stropping Compound
Sharpeners of straight razors for instance often prefer using a smooth leather strop with no compound applied. The leather polishes the metal and removes any burr from the edge, leaving it crisp and sharp. Never move the blade toward the cutting edge as it will cut into the strop, resulting in dulling of the edge and damage to the strop.
Skerper Stropping: For Ultimate Sharpness
So for prepping purposes, there’s no comparison to the durability and reusability of the traditional colored bars. Rougher grit compounds are more aggressive and remove more metal. Which means they work faster but produce edges that are less finely polished. Finer grit compounds remove less metal and work more slowly, but they’re how you get the best results. But, for obvious reasons (i.e. it plugs into a wall), it’s strictly a home or workshop option and overkill for most people.
In order to achieve the sharpest knife or tool edge possible, honing the tool with a strop after sharpening is mandatory. Without further refining the cutting edge of the tool with progressively finer grits you will never be able to achieve a super sharp cutting edge. If you already are ok with your polishing stone then you won’t necessarily need compound. The leather http://way-bd.com/viking-stencil/ itself will “buff” the existing edge and have a slight polishing effect (technically it isn’t polishing since you are virtually removing no material from the edge itself). The compound will actually remove material from the edge. It is very minute compared to a whetstone however, but can be very helpful in finishing up an edge or maintaining an edge after use.