You are sharpening your knife and have tested it to approve for sharpness. You know that you have achieved it because you've found a burr on the knife's edge. This burr is how we all know the edge has reached the point of absolute sharpness. It confirms it. Should you stop there? Oh, but you must. There's only so much sharpening that may be done to an edge. To resume after that only results in unnecessary loss of metal on your blade edge. To keep on gains nothing. Are you done then?

you have a burr on your blade edge and it should be removed. Once you've done that, the edge will usually have little bits of metal still clinging to it. These bits feel just like sand on the edge. But you'd like to get it as fine as it can be, even greasy sharp at that.

maybe you have got knives that are going on view. Perhaps they're going to be included in a ceremony of some sort . Or maybe you'd just like to show off your fine knives to your friends and family. I am sure you'd want your edges to shine , to make them silky smooth. Well, then. It's time to strop it.

Stropping is a method used to clean off a blade's edge after sharpening. It is supposed to bend and twist those sticking metal pieces till they fall off. It's also done to reposition the microscopic teeth created on the edge while sharpening. Stropping is done by swiping either side of your blade's edge over a leather strap. When you cannot feel clinging bits, you have successfully stropped your blade edge. It should be shining nice and bright at this point. This is how stropping was always done in the past, but times are changing.

Did you ever think that you might one day be in a position to electrically strop an edge? I sure didn't. The sector of electric knife sharpening has come a really long way. Some electric knife sharpeners are quite superb. Plenty of the high priced sharpeners are provided with their own stropping abrasives. How about that? It's true. Spend anywhere form over $50 to a couple of hundred on an exceptional electrical knife sharpener and it'll both sharpen and strop your blades for you. Just like that. Yes, I know. It seems like an awful lot of money for simply an electrical knife sharpener. But if you have the means and do not care to diddle with it, electrical knife stropping is certainly possible now. It is entirely up to you.

A cordless electric carving knife is also a great way in automating and saving time while using knives. An example of a company that sells these kind of knives is cuisinart, which I can highly recommend (cuisinart cek40 electric knife)

Let's make one point very clear. Stropping is not sharpening. It is not, truly. But stropping with a polishing compound or an abrasive compound sure is. When you do this, when you add such a compound to the strap, the stropping has now become its own kind of sharpening. Because it can now remove metal from the edge, it's a sharpener. All on it's own the strap can do less than strop an edge. Therein lies the difference.

For fine knife sharpening, stropping is always the final step. It is done after absolute sharpness has been achieved. It makes each knife edge as fine as it can be. They can shine and shine. Isn't that special?.