I decided to get some real stropping compound, and after reading here for a bit, went with Hand American. After convexing the edge on the beltsander, I skipped the power stropping and went with hand stropping. For the strop, I just carved off a piece of leather from my sheath making supplies and loaded it up (I used both the liquid and the powder on the strop, using the directions on their site - except I used gloves). I think I got a better result when using the hand hone as opposed to the leather belt on the sander (maybe just my crap technique on the sander, but I'm going to do what works for me!)

You can see in the first pic the sheen that the strop develops when you really work the compound in



A close up of the edge...



Unfortunately, the blood the knife was thirsting for was my own...



Oops! The wound is actually kinda deep - I didn't hit bone, but it took a fair amount of pressure to stop the bleeding, and I have a little bit of numbness on that side of the fingertip. Luckily the knife was sharp enough that no tearing occured, and I was able to squish the edges of the wound back together <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> So remember boys, knives are always loaded!

Great job, PB. I also have better results finishing with hand stropping rather than with the leather belt on the sander. I finish mine and all knives sent to me with a hand strop.

OUCH!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Nice knife, strop, and compound, but you might want to be a little more careful next time! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I needto learn the art of the strop.

For a while, every new CS knife I bought would bite me at some point. They used to come razor sharp. Now PB's Benchmade will deserve and have his respect.

It definitely will! Like my dad says - sometimes you only learn when you screw something up yourself (the language he used was a bit more coarse, but this is a family friendly board <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />). If you're smart, you learn from others mistakes, but most of us think we're smarter than that other idiot that screwed up and subsequently prove our own stupidity <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I've cut every finger on each hand at least once - some cuts were (alot) worse than others. So, you're not alone. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
With every cut I become smarter (I'm not smart enough to not do it again, though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />). So, be careful, and have fun.

I cut with a knife all day and I get little nicks at least once a month!Sharp knives are safer than dull ones they say but when you slip with a sharp knife the results are much more.....RED! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" /> I just cut myself moving my freshly sharpened Rajah II out of the way. I barely touched the edge. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Thats a painful jinx! Better change the subject.I wouldn't want to cut myself with one of those edges of yours HornDog! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Isn't there some unwritten rule of knife collecting somewhere that you
can't really call a knife your own unless you shed your blood for it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Can safely say that I've shed a drop or two to claim ownership of a couple
of pieces of sharpened steel. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Awesome! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

That is how a nice edge should look in my book. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />