WD401 Large Hone Strop

I have used many types of sharpening stones on knives over the years and am quite proficient at getting a nice edge on my blades freehand. I have been pondering a strop for a while, and this was my first.....and it works extremely well. I didnt have a clue what i was doing, but figured out my way thru trial and error, so here it is.First off, i didnt bother with overpriced powder. I bought the one pound block of green compound, although u can use the finer ones, from what i can tell green is all u need for knives, were not polishing jewelry here.The best way is to scrape it all pver the surface of strop till u get a even layer all across. Its like a huge crayon.PULL the blade towards u. Dont push into the cutting edge like u would on a sharpening stone, it will gouge into the strop. What you are doing is putting a fine polished finish on an already sharpened edge.Switch sides on blade and repeat till the cutting edge is shiny like a mirror.Its simple and effective. The blade cuts way better after due to no resistance on the cutting edge.Use a sharp edge to scrape off the wax, again, not like u are cutting the material, bit to scrape hold blade at ninety degree angle or so.Works damn well and is big enough for most blades short of machetes.

This is an awesome strop compared to a leather one. I like the added features for gouges, vtool, vieners. I love the powder aluminum oxide & it really helps to get a wire edge on the carving knives, takes a while on the stones especially with a new knife that you need to do this with to cut the wood correctly not tear it due to dullness. Knives from factory are sharp , but not sharp like with a wire edge. I don't care for the wax strop compound due to it getting smooth and no abasive. I am going to clean one of my leather strop & try the power compound to see what results it has on leather.

If you are getting this because you are a fine woodworker and are trying to make your chisels or plane blades razor sharp, Invest in a real leather strop. The strop is a nice size but the rubber just doesn't do the job that leather does. It doesn't look like it will age to be better either. If you are getting this for amateur knife sharpening it may serve your purposes well.

I'm a vegan so I wanted a strop that wasn't made from leather. This works. Holds polishing compound surprisingly well.

I've been messing around with many different sharpening stones over the years including diamond and ceramic. I was always curious about a strop. I researched the idea and decided to give the synthetic version a try along with the Wd402 powder. Given this was my first time I was surprised at the effect it had on a knife. It literally does get them razor sharp. I found myself going through my Knife block and drawers finding knives to sharpen, including ones that probably should not need a strop. Impressive stuff. With some shaving cream my Benchmark pocket knife could probably work in a pinch as a real shaver. Keep in mind though that I do sharpen it on a two sided 1000/4000 grit Japanese Sharpening Stone soaked in water, just like the Sushi Chefs.

This hone is a good, solid addition to my sharpening tools collection. Here are some key points:1. It is not a leather hone. It has a rubber or silicone synthetic surface which is perfectly flat. This should actually help with the honing process as it is actually flatter than leather since there is very little texture. The absence of texture is a little odd to me. Doesn't affect performance with honing compound sticks. Doesn't work so well with honing powder though, at least in my usage so far.2. It is larger than I thought it would be. About 14" long including the handle and 3" wide.3. One side is rounded, which helps when honing curved blades or the concave side of carving chisels.4. The end has a 45 degree bevel which could be useful for honing serrations, potentially. (That seems like it would be incredibly tedious)

Honing my kitchen knives before each use has made them SO much more effective. For example, I just cooked a 2.5lb pork loin on the grill tonight. Once it was done, I brought it in and let it "stand" for 15 minutes. During that time, I grabbed my carving knife, honed it on this synthetic trop, and gave it a quick rinse-off in the sink. When I went to serve it, the knife cut through the thick pork effortlessly. I've been using this knife for 5 years (no exaggeration). It hasn't cut like this since we originally bought the knife set half a decade ago.Taking the time to hone your blades before each use will pay dividends in the knife's longevity, and likely reduce frustration in the kitchen.

Mine was not totally flat. It has permanent dents and one corner is smushed in pretty bad. Looks like it wasn’t stored or shipped kindly. Even still it seems to work just fine. I’m just a little disappointed in the condition of it for $25.