To strop a knife, rest the blade on the leather at a low angle so only the edge touches, then pull it spine-first so the edge trails behind. Alternate sides for a handful of light passes. Stropping polishes a freshly sharpened edge and clears the last of the burr; it can't sharpen a dull or chipped knife.
On a Tumbler Rolling Knife Sharpener, the strop comes last, after the diamond disc and the honing disc (our full walkthrough of a Tumbler sharpening session covers those two stages). The clip below runs from dull knife to paper test:
In this Tumbler reel, a green chef's knife that starts out dull on a sharpness tester is rolled on a Tumbler Pro, laid almost flat on a tan leather strop stamped with the Tumbler logo, and then slices cleanly through a sheet of paper.
What does stropping a knife do?
Stropping finishes an edge that is already sharp. Drawing the blade over leather polishes the very edge, strips away the thin wire of steel that sharpening leaves behind (the burr) and nudges small bent spots back into line. It removes too little steel to make a dull knife sharp, so it always follows sharpening and never replaces it.
Sharpening Supplies says, "A strop excels at making sharp edges extremely sharp," and strops "do a wonderful job of polishing off the burr or wire edge from blades" (Sharpening Supplies). Wikipedia adds the alignment part: "In many cases stropping re-aligns parts of the blade edge that have been bent out of alignment" (Wikipedia). Tumbler's Starter Set page describes the same job: you "gently glide the blade along the strop to refine the edge further and remove any microscopic burrs."
Now the limit. "A strop is meant to be used after a relatively fine stone, not a coarse stone," Sharpening Supplies notes, and the Companion Strop page calls it "the optional final touch, not a replacement." If a knife slides off a tomato skin, leather won't rescue it.
What you need
- A knife you've just sharpened and honed, with a plain (not serrated) edge.
- A leather strop. Tumbler's is built on "a birch wood base, covered with fine cowhide, vegetable tanned." The Tumbler Companion Strop sells on its own, and the Tumbler Rolling Knife Sharpener Starter Set (Original) already has one in the box.
- A flat, steady surface that won't slide.
- No paste. The Companion Strop works bare; its page sums up the method as "No pressure, no paste."
- A sheet of printer paper for the final check.
How to strop a knife, step by step
Steps 2, 3 and 5 follow Tumbler's illustrated strop instructions. The stropping itself takes only a handful of passes.
1. Sharpen and hone first
Roll the diamond disc until you can feel a burr along the whole edge, then switch to the honing disc; about 6 passes per side is plenty. Tumbler's sharpening instructions page lists the same order.
Tip: leather only polishes what the discs already shaped, so check the sharpening reached both ends. Our guide to reaching the heel and the tip on a rolling sharpener shows how.
2. Set the angle with one finger
Put your index finger on the strop, lay the blade on it, then hold that angle as well as you can. The goal, in the words of the Tumbler strop instructions, is "that only the edge of the knife comes into contact with the leather."
Tip: you don't need a degree number. The blade sits low, close to flat, with the spine raised just enough to keep the edge on the leather.
3. Pull the knife spine-first
The spine leads and the edge trails, the opposite of a slicing cut. Tumbler's strop instructions put it as "Do not move the knife against but with the edge," because a leading edge can slice the strop and hurt the knife. Sharpening Supplies agrees: "Always strop with the blade trailing."
Some guides pull the knife toward you with the spine facing you. That's the same stroke seen from the other side.
4. Let the knife's weight do the work
Keep your hand relaxed. Knivesandtools: "You barely need to apply any pressure during stropping. The weight of your hand and the knife is usually enough" (Knivesandtools). Leaning in backfires: "Pressing too hard will create a steeper micro bevel," per Sharpening Supplies.
5. Alternate sides for a handful of passes
Turn the knife over and pull it the other way, spine first again. The Companion Strop page says to work "away from the edge (not into it), alternating sides," and that "A handful of passes is all it takes to refine and polish the edge." Sweep the full edge, heel to tip, across the leather on every stroke.
6. Check the edge on paper
Hold a sheet of printer paper by one corner and slice down through it from heel to tip. A finished edge glides through. If it snags at one spot, that spot needs the sharpener again, not more leather. Our knife care guide covers other ways to judge an edge.
Stropping vs honing: what's the difference?
Sharpening removes steel to form a new edge, honing pushes that edge straight, and stropping polishes it on leather. They run in that order, and each does less to the steel than the step before.
On a Tumbler, honing is the EdgeBoost disc's job, and its material depends on the model: the Tumbler Original's is steel and the Tumbler Pro's is ceramic (the Original and Pro comparison chart lists both). The honing disc realigns the edge, and the strop is the optional polish afterward. Our guide to the Tumbler Pro disc system shows where the ceramic disc fits, and our explainer on honing versus sharpening covers honing rods.
How often should you strop?
Strop at the end of every sharpening session, then use a few strokes as a pick-me-up whenever the edge loses a little bite. The Companion Strop page says it "Helps maintain sharpness between sharpening sessions." No source we checked sets a fixed schedule. Once a few strokes stop bringing the edge back, it's time to sharpen, and how often that should be has its own guide on the way.
Which knives can go on the strop, and which can't
The Companion Strop page lists kitchen knives, pocket knives and field knives, and rules out serrated blades and blades with a deep inward curve. Single-bevel Japanese knives need a different approach, so check Tumbler's FAQ or ask support first. Ceramic knives aren't magnetic, so they can't sit on the Tumbler's angle holder to be sharpened in the first place.
For small blades, the Tumbler Mini Sharpening Set includes its own "leather polishing strop for extra edge refinement" next to a 20° and 25° angle block. Buying for someone who already owns a sharpener? A strop is one of the small picks in our stocking stuffers for cooks.
When the strop isn't helping: symptoms and fixes
Most stropping trouble traces back to edge-first strokes, too much pressure, the wrong angle, or asking leather to fix a knife that needs sharpening.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Thin cuts or nicks appear in the leather | The edge led the stroke | Reverse the motion so the spine leads |
| The knife feels duller after stropping | Too much pressure, or the spine held too high | Hone again (about 6 passes per side), then strop at a lower angle with only the weight of your hand |
| The side of the blade turns shiny, but the edge doesn't improve | Angle too low, so the flat touches instead of the edge | Raise the spine slightly (Knivesandtools: if the side shines, increase the angle) |
| A scraping sound on each stroke | Angle too high | Lower the spine a little (Knivesandtools: use a slightly smaller angle) |
| Stropping changes nothing | The knife is dull; leather can't sharpen it | Go back to the diamond disc, then hone, then strop |
| A visible chip or dent in the edge | Damage far too big for leather | On a Tumbler Pro, start with the Tumbler Coarse Diamond Disc #150, then finish on the standard diamond disc. On a Tumbler Original, the standard diamond disc does the work, and a damaged edge takes longer |
Before ordering the Coarse #150, check your roller. It mounts only on a Tumbler Pro purchased after June 1, 2025, identified by the little hex recess right above its screw threads. The Tumbler Original can't use it.
Tumbler's strop instructions do say the stroke "removes the smallest chipping." Read that as the tiny irregularities left right after sharpening; a chip you can see or catch with a fingernail is a job for the discs.
Tumbler's strop instructions page has drawings of each stroke, and if your set didn't include a strop, the Companion Strop works with any Tumbler.
Strop questions people ask
Which side of a leather strop should you use?
Without compound, use the smooth side. Sharpening Supplies: "If you plan on not using compound, we recommend stropping with the smooth leather," while "the suede leather accepts compound better." The Tumbler Companion Strop is meant to be used bare.
Does stropping remove metal from the blade?
Very little. Bare leather mostly straightens and polishes; Wikipedia notes that "especially when an abrasive polishing compound is used, stropping may remove a small amount of metal." Replying to a reader on the Science of Sharp blog, its author wrote: "The leather strop can slowly abrade metal from the side of the apex and make it keener" (Science of Sharp). That tiny amount is why a strop can't bring back a dull knife.
Can you strop on something other than leather?
Yes. Wikipedia describes a strop as "a flexible strip of leather, canvas, denim fabric, balsa wood, or other soft material." The rules don't change: edge trailing, light pressure, both sides. Leather is the usual choice for kitchen knives, and it's what Tumbler's strops use.
Sources
- Sharpening Supplies Strop FAQs: Sharpening Supplies
- How do you strop a knife?: Knivesandtools
- Strop: Wikipedia
- What does stropping do?: Science of Sharp, August 13, 2014 (quoted line is from the author's 2018 reply in the comments)
- Tumbler pages on tumblerware.com: Leather Strop Instructions, sharpening instructions, FAQ, Compare Tumblers chart, plus product pages for the Tumbler Companion Strop, Tumbler Rolling Knife Sharpener Starter Set (Original) and Tumbler Mini Sharpening Set
Written by Team Tumbler.