Thread: I use pastes...

Lt. you can normally see serrations at 10X?

Bart I have already made a set of curved balsa strops, hrmmm only thing is they are 3x3 inch or so.
(sorry to keep mentioning those delightful little devils)

they use the natural cup of the board, perpendicular to the edge they are pretty flat. I don't think it is the concavity of the strop, but the pressure that you are noticing the difference- make it tight with pressure and loose with a light touch an I believe you find the pressured edge sharper. Don't go a put your shoulders into to prove me wrong. with a loose loom and pressure i would assume the pressure was not too much or the strop would have rolled up and dubbed the edge(i think)

A convex bevel, Moran edge, katana hiraniku, blended bevel/ whatever you want to call it is not by geometric principle sharper than a thin flat bevel. The following statement is not meant to be all inclusive...but, typically the use of convex bevel is intended to strengthen the edge by putting a little more meat down low as compared to typically flat. Both could theorectically meet a zero edge dimension only the conves blade has an increased cutting angle.

A good comparioson might be to put finest paste on a hard surface and see how that compares to a pasted (soft substrate leather) strop.