I wasn't really sure if this should go in the honing or strop sections, but figured I was safer here in the newby corny.

Anyway, I have been spending way to much money on soaps and stuff, when I really should have been getting my self ready for daily up-keep. I know I will need to get my self a norton or something like it for real honing every couple of months, but right now it is out of my price range. I had to pay the electric bill. Still I would like to polish my blade every week or two just to keep that cutting edge in good shape. Right now a Coticule is way out of my price range, as are most higher grit polish stones. I know you guys use Pasted strops a lot. I watched Lynn's video yesterday and he talked quite a bit about pasted strops, but I had a few more questions.

First) I know a pasted strop will work for regular maintenance. But does it work just as well for polishing after you take it through a pyramid on your norton 4/8 k or whatever you may be using, or do you still find that a higher grit polishing stone works best?

Second) I was planning on ordering one of Tony's paddle strops, and had thought it would be good to just have him paste it. Now he uses a 1.0 and .5 paste on his if you have him paste two sides. Lynn seems to recommend a .5 and then .25 paste on a strop for polishing, and from reading, most of you guys seem to concur. Because of this I wanted to see what you guys thought. Should I just have him paste it or should I get some .5 and .25 paste? I don't mean any disrespect to you at all Tony. I just would like as much information as possible.

Three) If I end up going with getting my own paste, what do you guys recommend. Lynn showed a multitude of pastes in his video. I was leaning towards the diamond paste, but I really don't know. I don't know if this should matter, but I would like it to be easily spreadable so that I can get it over the whole surface. I know some of the ones Lynn mentioned were on the thinner side. This is one of the reasons I was leaning towards the diamond paste as it seemed easier to manage.

And Four) Lynn talks about the Thiers-Issard linen paste. I guess this basically is also a polishing/sharpening paste. Can I just put that on the linen of my everyday strop, or do I put that on a dedicated pasting strop? If I get a pasted paddle strop, then do I even need to concern my self with the T-I linen paste?

Those are my questions. I will be getting a norton 4/8k stone as soon as I can. I want to get to work on cleaning up that blade my uncle gave me.

Anyway, my shipment just came in from Mama Bear. I am excited and I am going to go check them out now. Will post in Soaps section.

Matt