I have asked a few questions over the past few days and I appreciate all the knowledge shared, Yet I have another one. I have learned that it is important to use strop dressing on your strops, which I have done. Well I have a fresh double sided strop and I want to try the diamond paste, a #1 and a #.50. Do I need to apply strop dressing before applying the diamond paste or should I just apply diamond paste directly to the fresh leather? Also I read that you can use a pumice stone to smooth out your strops, any thoughts on this and when to use? Thanks again for all the knowledge! manonengine