Originally Posted by
Steve56
It's certainly been done - look on eBay for paddle strops and you'll see 4-sided ones fairly often. Those were used with a series of pastes, which were and still are favored in Europe over stones. I don't know why except that it's perceived as cheaper.
Pasted media can be a bother, you have to flatten and maintain balsa/whatever, or you'd need several hanging strops. All of it needs to be protected from contamination, cross contamination (be sure to put that 4-sided paddle strop back in it's case EXACTLY the same way EVERY time) and you can't easily rinse off a strop like you can a stone.
Cheers, Steve