Thread: Paddle Station-A Work In Progress

Living in a city apartment demands that one maximizes what space you have allotted to you. There’s no second bathroom off the laundry room in the basement that can become one’s own shaving den. Imagine living on a submarine. So additions to the gear one needs for shaving requires that two things happen. If something comes into the apartment, something has to leave. This holds as true for shaving gear as it does for girlfriends and wives. When something comes in, something’s going to leave.

Got some used razors nicely honed (thank you, Lynn) and read Glen’s http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...xperiment.html. So I wanted something more than just a hanging strop that allowed me to keep up an edge, i.e. diamond spray, Cro Ox, etc. But where keep the stuff? So I created a paddle station behind the bathroom door, out of the way except when needed but easily accessible.

It’s crude, all off-the-shelf stuff from HD and likely subject to much modification. Now that it’s installed, I think it’s a little long for the space. But I thing it will solve some of the storage problems.

The leather is from a high fashion designer who was thinning out his collection in the Garment District. The felt is from a shop on Etsy and the .5 and .25 diamond spray from SRD is drying overnight. I’ll try the set-up out in the morning.

In the meantime, I have some Cro-Ox and a felt pad coming from SRD. A strip of thicker cowhide is coming from a friend in New Hampshire so I’ll see how the Italian stuff works.

I wish I had access to a shop with routers and table saws, etc, but I don’t. I do have the satisfaction of knowing that I created this.

The build.



The install. Applying the diamond spray.


Voila! Well, maybe.

That is damn clever! Great thinking.

Did you varnish or otherwise seal the wood? The side against the door will experience different humidity than the side with the leather on it, and they may cup on you over time.

You could put another piece of leather or felt on the back side of each board, which would take care of the sealing problem, then replace the hinges with swiveling clasps and you'd double your potential stropping surfaces.

What are you using to attach the felt or leather to the wood?

That thing is awesome!

It's still a work in progress so I wanted to see if the concept worked before I finished it. The lenght and height of the of the paddles may have to be adjusted so it's in an easily disassembled state.

It's made out of 1/2" red oak so I'm not real concerned about cupping at this point. There would have to be a very high state humidity for a prolonged period and I'm generally in and out of the shower pretty quick. The felt and leather are attached using contact cement. I've done formica work so I'm pretty comfortable around the stuff. The surfaces of the paddles were sanded flat, a bit like lapping a stone.

I did a bit of research into those kind of swivels and they were pretty hard to find. In my minds eye I can see the type you're talking about but locaing them is a lot harder.

In terms of finishing it, I see the edges being rounded over and at the ends of the paddles the corners curved. The hardware would be replaced with brass because of the humidity issue. I was hoping to box the top out a bit so that it would both mask the hardware and to have slots for razors on the top. However first it needs to be practical then it needs to be pretty.

It's amazing at what some people can think up. I love this idea!

I have to say just WAOW. Never think about that before, good idea keep working on it. In the world that what we need different thinking.

K

On the right track I think. This morning was the first time using the diamond spray to touchup a razor. 15 laps on the .5 and 20 laps on the .25. What a smooth shave! Not even a weeper.
Following the Pasted Stop Experiment by Glen, since I have a five blade rotation, I'm figure on touching up about once a month. That may even be too frequent but time will tell.
Going to leave it in it's present state for the time being. Look for some shop time to finish it and chew over some ideas.

Clever, and a great idea, I like it! Well done

Very nice concept. That would minimize space and keep everything organized together.

Good idea... and well executed. Strong work!