Originally Posted by
bruseth
I had the same problem with my SRD Modular Paddle. The leather sides were concave across their widths - the edges were curled up, and the middle was depressed/deeper. Hence the wear on the outside edges. When I discovered this, I emailed SRD and got a nice email back saying to send the Paddle Strop back in, and they would take care of it for me. Very nice and helpful. By this time though, I had figured out what the problem was (or so I think), and decided to take care of it myself.
I’ll use an example from general woodworking to illustrate what the problem is (once again, what I _suspect_ the problem is). If you take a flat-sawn board, and apply a finish (shellac, tung oil, polyurethane, etc.) to only one side of the board, and nothing on the other side, the board will ‘cup’ away from its unfinished side - the side with the finish on it will become concave across its width, just like some of our paddle strops have become. If I remember correctly, here is what happens; the unfinished side attracts and accepts moisture from the air. When it becomes wet enough, it swells up, and pushes the edges of the board away, thus causing the finished side to become concave/cupped. How does this apply to our paddle strops? Well, the kerfs cut into the paddle leave an unfinished side on the thin piece of wood that holds the leather. The other side of that thin bit of wood can be thought of as being ‘finished’, because it is covered by the magnetic backing. So… one side is bare and the other side is covered by the magnetic sheet. The bare side accepts moisture, swells up, and causes the other side, the side that has the magnetic backing upon which we place out leather, to become concave. Whew! Too long-winded ;-) At least that’s my theory.
I know that using wood is traditional, and most find it very attractive, but maybe SRD should have used something inert for their paddle? Or maybe the paddle didn’t need the kerfs cut into it? A solid wood paddle without the kerfs would have been more stable? Are the kerfs really necessary? How often will a person press down so hard, when stropping, that they really need the kerfs? I’m not sure about any of this ;-( What do you all think?
So, here’s what I did. I mounted some sandpaper on a piece of glass, and I rubbed the magnetic strips on the paper until they became flat across their width. It took some doing, because the magnetic strips, being rubber-based (I think), kept clogging the sand paper. The next thing I need to do, is to apply some sort of finish to the inside of the kerfs, so that the thin boards are no longer ‘unfinished’ on one side. That should make both top and bottom of the boards more equal, and less likely to warp/cup. At least that’s what I hope. How to get some sort of finish in those narrow kerfs is still a mystery to me. Any ideas? Please let me know.
Anyway, I hope this helped somewhat. I •very• much like my SRD Paddle Strop. When I first thought about getting one, I thought how neat it would be. Unlike a wide hanging strop, this thing will always be completely flat. Not quite so though ;-( I'm sure though, with a few little changes, it will be just fine. It’s a fine product, and I'm grateful for them having made it.
