Many thanks for all of the feedback.

yes, on second thought my strop-on-wood is probably way too rough for razor - I'll keep it for knives. Balsa wood with CrOx seems like a cheap way to go. Are there any other paste-y things aside from CrOx which are worth considering at this point?

I'll have to see what I can rig up for the hanging strop - I imagine it might be easier to manage at first at least at waist height. (Do I need to do anything to condition it? It's about 15-20 years old, but hasn't been used.)