Thread: MDF bench strop?

I was just thinking about making a pasted bench strop for experimenting with paste.
Would it be possible to use MDF as a base to apply paste on?

I don't know if this is a stupid question or not, but my main motivation for asking is to have something cheap to experiment with, and MDF has the advantage that it is cheap and flat.

Bruno,

Not sure about MDF, but I've had very good results using a $3 piece of balsa wood I got from a local craft store. The balsa works great with diamond pastes. As much as I love Tony's leather paddle strops, there are times when I still grab these little pieces of balsa.

Josh

The MDF will make a great base for leather as it's fairly flat. I wouldnt use it on its own as the abrasives will make it un-flat in short order

The MDF is great as a flat/stable material. Just don't repeat my mistake and use it on the wet vanity counter at my "shaving temple". The MDF sucked up lots of water and became a bloated mess of bathroom sink roadkill. Please keep it away from water.

-Steve

MDF is fine as a substrate for something else, leather, balsa, etc... While there is a woodworking supply place selling it in a kit with abrasives I find it is too smooth and hard to work with abrasives applied right to it's surface though. Something glued to it to take the abrasives is better.

It is nasty stuff to cut....dusty, dirty and the resins used to bind it together are not that good for you. Wear a dust mask when cutting or sanding. This is part of why I am discontinuing mine when the current stock of blanks is gone.

Tony