Pasted Hanging Strops

OK- a few weeks ago, I came into possession of a NOS Wilkinson Empire, 7-Day Self-stropper set (you can see a picture of one here). It consists of a handle, seven little tiny, hollow ground Sheffield Steel , 2/8 to 3/8 blades and a small, Auto-Strop type of strop. The blades pop into the holder, you loosen the blade mechanism, feed the strop through, and run the handle up and down the strop, and the blade flip/flops and drags along the leather strop in the conventional stropping motion.....and it works quite slick. The blade then locks down, and it even has a screw-adjustment for blade exposure. In reading the instructions, they state that when the blade no longer achieves an acceptable edge with the strop, just buy a new blade. When I got the set (from Brendon :tu ), the blades were still coated with the original 'cosmoline' type grease/rust preventative.

Since buying new blades is no longer an option, I got to thinking that the blades could periodically be re-sharpened on a diamond-pasted strop....s-o-o-o-o, I gave Tony Miller a buzz and had a little chat about putting together 3 or 4 addtional strops that could be diamond pasted and/or Chromium Oxide pasted to really sharpen. tone up and maintain the edges on the blades. Tony naturally said the fabrication of the strops would not be a problem, but that he didn't have any experience with using diamond pasted hanging strops, and wondered if there were any issues with the paste flaking off the strop with use, etc.

So....any of you cowboys out there use diamond pasted hanging strops? I'd love to hear about your experiences.

I am awaiting your responses with bated breath!....

-whatever

-Lou

I have a trio of dedicated diamond pasted hanging strops. I have found that diamond paste on the outer skin side causes too much "stick" to be easy to use. So I have three strops that are rough side out so to speak that I use. This course texture to the leather eases the draw, "stick" to a useable minimum. As to the ability of these strops to sharpen a razor....a big YES. Stropping on a pasted hanging strop does not harm the edge at all and can really bring a tired edge back to life.

PuFF

Puff,
Thanks for the input. I was concerned the paste may come off of the very thin flexible strops Lou will need to the setup. I've used it on heavy strops with okay results but these will be thin like an autostrop razor type so was concerned.

Tony

I have two hanging strops with diamond paste on them. I seldom use them but on ocassion do but I keep the strop on a flat hard surface when I strop. I find the stickyness factor to be pretty hard to manipulate. Being on a flat surface makes the stropping easier. The strops are effective though. Sometimes when nothing else works, they do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I have two hanging strops with diamond paste on them. I seldom use them but on ocassion do but I keep the strop on a flat hard surface when I strop. I find the stickyness factor to be pretty hard to manipulate. Being on a flat surface makes the stropping easier. The strops are effective though. Sometimes when nothing else works, they do.

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Try keeping the strop taught and strop with the toe leading at almost a 45 degree angle but with light to moderate pressure. Too much diamond paste can make it a pain to use but with a good splash of water to dilute the paste as you spread it makes a big difference I found. When the paste gets too sticky after lots of use I just wet it again and re spread.

Diamond paste on the skin side of the leather does work but it really increases the draw to the point where it is better for a paddle tbh. If you do use diamond paste on the skin side then I suggest you knock down the paste with water till its a milk then apply it to the strop. On the rough side of a strop this is not needed as the surface contact is broken by the texture of the strop face. You will also get this effect with the TI white paste.
Old style soap pastes will give better results on the skin side of a leather strop as well as the rough side.

PuFF

How much paste is always an issue. I tend to past my wn strops very lightly and just reaply paste as needed. On those I sell I tend to go a bit heavy so the customer feels good about what he gets even though most of the $5 fee is labor, not paste<g>. BUT, heavier pastings do come with a down side. I notice not that summer is coming humidity seems to have an effect on the pastes. They tend to be hydroscopi, picking up mointure from the air and previously dry strops f mine are feeling a bit sticky this time of year. My thinnly pasted ones less so than the heavily pasted ones. I usually wet them as Puff mentioned and spread the pastes of thinner if I can.

Lou, I am a bit concerned now whether paste will work well on these strops. Maybe the older, waxy Dovo pastes are a better choice as they are so flexible.

Tony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Miller

...Lou, I am a bit concerned now whether paste will work well on these strops. Maybe the older, waxy Dovo pastes are a better choice as they are so flexible.

Tony

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My only experience with pastes are the 4-sided diamond-pasted paddle and the Chromium Oxide pasted bench hone, both of which I got from you (and both of which I love, I might add). The Dovo pastes...do they cut and sharpen similar to a diamond paste?...what is their cutting medium?...and , would it make sense to paste one of the strops with chromioum oxide?

As a side note, I have another Wilkinson razor holder that is quite well used - I'm thinking of using it on the pasted strops, and use the NOS holder for the final strop and to shave with.

-thanks for all of your input, gents....it is well appreciated.

-whatever

-Lou

I have the Dovo red paste on the embossed side of my hanging strop. Humidity and stickyness haven't seemed to be an issue for me (the strop spends its life in the bathroom). I've reapplied the past a couple of times over the past year but it probably didn't need it.

I don't know what the cutting medium in the Dovo red is, but I do know that it generates a slightly finer and smoother edge than the 8k side of the Norton. Good enough for me to shave with anyway (but then, I usually shave off the 8k, so ...)

I've heard there's a finer grit Dovo paste than the red, but haven't found it in Aus.

That would be the "Black" that finer I believe.


PuFF