Thread: tm 4 sided paddle nicks

THe latigo leather has a few nicks and ruff spots where the leather is coming up. small areas. I have a pumice stone on the way but I am not sure how to use it. Do I really just rub lather in the strop with the stone and then condition??

Hi Matt,

Just a thought, would ForestryProfs contact cement method for gluing down flaps explained in this thread be a viable option for your situation? If possible I think it's better to have a flat surface rather than sanding and having low points.

I will post some pics of the strop. The nicks are very small.

will metal from a straight razor stain an abrasive paddle stroP?? mine is turning a blue color. Sorry for the poor pictures but the fourth one shows the nicks well. There is the same scenario at the base of the strop

Matt,
The "blue" color is from metal particles being removed with the abrasive and is perfectly normal. Some of my paddles are jet black and shiney now but still cut fine. The tiny nicks are from the razors edge catching as you flip it over.
Are you rolling it on the spine or lifting it off the strop at the end of each stroke?

Lifting will certainly cause the nicks and i did this a lot when I first got started. Rolling on the spine is less likely to do this but often when rolling one flips the razor over before it stops moving away from them and the edge catches a little. if they get larger a little sanding is fine to smooth them but if they don't catch on the razor now leave them alone. A little less contact on the razor from slight dips will not hurt anything so a little sanding is not a big deal.

Tony

I was confident that was the case but thought I may as well ask.

You'll also nick the strop if you stop the stropping motion at any time with the razor laying on the strop.