I rescued a 4 sided paddle, but which side is what?

Ok, Everything I find on searching seems related to pasted paddles. I'm not sure this was a pasted paddle.....

I got a Keene Cutlery razor strop, it's a 1.5 inch widw 4 sided paddle with case. The case says "Use hone when razor is dull. Ordinarily use Brown side first. Ending on plain leather."

Now, the confusing bits- 2 sides (opposing) are cushioned, and the other 2 sides are solid. 3 of the four sides are some shade of bronw...:shrug:
One solid side has more of a redish tinge. Rubbing my fingers on any side dirties my skin, but I can;t tell if it's paste residue or something else.
The cusioned sides are sueded, and one solid is sueding from wear.

Now, the questions.... and oh the questions:thinking:...

Any idea why 2 would be cusioned and 2 solid? I have another small anceint paddle that is cow on one side and seal on the other- seal being smoother to the touch- could this 4 sider have been like one of Tony's with different cuts on each face for sucessivly finer stropping (assumeing that concept makes sense- since my understanding is different leather is for different draw, not successivly finer)

Does it sould like the faces are still useable with 2 being sueded? I'm kinda thinking toward the possibility of pasting it...
any and all advice welcome and apretiated.

I have seen these smooth on all sides and sueded as well. Cushioning was popular on many paddle way back when but one does risk rounding an edge easily if too much pressure is used. Other slotted the wood to provide some give but in my experience it takes a lot of pressure to deflect the wood at all.

I used sueded leather the first few months I made my 1 1/2" 4 sides but found they just sucked up the paste. I also tried a smooth natural leather, bonded it to a paddle then bufed it slightly so it was like a very mild suede. It worked much better but still ate up lots of paste. One the skin side is removed of scuffed the lower structure is quite porous.

I think a fairly common 4 side used to have a fine stone on one side, 2 pasted sides, padded or hard, then a finished, "Russian" surface. I have seen vintage ones with red, black, brown and green sides all of which had some form of abrasive applied.

Can yoo post a photo of what you have?

Tony

Took me a couple of days to find the camera, the batteries, and then the charger....