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Hi,
Not very familiar with pastes or how to paste a strop. With the black paste that comes in a little pack with either a green or red paste. I got green but don't intend to use it. I am using black for taking an edge and smoothing it out. How many laps should I shoot for. I have strips of denim. Can I paste these?
Thanks
Scott
Whose paste are you using,
If you want to experiment, paste a 3X12 inch piece of cardboard, inside of a cereal box, if it does not work, no harm done.
Finger paint or use as a crayon, 3 inch X’s the length of the cardboard. If you like it, glue it to a wood board.
I have heard the black is, lamp black, Graphite, or Silicone Carbide.
All paste will perform differently depending on the substrate, generally the harder, the more aggressive.
How many laps depend, on what your goal is and at what point you are stropping. I often strop after a 1k edge to straighten the edge and remove any false edge or burr.
I would start with 10 and see if you are making progress, in the direction you want to go.
Make 3 cardboard stops and see what each will do. You can just paste wood, 5 gallon paint stir stick work well for this. A short piece makes a good travel strop when covered with a cardboard or paper sheaf.
Here is an excerpt from the library What Hones, Paste and Sprays do I need.
Dovo pastes
The following pastes made by Dovo are often referred to in the forum. Only the green, red, and black pastes have noticeable abrasive quantities. Dovo micron sizes do not relate directly to Diamond micron sizes. Dovo pastes are a milder abrasive
Green
5-8 micron, very aggressive
Red
3-5 micron, aggressive
Black
1-3 micron, medium
White
Not a finishing paste, but a strop conditioner for linen only; abrasive quantity unknown
Yellow
Not a finishing paste, but a strop conditioner for leather conditioner only; abrasive quantity unknown[6].
I have used the black paste on small loom strops for the most part. Normally, I use around 10 laps for a touch-up before moving to an non-pasted leather strop. Off the stones and used as a "finisher," around 30 laps for starters. Everyone's approach being different, start with 5 laps to see how it goes, then 5 more, and so on until you've found what works for you. Just be sure to clean the blade before moving on to the non-pasted strop. To apply the paste, I rub some the waxy crayon onto the tip of my thumb, then rub this into the leather.
A piece of vegetable-tanned leather belting sanded 80x > 120x > 180x to give it some nap also works well. But I would keep things small with the paste, no larger than 2" x 24" for example. (Larger than this I would charge with black ferric oxide pigment.) Haven't tried denim; I would be more inclined to use the firehose-type capenter's pants material.