Thread: Make your own paddle strop

2Sharp, thanks for the reply. I have one more question. Did you put poly on the balsa and the oak, or just the handles?

Poly every thing except the flat part of the balsa if possible. The paste absorbs into the balsa. I had a few drip overs from the sides so had to re-sand the balsa before applying the diamond paste.

bj

2Sharp
This might sound odd, but how hard would it be for me to take the instructions you put in the first post and pass them along to a woodworker who has little to no knowledge of strops or shaving and have them fab one for me?

My uncle has done some absolutely exquisite woodwork in the past (including a lampshade made of solid wood that actually let light through it was so thin), so I know he'd have the skill to do this. Seeing as I have NO woodworking experience though, I'm asking here before I go talk to him....

Originally Posted by kasperitis

2Sharp
This might sound odd, but how hard would it be for me to take the instructions you put in the first post and pass them along to a woodworker who has little to no knowledge of strops or shaving and have them fab one for me?

My uncle has done some absolutely exquisite woodwork in the past (including a lampshade made of solid wood that actually let light through it was so thin), so I know he'd have the skill to do this. Seeing as I have NO woodworking experience though, I'm asking here before I go talk to him....

I think this is a basic wood working project. I used the handle of my TM hanging strop to trace out the handle in the 3" X 16" oak board then cut it out with a bandsaw. The 6" sander makes nice square corners where the balsa meets the oak. I rate my wood working skills from low to medium. I did it over a period of about 2 weeks. The Poly takes about 1 day to dry between coats. It could be done in a week if you did something every day.

bj

how thick does the leather need to be on a paddle strop?

Originally Posted by 2Sharp

I used the handle of my TM hanging strop to trace out the handle

bj

Cool! I'll send out a bill <g>

Seriously though, very nice work!

We have a similar model, all stained maple to match our 4 side in production now for release in a few weeks.......same handle <g>.

Tony

Thank you for your help over the phone, Tony.
I'm looking forward to getting one of your Artisan strops in the mail.
I'll be looking to get one of your 4-sided paddles once they become available.

Regards,
Mitch

Originally Posted by Doc

how thick does the leather need to be on a paddle strop?

You can use any thickness of plain leather. I like to use balsa because I think it draws better and you can get it flatter using a belt sander. You can also refresh it with the belt sander after it gets grooved and worn. The balsa is also very reasonable in price at http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJC94&P=0
I like the 1/4" x 3" x 36". You get 8 sheets for $8 plus shipping. 3/16" thick would also work well.

bj

For the home craftsman the balsa may be an easier product to source as almost any hobby or craft store will sell it. In many cities leather sources are harder to find.

Tony

I use ash plywood on a mdf base for my bench hones. They are ugly, but flat as can be. I use rouge on them most of the time, which I apply by heating the surface with a heat gun, then rubbing the rouge stick into it (melting on contact). Once the surface is saturated, I reheat then take a straight edge and wipe off the excess. I find the binder in the rouge exposes just enough particles to provide a slow cutting but even surface.

I like everyone else's work with respect to looks, perhaps I'll make something more pretty next time I do a run.