Thread: HandAmerican flatbed strop

I have a HandAmerican flatbed leather strop about 8" long with one side lightly covered with CrO powder and the other side maroon leather with nothing on it. I got it for stropping knives and it does a great job at this, but I wonder if this would be good for stropping a razor? Should I ever use the CrO side or stick to the plain side? I have a good grasp of stropping fundamentals for knives but I've never stropped a razor before.

It could be great for use with razors. As long as its still in nearly new condition and still very flat. stropping knives sometimes hollows out a strop a little in the middle and leave it kind of cupped, this makes it easier to strop a knife with a curve to it but not a razor.

the maroon leather would be a good daily side but you will probably want to get a dedicated strop to store near where you use the razor as this is a daily ritual. I would read up on stropping before trying it if I were you.

The Cro side would make a good finishing step when honing a razor, or a good refreshing step when the blade begins to dull. A lot of guys use a setup just like this. Do read up on razor sharpening and stropping as it pretty much requires tyhat you forget everything you know about knives if you want to be successful.

Thanks Wildtim, I'm going to dig through the archives and read everything I can. I just wanted to make sure this would work for now, I saw Tony's strops on his site and I think I'll get one eventually.

Tony's leather work is definitely worth saving up for and what you have will bea little inconvenient but will work fine while you count your penny's.