Thread: wide horsehide/cowhide paddle strop from Well Shaved Gentleman

Hello all,

I had a pretty simple, basic question but figured I'd throw it on here before I moved on with my current plan. I have an older (not really old but not the newest model) wide paddle strop from The Well Shaved Gentleman with horsehide on one side and unpasted cowhide on the other. I also own some HandAmerican dry honing chromium oxide compound for their honing system which has been great and some FROMM strop dressing.

Ok, now for the 2 questions. Would the HA dry honing CO be a good choice for the unpasted cowhide side? I'm not seeing any reason why it wouldn't be but again, I'm just throwing this out there. Question 2: would the FROMM strop dressing be a good choice for the horsehide side.

Thanks

You might want to email Tony directly at his store. He has been terrific about customer support and answering questions. A true gentleman...

I have the exact same strop and the answer to your questions is yes to both.

I pasted mine with with a mixture of Lexol and the HA. I prefer just a little more draw on the horsehide so I sanded it with 400 grit and treated it with Lexol...but Fromm would work just as well.

Thanks,

I was looking at the strop pasting tutorial and it uses the same CO compound I've got so that works out great. It also looks like I'll need to get Lexol or neatsfoot oil anyway so I was wondering if there is a preference for the FROMM dressing or the Lexol or neatsfoot oil on the daily stropping unpasted horsehide side.

Originally Posted by saladbar2000

Thanks,

I was looking at the strop pasting tutorial and it uses the same CO compound I've got so that works out great. It also looks like I'll need to get Lexol or neatsfoot oil anyway so I was wondering if there is a preference for the FROMM dressing or the Lexol or neatsfoot oil on the daily stropping unpasted horsehide side.

No need to get anything else. The Fromm is perfectly good stuff...and you can use it for both the pasting and the other side.

The reason I use Lexol (other than that I've been using it for decades and like it) is because you can pick up a half liter bottle at your local auto parts store for the same price as a little 4 oz bottle of Fromm's. They also sell a leather cleaner (same size and price) and I use both products on pretty much all my leather stuff. When it comes time to clean and renew the pasted side of your strop you might want to check out the Lexol cleaner.

sounds good.
On the pasted side, I will be making a paste with the fromm and the HA CO powder and on the darker side, I'm just applying a small amount of fromm, correct?

Would it be a good idea to clean the cowhide surface before applying the paste?