Thread: Storage for 4 sided paddle strop

I just bought a 4 sided paddle strop and have so far pasted 3 sides, leaving the 4th untouched for now because I haven't quite figured out how to store this without risking contamination. I keep it in a plastic bag resting on the unfinished side but that a awkward. I was thinking of attaching a leather thong to the handle and find a place to hang it where the sides don't touch anything. Curious as to how other members store their 4 sided strops to avoid contamination

Store in a plastic bag large enough to hold it. I was fortunate to buy my paddle from Tony Miller. He supplied a plastic bag for it.

I store mine on a shelf with no bag and every side is pasted 3.0,1.0,0.5,0.25 and have not had a problem. I was wondering about the bag when I bought it and finally came to the conclusion that I could not put it in the bag the same way every time and, thus it would be worse than the shelf. Once you have used the thing for a while (go light with the paste if you applied it, use less than half of what Tony gave you) it kinda grinds in and will be very stable. Wipe off the plain side with at clean cloth and I personally think you will be fine. When honing make sure you wipe the razor when changing sides.

Take Care,
Richard

I also got mine from Tony and still have the bag so I do use that..I was worried that - even within the bag - some of the paste might rub off/transfer to another surface. I did paste very lightly initially so I don't think I have a lot of excess that will come of easily.

I'm still uncomfortable laying it flat even in the bag so I think I will drill a hole through the handle and run a small strip of leather so I can hang it up.

Thanks for the suggestions

Regards,

Joe

Here's a thought - find a box that aluminum foil or saran wrap comes in - there are usually different sizes, and FWIW the aluminum foil comes in pretty decent sizes, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one that fits your four sided strop. Place paddle strop in box lengthwise, voila! Paddle strop storage done. Every couple of months you get a box like anyway.

Alternatively, cut a cereal box vertically to fit the paddle strop, leaving enough from one of the wide faces to fold over to tape to the other side, forming a sqare "tube" that you could slide it into.

But, this is my problem with paddle strops, especially four sided ones; grit transfer. I would worry about some of the one micron diamond getting onto the .25 micron side and so forth. I think I would prefer to have two two-side strops than one four-sided, but as it is I have six or so single sided strops that I swap in and out of a base, similar to the hand american idea. It's easy to just put each strop in it's own dedicated bag to keep it clean.

I keep this on my kitchen near my knives and butcher block so I can maintain my knives easily without using a steel, and I just switch out the inserts for whatever I need.

Here's some pics:

won't it set on its end like this?

I store my own standing on edge and not in a bag. I have never worried about the pastes rubbing off if applied lightly and allowed to dry.

Maybe I will go back to drilling the handle and supplying a metal hook again. I have a large batch of 80 I will be completing in January and will see about doing it to those.


Tony

Originally Posted by Doc

won't it set on its end like this?

Doc, that only works when you are looking for what appears to be the most simple and effective solution...

It's easy to overthink these things.... Well done on pointing out the obvious to those such as myself!


(I'm still not trading my bench strops for paddles... just not doing it... )

I guess standing on edge is pretty obvious and simple! For me it probably has more to do with where I can store my stuff..too much clutter and I would worry about knocking it over onto a dirty surface or damp bathroom counter. This is probably the more fundamental issue; my ability to collect razors, hones and other all the other critically important "must have" items has outstripped the size of the drawer in the bathroom allotted to this! What a horrible disease this is!

Paddle strop will move to a new home in the garage, probably with foiled lined container for now as Ben suggests

Joe

Originally Posted by Doc

won't it set on its end like this?

That is how I do mine. So far so good.