Thread: Practice Strop from Tony Miller

Tony, all excellent points as usual. What is the risk with a pasted hanging strop - I may try that this year and want to beware any hazard. Is it that if you don't keep it taut, the abrasive will accentuate the error?

Originally Posted by loueedacat

Tony, all excellent points as usual. What is the risk with a pasted hanging strop - I may try that this year and want to beware any hazard. Is it that if you don't keep it taut, the abrasive will accentuate the error?

Exactly. Beginners seem to have trouble with how taut or slack a strop should be held as well as keeping the spine flat. When used properly I prefer it over a paddle when using it as a quick touchup in the bathroom with a single very fine paste. For more involved refreshing work I like a paddle with several surfaces and that is rigid. Again though with more coarse pastes the rigidity may be more important as a coarse paste can do a lot of damage if improperly used as easily as it could do a lot of good if used correctly. With a super fine abrasive you have less chance of doing damage even if your technique was a bit off.
Keith's felt hanging strop seem to work very well like this from what I have heard and while I don't know how firm the surface is compared to leather I can imagine the extra thickness makes it stay quite flat no matter the tension used.

Tony