Thread: One paddle strop, one paste...but which?

Newbie alert, sorry if this is a dumb question:

I have just ordered a Tony Millar Extra Wide Paddle as first and "only" strop for now - so will only be using one side with paste.

So assuming it's not ideal to try to use multiple pastes on one surface, can someone recommend which single paste to start working with? (assume it's a tradeoff between fine-ness of particle size versus hours of work?)

My "main" razor is carbon steel (Livi Regrind) and I don't inted to try to hone it myself, at least for the moment.

Many thanks for your advice!

Alex

Paste one side, keep one side unpasted. You need one plain ‘before every shave’ leather strop for sure, all others are a luxury. You can always paste that second side later after you get another plain leather strop. Multiple pastes on one surface makes no sense. The coursest paste will determine how aggressive the metal removal will be, all finer grits (higher numbers) would just be wasted. If you have one pasted strop, go with the .5 micron Chromium Oxide powder. It is very fine, equates to a 30,000 mesh stone. It’s much easier to use than a stone and the sharpness you will achieve is shocking. The pasted strop will also greatly increase the times between actual stone honing. Member ChrisL has been selling little packages of the stuff for $4, enough to last you years.

Just tried out the TM strop with ChrisL´s CrO powder... impeccable results. My vintage `Langley razor`, which had been disappointingly `draggy` gave me a creamy smooth shave.

The wide paddle with CrO seems like an idiot-proof combination - recommended for other newbies.

A Big Thank you to you Kahunamoose and to Tony Miller and ChrisL!