Thread: How much honing compound?

I recently got a two-sided paddle strop and some honing compound (0.5 micron). How do you know how much of the compound to use?

Also, this is the first time i've used a paddle strop instead of a hanging strop. It seems like it's harder to keep the cutting edge entirely on the leather than with a hanging strop. Any thoughts?

Too little is better than too much with honing compound. Depending on the media the abrasives are mixed in, you can end up with a gooey mess or one of those circus-clown, make-up powder dusters.

Dab a little on the leather and work it around with the palm of your hand. If you can still see color (with the colored pastes), you still have abrasives on the leather.

Use a separate piece of leather for each abrasive strength. Wipe the blade when going from a more agressive paste to a lesser agressive paste so you don't contaminate the gentler stroping compond.

With the narrower paddle, the entire edge is not on the leather at the same time. Rather it has its turn during the X-pattern sweep across the leather. It is critical to keep whatever part of the blade is on the leather perfectly flat. Go slow. Use a light touch, but enough to keep the razor in contact with the leather.