Thread: Paste Strop , Do I need One ?

I like chrom ox on a flatbed hone such as the Hand American and used to use that for smoothing out a harsh edge or slicking up a razor that needed it between passes. Now that SRD felt hanger with the 0.5 diamond spray is my go to pasted strop. I don't use it on every razor but I find it essential for some and nice to have for others. YMMV.

As already mentioned, pasted strops are just another weapon in the sharpening arsenal. Choice of paste is determined by the work you are putting the strop too, e.g., light touch up- CrO2/1/4 diamond.
What surface to apply the paste to is also in the hands of the users pref. I favour hanging strops so that's what I apply paste to and others go with the hard surface option, paddles.
I would recommend that for pastes on hanging strops you buy in a cheap one from those ebay whole sellers. Pastes work great on the back side of leather that has been sanded smooth and flat. This surface holds the pastes very well.

PuFF

I would suggest getting into honing but in a small way. get a nice coticule and use it to touch up your razors rather than a pasted strop. Then when you start to like it........

my 2 cents.

I am a firm believer in the Dovo white paste on the canvas/linen strop as part of daily maintenance.

It is much milder than CromeOx, it smooths out the weave of the canvas/linen while dramatically increasing the edge retention/refreshing abilities of the strop.

I was rather undecided about the canvas strop when I first started using it. Then I loaded it up with the Dovo white, and it all became clear. Really, it is fantastic stuff, and I'm surprised it isn't discussed more on the forums. All of the focus seems to be on ChromOx and diamond pastes(which are both indeed great stuff, but serve a different purpose)

Give it a try. If you don't like it (which I really doubt, if you are a fan of keeping your razors in top form...) then you can flip your linen/canvas strop to the other side and be back to where you were to begin with.

I have been a big exponent of the use of linen and Yes I agree that the Dovo chalk is great stuff. I think that if you are going to try to cut the use of the hone to an absolute minimum then the use of the courser pastes is required at some point. As a light touch up strop, then the linen alone is best followed by the chalked linen and so on.
Linen alone can maintain an edge for quite some time depending on the number of laps used of course. Applying paste like chalk to the strop primarily is a means of speeding up the effect of the linen as such. "True" abrasives like CrO2 actually cut metal to a greater extent and as such should be used less frequently meaning, only enough to produce the edge required and no more. To use pastes more would take them more into the bracket of a hone where by you are trying to re-cut an edge instead of dressing an edge.
So it can be said, for light maintenance up to light sharpening the strop in all it's guises will hold a razors edge together, but, to repair or readjust an edge etc, then only a hone can achieve this sucessfully, IMO

PuFF

My final "honing" is a CrO2 hanging strop. If I have got a razor to the correct state on the hones (finishing on a coticule, Dragons Tongue,ToS or WoA) , after doing a few dozen light passes on a CrO2 powdered strop, arm hairs jump up like shot rabbits when I pass the razor about 1/4 of an inch above my skin, with very little sensation. This is how I try to get all the razors I hone. I'm going to try diamond spray next to see if I can achieve it more regularly. I'm certainly no honemiester, but sometimes, when I get things right (for once), I do wonder how on earth anyone could do much better?. I must admit, I have owned two newly pro-honed razors that were sharper than my "rabbit cutters". Also, my best efforts can be stropped back to keen a few times at least.
Just done it on a 4/8 Puma, Ooooh! GOOD SHAVE Wool fat soap too.

Originally Posted by Bladerunner

I have as hanging strops, and use in progression, Red, Black, Crox, Diamond,
Yellowstone, Wool, Cotton, and Leather.

That's a strop arsenal! Is that 8 different strops, or or 4 strops with the 4 abrasives? Did you make your own...and what is yellowstone, a type of fabric? and what type of wool and cotton is used? (sorry for so many questions at once)

Originally Posted by gentlemanly

That's a strop arsenal! Is that 8 different strops, or or 4 strops with the 4 abrasives? Did you make your own...and what is yellowstone, a type of fabric? and what type of wool and cotton is used? (sorry for so many questions at once)

6 strops....athe moment. Lynn and Tony are going to be the death of me.

Originally Posted by gentlemanly

That's a strop arsenal! Is that 8 different strops, or or 4 strops with the 4 abrasives? Did you make your own...and what is yellowstone, a type of fabric? and what type of wool and cotton is used? (sorry for so many questions at once)

Look here.

Hey Mike,

As the others have said - Do you need a pasted strop? No. Would you be happy if you bought one or made one? For sure. My balsa paddle strop I made has served me well, along with ChrisL's chrome ox. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it does wonders. Just my opinion.