Thread: "Sharpen this side"?

I just recently recieved a nice vintage Craftsman strop that has two horsehide components, and no cloth strop.

One of the leathers says "sharpen this side", and indeed it has higher draw than the "finishing side", my question, is: was the "sharpen" side originally treated with some form of abrasive, or was/is it simply higher draw?

It was always my understanding that yes, they were meant to have a "paste" rubbed into that side.....

I had at one point in time two old vintage strops that had the sharpen /finish stamps, and both of the sharpen sides were black, and the finish sides just looked well worn... There was without a doubt something that had been rubbed into the leather...

A lot of those came pre-pasted with something like carborundum.

Hmmm.....I'll have to investigate further using my 'scope....


Thanks guys!

Was the handle unstitched? If so **** you you bugger! You bought that beauty right out from under me!

Just kidding just kidding! That's a great looking strop and nice catch. I'm happy now cus I just got this: Store stock strop. 25 IN. long. Unused in cover - eBay (item 380160574680 end time Sep-27-09 16:48:32 PDT)

Anyway back on topic. I think the deal is one leather has a different finish or just is different. I've read around here somewhere's of people "sharpening" or doing the main stropping on Latigo (cus of the draw) and then going to Shell for a "finish". Also, if it's textured, I've read similar theories. I know Old Dog Strops (Hand American's cordovan) has a textured "sharpen" side and a smooth "finish" side. Maybe the paste theory too.

I don't think it was pasted, more likely it is something to do with the pattern of the leather. Well, how do you explain "self honing" than?

Surface containing an abrasive ...

Well, either way, it now does contain an abrasive, as I loaded it up with ChromOx.