Thread: Paste questions

I do not use a linen strop, so I use the back side of my leather strop. Do I/Should I paste that too? And if so, with what?


As for the front side... Where do I find I am looking for .5 micron chromium oxide paste (powder or premixed style)?

Are you talking about your everyday strop? You don't paste that. You can paste the backside of the strop with CrO if you wish, but you only use CrO when the razor is getting dull.

The cheapest option to buy CrO is from ChrisL, he sells small packets in the classifieds. Straightrazordesigns sells a CrO crayon, if you want more.

Originally Posted by Pete_S

Are you talking about your everyday strop? You don't paste that. You can paste the backside of the strop with CrO if you wish, but you only use CrO when the razor is getting dull.

Yes this is for my every day strop. Do you have different strops? What are they all for?

Am I hearing you correctly, I don't need to paste the front side of my strop?

Pete_S is correct; when using abrasive pastes apply to linen, denim, balsa (if using a paddle strop), or the backside of leather. It'd be sort of a waste using the front of a leather strop and I don't know if it would hold very well.

Originally Posted by claytor

Pete_S is correct; when using abrasive pastes apply to linen, denim, balsa (if using a paddle strop), or the backside of leather. It'd be sort of a waste using the front of a leather strop and I don't know if it would hold very well.

So you guys don't put anything on the front side of your leather strop?

Originally Posted by mikedelo

Yes this is for my every day strop. Do you have different strops? What are they all for?

Am I hearing you correctly, I don't need to paste the front side of my strop?

Pasting your everyday strop would be too much of a good thing. Using paste daily would be unnecessary and would cause you to have to hone the razor sooner than using a regular strop would. As claytor said, having one or more alternatives to use with paste is the way to go and keep your regular strop as is. It would be good to have a linen or canvas component to go with the leather though.

I didn't mean I would not be pasting my strop once a day, maybe once every 18 months or so.

OK.... Lets start with this....


I just bought a brand new leather strop.

I will not be treating the front or back of it at all. However, I should be getting a linen strop instead of using the back side of the leather.

Am I right up to this point?

Where can I get just a linen strop?


Please forgive me, this just goes against everything I thought was correct.

What I have is a strop that I use daily. I do 50 linen or webbed fabric and 50 leather. The strop is not treated with paste. I have a 4 sided paddle with diamond paste that I use once in awhile, a hanging felt strop with diamond spray, and a flat bed with chrom ox. These are not used on a regular basis but only for specific applications. Just what I do, not necessarily what everyone does.

I have a separate 4 sided paddle strop with Crox on three sides 3.0, 1.0, and .50. The forth side will be diamond paste 1.0

I like my straights very sharp so they get a few passes on the paddle strop when 50 -80 passes on the leather strop isn't getting it sharp enough.

Using this technique, my straight razors last a long time between stone honings. My Dovo Tortoise is a softie and it lasted about 50 shaves before it needed a stone honing. It could still shave on #51, but the shave feels rough - a sign that the bevel needs to be reestablished in the stone honing process.

Good Luck,

Pabster

It sounds like you might think that pasting a strop is something that you can do, then undo. Once you apply paste to a strop its pretty much permanent. You can get most of the paste off, but not all, there always will be an abrasive action on that strop. I guess you could sand pretty deep into the leather to get rid of the paste, but that would likely mess up the strop.

You can get linen only strops from thewellshavedgentlemen or straightrazordesigns.

A pasted strop is something that is used in place of honing, you use it when the razor starts to get dull. The linen and leather strops maintain the edge, but don't remove any metal, like a pasted strop does.

The simplest set up, in my opinion, is a hanging leather/linen combo strop and a leather only strop for CrO paste-thats what makes Tony Millers second strop offer so great. If your current leather strop is really nice, I'd go ahead and just buy a linen strop, then maybe buy something like those pasted paddle strops Rayman sells in the classifieds, they're pretty cheap. If you have something like an Illinois strop I'd just buy a nice strop from TM or SRD, and paste the one I have now.