I believe pastes are much more useful in creating a good edge than indicated by the volume of discussion on SRP. Once I posted that balsa with abrasives could be thought of as a hone of sorts. I was immediately slapped on the wrists for that "foolish" statement... "a hone is a hone and a strop is not a hone."

I think that pastes on balsa can substitute for more of the upper range of honing than is commonly acknowledged as evidenced by this long post. I think this was a great post, and that we need more discussion about use of pastes and strops in creating an edge.

Quote Originally Posted by Castel33 View Post
... Now I have read that if you use paste on a blade eventually you will round your edge out or concave it making it more difficult to hone on a stone when you need it. Personally I have not seen this or believe that this would happen if you are using a paddle strop as the paddle is giving you a nice firm and smooth surface similar to a hone....
Even though I agree with the above statement, on a pragmatic level I am not ready to abandon the possibility that a paddle strop can round an edge. Let's try this...

In experienced hands, the paddle strop is not likely to round an edge. If improper technique is used, the paddle strop or any strop can round an edge.