Pasting A Strop Question

[joebehar]

I picked up some CrOx in a "stick" form from Lee Valley Tools today and I want to paste a paddle strop.

I looked at the tutorial here, but it does not seem to cover the stick type compound.

The stick is somewhat soft. Harder than a crayon, softer than chalk.

Do I just use it like a crayon and "draw" a bunch of lines on the strop and rub them in?

Do I use any kind of liquid to soften the compound?

I tried on a scrap piece of leather I have and I'm not getting an even layer of compound, or does that really matter?

I don't want to ruin the paddle strop, so I'm wondering if anyone can help?

[Jimbo7]

You will probably get replies that denounce the green crayon. Evidently it is not as pure and/or fine as razor-grade Chromium Oxide.

When I got started straightrazoring I drew some green Xs on a strip of denim stretched taught over a flat piece of basswood. I did a max of 10ish stropping reps on this after honing. I have since abandoned the practice because I'm happy with my edges straight off the hones, but in my limited experience with it I found that my edges improved after a swipe over the crayon-stained jeans.

Note that I probably didn't do it long enough to see what effects might have happened due to an overzealous abrasive compound, I'm not going to comment on long term success with the green crayon.

Give it a try; what do you have to lose? An old pair of jeans at best... and at worst you lose a satisfactory razor edge that you can get back later.