Thread: My new paddle strop

I got a chance to spend some time in my wood shop this weekend and started a couple of projects. My first set of scales is coming along nicely (I think). I'll have to re-post pics as that thread went missing in the site changeover. However, I thought I'd share a couple of pics of my new paddle strop.

The main part of the paddle is a water oak board that I milled about six months ago from a tree that came down in my yard. The wood has been stable enough to work for a while so it went into this project. It is quarter sawn from the hearwood so is quite stable. The paddle surfaces are 3/16 thick 3x12" balsa wood that will be pasted with 0.5 and 0.25 micron diamond paste.

Cheers,
Ed

Great work Ed.

Edit: I am an idiot, asking stupid questions without registering what I read in the post. Sorry, Ed, I meant no disrespect, just got a major headache.

Nice work Ed! I wish I could afford to do shaped handles like that on the strops i sell. It is a nice looking touch.

I have been using the balsa with fine pastes but have not really tried it with more coarse ones. let us know how it performs over time.

best,
Tony

Looks great!! Don't you love it when a tree decided to fall down on your property and then you can acutally use it to create something Talk about making lemonade from lemons.

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Nice work Ed! I wish I could afford to do shaped handles like that on the strops i sell. It is a nice looking touch.

I have been using the balsa with fine pastes but have not really tried it with more coarse ones. let us know how it performs over time.

best,
Tony

Thanks Tony.
The handle was actually pretty simple (much easier than turning it separately on a lathe and then attaching it to the strop--I hate turning oak!). I freehand sketched the outline of the handle, rough cut it on the bandsaw, did the rough shaping with a rasp, finish shaping with a half round file, then hand sanded to finish. Total time before attaching the balsa was maybe 45 minutes to an hour.

I'll keep you posted on the 0.5 micron balsa. If it does not perform as expected, I'll plane off the balsa and attach a piece of 3x12 natural leather I have left over from an earlier order I placed with Keith at HandAmerican.

So far I'm pleased with the paddle strop. The only downside is that it's likely to reduce my hone time...as that tends to be one of my few true relaxations, I may need to start buying more razors on e-bay . Oh, this is a vicious cycle.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Great work Ed.

Edit: I am an idiot, asking stupid questions without registering what I read in the post. Sorry, Ed, I meant no disrespect, just got a major headache.

Never saw the post, but don't worry...I rarely take offense being a grand master of foot in mouth myself.

Cheers,
Ed

I overlsept and woke up with a headache, so I missed the part about using balsa wood and asked about the leather thickness. Got fixated on the shape of the handle, which really was lovely lol. I am actually going to make a bench hone or two using locally available materials (if possible). However, I was planning on using leather, so I'll see if I can get some easily. If not, I can always order from Tony and expect great quality.

Ilija,
Just spoke with your friend david on the phone about this. I gave him some tips based on a few I have been making and we talked about sending some leather his way.

Tony

That's great Tony. It would save me the hassle of searching for good leather and I know what to expect from you ---> top-notch quality. I just had a couple of questions:
1) Would smooth leather be better for abrasive compounds or should we go for Latigo?
2) What width would be the best for this? I was thinking of doing the X on 2". However since it's not a narrow paddle, 3" would also be possible. Could I go straight across (heel leading) on a 3"?
Ok time for me to shave and visit the lumber yard

Thanks for sharing that strop Ed. It's beautiful and great to hear that oak is already going to good use.

X