Thread: To paste or not to paste?

Hi Guys
my first post so go easy on me. I've been waiting to get started on SR shaving for a while. I've got a nice new Dovo but on first attempt pulled quite a bit so guess it's not quite shave ready.
I've bought one of these strops from ebay. FIRST , ENGLISH THICK LEATHER RAZOR STROP FINEST. | eBay
Looks and feels good. Now the big question should I paste the leather working face or the webbing side? What paste should I use?
any other hints or tips would be a great help.
many thanks
Rob

You never want to paste a top quality leather strop. For pasting a cheapo strop leather or fabric is what you want.

As far as pastes go CrO is a good choice if all you want to do is give a final polishing which will smooth out a rough edge. If you need more then .5 diamond is the way to go. Of course there are other choices folks will bring up.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You never want to paste a top quality leather strop. For pasting a cheapo strop leather or fabric is what you want.

As far as pastes go CrO is a good choice if all you want to do is give a final polishing which will smooth out a rough edge. If you need more then .5 diamond is the way to go. Of course there are other choices folks will bring up.

I've read here that many paste with crox or diamond on the reverse side of the leather...that seems a potential solution.

That looks like a nice strop. So, I think that you will be disappointed if you smear something on it. If you want to experiment with pastes I'd advise getting another piece of fabric that can easily be tossed and replaced. Denim, canvas strapping, seat belt strapping and the like can be easily fixed to a short piece of rod or flapped leather to hang it. You can even lightly glue it to a flat board or place a piece of felt under the material and glue it all to the board. The felt would act as a spring between the hard board and the stropping surface. Your imagination is the key here. When I did use paste I preferred the TI paste in small amounts. However, I would keep my precious leather strop clean. In time you will learn to hone, strop and shave with your own gear without pastes. Pastes are messy and will easily contaminate your clean stuff. When you have learned you'll appreciate clean cotton or linen and clean leather. Just use your hand to briskly rub the leather before you strop. Until you learn to hone, there are quite a few around who are willing to hone for a fee.

Learn to use that strop well. You'll be glad you did.

Good luck with that.

Regards

Chasmo

I paste the back fabric side if my strop. I use CO it has worked well for me so far! I do 10 rounds on the pasted side. 25 on the fabric. And finish it on the leather with 50. I use a hart steel 6/8 sq point.

I have a dedicated paste strop. You should too . Of course, some balsa sanded flat on a bit of hardwood is a bit cheaper way to go until you decide what medium you like most.