Quote Originally Posted by Dzanda View Post
I can't comment regarding felt, but the flax linen strop that I love is much rougher than your typical cotton linen, and I'd say that it's fairly abrasive (for a fabric). But remember that almost ANYTHING delivers some degree of abrasion; some folks even talk of using newsprint as a strop.
Newsprint is a very common stropping material for knife sharpeners. Murray Carter (cartercutlery.com) who is a well known knifemaker and 17th degree Japanese bladesmith (or similar title) just lays a piece of newspaper over his stone. I bet you can cut 50 sheets of newsprint 3"x18" and clamp them together at each end to use as a strop. If you think the top layer is worn or too smooth, just rip it off and use the next one down. I'd almost bet money that would work. I'd almost bet a lot of someone else's money.