Thread: pasting rough leather

am i the only one that paste the back of leather, sure i have a linen pasted also but i just like the leather feel the best. i also have balsa wood pasted, i just like pasted leather maybe im crazy.

Originally Posted by admvalentine

am i the only one that paste the back of leather, sure i have a linen pasted also but i just like the leather feel the best. i also have balsa wood pasted, i just like pasted leather maybe im crazy.

When compared to pasting normal stropping side of a leather strop, pasting the backside of the strop seems like a waste of paste.

I have a pasted felt as well, fwiw.

Right strop, right finish on the back, and the right crayon, will do wonders. Would I suggest it for general use? no. I had a custom strop made that way with a fine slightly suede'd back to the leather. The used partial strop dressing crayon, a kind of rouge, was about 8o years old from a antique store. I had tried it for a couple years before I used it on the new strop. Such things were common on retractable travel strops but not very usual on hanging strops unless the pasted strop was a second strip.
YMMV wildly!
~Richard
And, no; I will not say the brand of dressing. Find your own that will work for you. They varied greatly even with the same seller.

Maybe depending on the strop. Some I have I would others would likely damage the razor. If a 2 component strop I would say paste the back of the linen. If single component try stropping on it first. IF it doesn't harm the edge then you can paste it

A separate pasted strop is always a better way to go, if for no other reason than convenience. Stropping on the back side can be awkward.

The back of many strops is pretty rough and can damage the edge.

The other issue is contamination; if the Chrome Oxide gets on the face side you now have a pasted strop forever.

I recently purchased a set of Ivory Sheffield razors with a 6 in travel strop, leather mounted on wood stick. One side was plain leather the other pasted with rouge powder.

It is stored in a leather slip case and one side is marked for the pasted side. If you look in the case you can see it is completely coated with rouge, where the marks were disregarded and now the whole strop is pasted.

It does not take much to contaminate a good strop. Chrome Oxide works well on paper or cardboard so it is easy to paste a separate strop.

If you like it and its working great, but I do not recommend it.