Thread: puzzled by my strop

I have seen strops with the diamond shape stamped back. Could have been part of a process to compress the leather and provide a different surface for a compound to be added for sharpening.

I have a home made travel strop of near similar size. It actually works so well that I use it full time for over a year. Good luck with it---now is the backside black as well? Can you tell if it was made to be black or if something was added later to make it that way?

Originally Posted by kevint

I have seen strops with the diamond shape stamped back. Could have been part of a process to compress the leather and provide a different surface for a compound to be added for sharpening.

I have a home made travel strop of near similar size. It actually works so well that I use it full time for over a year. Good luck with it---now is the backside black as well? Can you tell if it was made to be black or if something was added later to make it that way?

Okay, I can see the back being used as a paste side. Thanks kevint.

The back is black as well. As far as I can tell the black was imbedded into the leather because I can see tan colour where I nicked it.