Thread: advice, making a pasted strop

But Larry, I just ordered one of your poor man's leather strops! you're supposed to tell me what a great pasted strop it will make

I reckon I could use a travel strop.

Goog

Originally Posted by greatgoogamooga

But Larry, I just ordered one of your poor man's leather strops! you're supposed to tell me what a great pasted strop it will make Goog

I was referring to pasting cloth to something solid. I did that once, and the glue didn't dry uniformly, and the cloth stretched. My fault. But, just warning about that possibility.

The Poor Man Strop Kit with upgrade has the hanging leather strop. Different beast.

(I think the indicates humor. Just making sure it's clear for others.)

Lest there be any doubt, the indicates humor. Larry is an honest man to do business with and makes a wicked sharp blade. I trust him with my razors and the stubble they dispatch. He's also given good free advice to me.

The best results I've gotten are with balsa. I bought a simple 36-inch length of 2X3 balsa on eBay and cut it in three 12-inch lengths with a miter saw. I treated one with .25-micron diamond spray from Hand American and the other with .3-.5 micron CrO from the same source. All other things being equal -- in other words, honing -- with the help of those blocks I now get edges that I pass through my arm hair about a half-centimeter above the skin, and the hair falls down like mown hay.

In my experience, having the diamond lapping surface rigid is one key; the second is having the material slightly springy. My first lapping block was oak, and I didn't have such a good experience with that. Balsa is forgiving. I suspect denim would do pretty well if attached to a hard, perfectly flat surface.