Thread: Wicked Paddle Strop

I have to give a big shout out to M Martinez for the two paddle strops he sent me. They are some kind of high density foam on balsa and coated with some purple stuff on one and I am not sure on the other which is marked buff. I used the one labeled 1 with the purple stuff on a razor I was ready to send for honing due to pulling while shaving for 12 laps, then the one that said buff 12 laps followed on very soft fabric he also sent, then 30 on leather. WOW it was a close, really close shave my face felt sticky. It felt like the razor did when it had just come back from gssixgun. This thing is amazing hopefully M Martinez will chime in with more info.

V/r
Dlandry

Sounds cool. Do you have any pictures that you could share? I'd love to see them.

The MAAS Foam Paddle Strop

One day I watched as my wife buffed her nails with a small foam nail buffer. It is a 1in x 1in x 3 in piece of closed cell foam. Each of the 4 sides is impregnated with various grit abrasives, diamond I believe. It quickly polishes a finger nail to a progressively higher shine. Finished they look wet.

So it got me thinking. In Wally Mart in the craft section, I saw this same smooth closed cell foam in 9 X 12 in. sheets for one dollar. I bought a couple of sheets and glued them with wood working glue to ¼ inch MDF cut in to 24in x 3.5in strips. I have also seen the 2 mm foam sheets at Craft Stores.

I apply MAAS to the paddle with my finger diagonally in ¼ inch stripes somewhat thickly in a lattice pattern about one – two inches apart. Then let it dry over night. You must let it dry or the razor will wipe it off the foam.

I normally work a razor up to 12K on stones, Then tape with 2 layers, then a few strokes on a glass smooth Black Surgical Arkansas leaving that smooth hazy finish under magnification.
Here’s what I do to get to the next level, Crazy Sharp Mirror Finish Bevel and Super smooth shave.

1. I remove the tape, and do 6-15 laps on the MASS FOAM PADDLE STROP, using moderate pressure, more than leather.

2. 15-20 laps on a plain or very lightly lattice MAAS coated foam paddle or the Buffer.

3. 20-30 laps on a nylon strop. I use a fine weave 2 in nylon strop, similar to a seat belt. This is the trick that makes the magic. The Nylon will make the bevel gleam. Under magnification the stria are flattened out and the edge is less serrated.

I have used various pastes, polishes, Chrome Ox and diamond sprays on the Foam Paddle. MAAS by far produces the best, most comfortable finish and definitely the most comfortable shave. Normally 6 -15 laps on the MAAS does the trick, any more and I get weepers, so sneak up on the number that works for you.

The key is the combination of the MAAS, the foam and the Nylon Strop. I have several nylon strops of various weaves, that I have experimented with and the Finest Weave works best. It is a finer weave that a seatbelt. I got it at a local Army Surplus/Camping Supply store. I imagine a standard seat belt would work well though I have not tried it.

I have been using this for a several months now and have MAAS stropped some razors almost daily for months with no visible ill effect to the edge. The Foam Paddle is also a great for Diamond spray & paste, also works well with Chrome Ox. But MAAS is the best. The MAAS lasted almost 6 months of daily stropping sometimes stropping 2-4 razors at a time.

This technique is designed to polish a well established bevel and sharp razor. It will not replace proper honing. But will quickly refresh a tired edge of a properly honed blade.

As someone once said here, about something else, “It’s almost like cheating.” Enjoy…

Marty


The Original test Paddle 3.5 in.


Original Paddle & new 3 in Paddle


Fine weave, 2 in Poly strop


Variety of Poly Strops, Note weaves


Test Strops clamped in vice

Does the buffer foam have any MAAS on it or is it just plain foam? Thanks

Which MAAS do you use? There are a few varieties, I believe, aren't there? Like multi-purpose, brass/copper, etc.

Thanks,
Vic

Milkylee the buffer pad has a very very thin coat of Maas worked into the foam. It is designed to buff the polish residue on the bevel from the first paddle. The other has a thicker layer of Maas.

I have experimented for over 8 months with different thickness of foam and a variety of polishes and rubbing compounds, various poly & nylon strapping thickness and weaves. This is the only combination that produces consistently wicked result for every razor I have put on it and for every one else that has tried it.

Vic I am using Mass Metal Polish paste.

Marty

Guys, just a friendly reminder from your Mod team that sales talk is not allowed in the open forum and should be kept to the classifieds or via PM.

Thank you for your understanding.

-S-

So I figured out how to use the USB microscope with my mac and want to take some pictures with it. The black item in the pic is a bit of tape to mark the area I want to capture. Pic 1 is a blade before the mass paddle.









Pic 2 and 3 are after the mass















4 and 5 are after the buff paddle

















6 & 7 are after 30 laps on soft nylon strop










Hopefully some of the experts on here can explain what the stuff does I just wanted an excuse to take pics with the microscope. Oh the magnification is set at max which for this scope is supposed to be 200X

Enjoy

Thanks for the photos, it looks like a huge improvement.

The edge in the last 2 pics looks pretty good. How many passes total (approx) are you making to get from the first to last pic?