Thread: What to put on the the 4 sides of a paddle strop

I picked up an old 4-sided paddle strop at an antique store for 75% off! None of the sides are useable. One may have been a stone of sorts, but its cracked and pitted.

Anyway, I'd like to restore it but I was wondering what I should use for each side.

What would you choose?

1)
2)
3)
4)

I would definitely have Chromium Oxide on one side that's for sure. Diamond spray on another side, or Cerium oxide? Search the wiki for pastes and you can see there's a lot out there. Also check Straight Razor Designs about pastes and sprays.


As far as the strop, I've never restored one so I don't know if it's worth it or not.

If it was me I would use CrO then .25 diamond and then .5 diamond. I'd leave one side plain leather.

Should I get different kinds of leather for each side? If so what would you recommend? And where might I find it?

Thanks!

The pasted sides can be anything you want. You don't need leather for them. There are many posts on abrasive stropping materials from felt to balsa to newspaper. Check out the posts. For the non pasted side quality leather is what you need.