Thread: Pasted Denim Paddle Strop

Just thought I would post some pics of my newest creation.

In wake of finding out that my pasted balsa strop was warped I decided to just bite the bullet and try making my own paddle strop using pasted denim to keep the edge nice. I picked up a piece of basswood at Hobby Lobby then cut it to shape. I stained it to match my razor box and coated it with polyurethane in hopes that it would help keep it from warping. I then covered both sides with 2mm craft foam then denim and paste. Its got CrOx on one side and IrOx on the other.

The strop is 3"x10" and the paddle itself is 1/2" thick. Im quite pleased with its performance and quite inpressed with my handywork.

Very nice work

Well, You did it, Tex! Nice Work!

Say! Hit the link im my sig and see about coming down for a meet!

? Why the 'craft foam' ?

I figured a little bit of give under the blade might be a good thing. I got alot of responses about just using hanging strops with paste so I figured the foam might help replicate a taut hanging strop.

I expect to give it a bit of cushion. Denim on a board would not work. JMO
Oh! You answered .Good Idea on the foam! I use strops with foam under them as well. Works wonderfully as you get the foam and material matched up!

The foam is great! It gives a bit of cushion under the blade, but the foam is so thin that its not squishy. You really cant even tell its there in terms of stropping characteristics. To me, it feels about the same as my hanging leather, with the only difference being in the draw. Denim, even pasted, really has no draw to it so I have to pay more attention to what Im doing.

I was thinking about using denim instead of linen on a Board strop. I was going to put 3 layers of denim on cause I never thought of foam. Hmmmm.
Almost forgot ... The strop looks cool . Good job !

Thanks! I had never carved out a handle on anything before. Since basswood is soft, it went really fast although I did have to keep my focus because of the speed at which wood was coming off.

I had though about using a couple layers of denim which would have saved me the $0.89 for the foam, but I didn't know if I would have enough from the leg of the jeans I cut up and like I said, the foam was less than a dollar. I think in all, this strop cost me right around $8 to make so it's definitely a cost effective solution.