Thread: Strop refinishing.

Strops do not have sharpen side as far as I know. The top side is the stropping side and that is it.

Picture a strop that has a leather strop and linen. Instead of a linen on mine, there is another leather one. At the top (check the pics) one says 'sharpen' the other says 'finish'

Originally Posted by brooksie967

Picture a strop that has a leather strop and linen. Instead of a linen on mine, there is another leather one. At the top (check the pics) one says 'sharpen' the other says 'finish'

In order to sharpen you have to remove enough metal, that happens on the 1-4k stones after that is smoothing the edge pretty much.
Leather does not abrade enough to sharpen, to test that just grab a dull razor and try to sharpen on the leather, not going to work even at the slightest.

i was thinking maybe using it for a paste side??

Originally Posted by brooksie967

i was thinking maybe using it for a paste side??

You can paste it but still not going to sharpen the razor, just want to make sure you understand that strops do not sharpen, they can somewhat refresh an edge that is a bit off.
The other side from the pics hard to tell if it needs any work, but people usually put paste on smoothed strop. My CrO bench strop is the rough side of the leather up and it works fine for me as well.

Understood. By the feel of it, the 'sharpen' side is definitely a coarser piece of leather.