home made pasted strop

[joke1176]

Here be my second paddle strop. I made it BIG this time. I got tired of making so many passes on my prototype, so I made this one 2 feet long.

I used a nice piece of red oak as the backing, no flexing for me!

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I have a TM 2 1/2" red latigo next to it for comparison. I have it hanging in the bathroom with the green to the wall so SWMBO doesn't have to look at "that ugly green stuff".

It's attached with a stainless eyebolt and a quick clip so I can take it off the wall easily for use.

IMHO, long, consistent strokes seem to work better for getting a good edge, this monster should do the trick. Plenty of real estate to use, that's for sure.

Edit: I also used basswood instead of balsa this time, I figured it would "give" less and be less of a problem with that microscopic rounding of the edge.

 

[TstebinsB]

Surprisingly it actually feels extremely nice and comfortable to hold. I found the picket fence at home depot.

Apparently, someone doesn't want me to make a handle for this strop. My local Home Depot didn't have any picket fence wood. Oh well. I'll make it as a bench hone instead.

 

[rodd]

Just ordered my first straights last night, was looking for a strop. If I made one of these with some .5 micron diamond, would that be sufficent, or would I need an additional strop? If I made it two sided, .5 on one side, what on the other? Thanks for the idea and advice guys!

 

[asbjorn]

That very much depend on what you take the knive off.. If you take it out of the packet, I guess you should consider some hones.
If you take it of an hone, or it is already honed for you, then you prably need something in between, perhaps, 1 micron, .5 micron diamond, and proably 0.5 micron crome.

I have bought TM's foursided paddle with 3, 1, 0.5 diamond, and 0.5 micron crhome.
Aditionally, I have created some balsa-paddles with an selection of pastes to experiement..

It just depends..

 

[rodd]

I am hoping to have someone hone them for me the first time. I sent Nick (papasmurf) a PM about that. I want to make sure I enjoy shaving with a straight as much as my DEs before I make a large investment in it.
So, I should start with a 1 micron, then work my way up to the .5 chrome? So minimum of 3 stropping surfaces? I appreciate the advice!

 

[TstebinsB]

I am hoping to have someone hone them for me the first time. I sent Nick (papasmurf) a PM about that. I want to make sure I enjoy shaving with a straight as much as my DEs before I make a large investment in it.
So, I should start with a 1 micron, then work my way up to the .5 chrome? So minimum of 3 stropping surfaces? I appreciate the advice!

It depends on what hones you have, if any. If you don't have any hones and you're getting someone else to hone your razor for you, then 0.5 green compound and a leather/linen strop are all you need. Once you start shaving regularly, your razor will need to be refreshed. At that time, come back to us because there are many options - some costly, some cheap.

 

[barrettw]

Hate to resurrect an old thread but I just made one of these using balsa on oak. I used the polishing compound from Lowes (Mibro #6). It's like a big green crayon. I am wondering how much to use though. It seems if I put too much it would be "waxy" and too little would not be effective. I attached a picture in hopes that someone can steer me in the right direction.

This link is the full size picture to see it in better detail:
My paddle strop

 

[riooso]

You have enough on it. It takes a very small amount to work correctly. It looks like you did not put it on to thickly which is good.


Later,
R

 

[Bluestaco]

Balsa...I'll be damned.
I just made one like that with saddle leather and it would be okay if I had something to clamp it in to make/keep it flat, which I don't. I think I'll use that one for carving tools and glue a piece of balsa to the leftover piece of oak and give this a try!

 

[kelbro]

Hate to resurrect an old thread but I just made one of these using balsa on oak. I used the polishing compound from Lowes (Mibro #6). It's like a big green crayon. I am wondering how much to use though. It seems if I put too much it would be "waxy" and too little would not be effective. I attached a picture in hopes that someone can steer me in the right direction.

Looks fine. That's about how mine looks. Looks about the same as I do on a piece of newspaper.

 

[backpackerx]

Ok, here's one that both looks nice and requires zero talent and basic tools. Only tools needed are some sort of saw to cut one 2 inch straight cut and a razor knife to cut the balsa and the wood was found at Home Depot. First, credit goes to Max for the picket fence idea but since my Home Depot didn't have any either I found this which I think might actually look like it was cut for a pasted strop. See pics and then I'll explain at the end.

Finished product before applying paste.

The handle...

And the best part is.........It's a stair railing (I think) that I simply had to cut in half! Here's both sections. It's 2 1/2 inches wide which is about what my leather strop is.

This took about 3 minutes to make and believe me when I say I'm not handy at all. In fact, I'm unhandy. The handle feels like it was custom made for this and all I had to do was cut and glue some balsa on it and then sand it down to lap it flat and drill a hole in the handle to hang it. The railing was about $2 and I could make 2 if I wanted to from it. All told, I spent about $4 dollars on this

 

[FloppyShoes]

I just finished making a few of these using balsa on maple.
It's important to lap the balso flat, as it it were a hone, before applying the paste.
Mibro paste works well, but I find it helps to disolve it in methyl alcohol and paint it on. That way it goes on evenly without changing the balsa's flatness. The waxiness is actually a positive attribute as it adds a little feedback to the strop.

 

[Bluestaco]

I glued a 3 X 1/4 piece of balsa to each side of a 3 X 1/4 piece of oak. I lapped it on the glass table, put the chromium oxide on it, and stropped my collection. I'll still be damned! Works great!

 

[chem_fun]

Ok, I'm REALLY new. I just ordered a starter set from kenrup, and I've been doing a lot of reading and watching videos. Lynn's videos on SRP are GREAT. It makes me want to get a 4000/8000 stone in a few months.

Can I, however, use pastes instead of a stone? I have a buddy at church with a really nice planer, and my wife has a chunk of bass wood downstairs that's not doing anything (she was planning on carving). I could easily take off a few swipes on a table saw, plane them really smooth and paste them up.

If I get all 3 pastes, would that truly be equivalent to getting a stone? I'm sure my wife would love to see me do the same thing with less money.

 

[backpackerx]

If I get all 3 pastes, would that truly be equivalent to getting a stone? I'm sure my wife would love to see me do the same thing with less money.

No, unfortunately not. Pasted strops are only for touching up an edge between honing and you will need to hone every 2-6 months on average for most guys. A pasted strop with 2 or 3 different grits can keep a newly honed razor sharp for quite a while but in a few months at most you'll need a hone for a few quick laps to touch up the edge but they will buy you some time. Pasted strops won't do much of anything to a dull razor or to a "new" razor that hasn't been honed correctly previously. They are very, very mild abrasives and only remove small amounts of metal for a final polishing to give sharpness but won't bring back a bad edge.

 

[chem_fun]

Not to sound to harsh, but then what's the point? Would it not be better to spend the money on the hone and learn how to use it?

As a second thought, didn't I read somewhere that a .25 micron is equivelent to a really fine grit stone? Or would the money be better spent on a 12k or 16k stone to use after the 8k. (This is all assuming that I will learn how to use the 4k/8k and then feel that I need extra honing on a yet finer grit to finish the edge.)

 

[rodd]

Not to sound to harsh, but then what's the point? Would it not be better to spend the money on the hone and learn how to use it?

As a second thought, didn't I read somewhere that a .25 micron is equivelent to a really fine grit stone? Or would the money be better spent on a 12k or 16k stone to use after the 8k. (This is all assuming that I will learn how to use the 4k/8k and then feel that I need extra honing on a yet finer grit to finish the edge.)

I think the point is more to save cost. I can make 30 of these easily for the cost of a high grit stone. I am still not totally sold on my straights, probably mostly due to prep, so a couple of these will get me by until I know it is worth dropping the coin on a set of hones. Plus, I like to make things.

 

[chem_fun]

Maybe I don't understand the point of the paste then. I was under the impression that a leather strop with ChromOx on the rough side would extend the blade life to 2-3 months between hones. After that I'd need to use the hone to get a good shave.

What's the advantage of the other pastes. Man I feel so ignorant.

 

[Alacrity59]

I just finished making a few of these using balsa on maple.
It's important to lap the balso flat, as it it were a hone, before applying the paste.
Mibro paste works well, but I find it helps to disolve it in methyl alcohol and paint it on. That way it goes on evenly without changing the balsa's flatness. The waxiness is actually a positive attribute as it adds a little feedback to the strop.

Where does one find methyl alcohol these days?

 

[chem_fun]

Where does one find methyl alcohol these days?

Locked up in my flammables cabinet.

Methyl alcohol is methanol. Due to my research into bio-diesel, I learned that the yellow bottle of fuel dry is nearly 100% methanol if not 100%. The stuff you put in your tank in the winter to get rid of the water.

It's cheap too.

You're just trying to make me feel like I know something. Shucks.