Recommendation? What Strop for S110V? Soft vs. Hard?

[DruBokkens]

I normally just put a few small dabs on (IMO less is more), and rub it in gently with my finger. Normally after I'm done I'll take a paper towel with a little rubbing alcohol and gently wipe with the grain to remove paste / debris and then after it dries I'll put it in a plastic storage bag. My basswood strops normally last quite a long time. Balsa on the other hand wears out much quicker as least for me.

One more thing, what if I leave the compound on the wood and reuse the same surface a few times before cleaning it up and applying new paste? Would that work?

 

[NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY]

One more thing, what if I leave the compound on the wood and reuse the same surface a few times before cleaning it up and applying new paste? Would that work?

I don't see why not.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

One more thing, what if I leave the compound on the wood and reuse the same surface a few times before cleaning it up and applying new paste? Would that work?

That's how they're supposed to work. There's no need to reapply paste each time you use it, which would be extremely wasteful of the expensive product. A hobbyist sharpener likely wouldn't need to reapply compound for a few weeks' worth of use, at least.

As dirty-looking as a strop will get, in using it for a while, the abrasive in the paste will keep working for a pretty long time. A little bit goes a long way. You can still wipe the black stuff off the strop with a clean rag, and the embedded abrasive will stay put. When you start to notice the strop's not performing as well in the same jobs anymore, then it may be time to clean it up and reapply a little bit of paste. But again, not too much at a time.

 

[NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY]

Two sided 1/8" basswood on mahogany strop I made with some cheap THK 1M & .25M paste, combo works great!

 

[Ben Dover]

I use nanocloth on an edge-pro blank, with CBN or diamond compound.