2" Leather & Hard Wool Felt Paddle Strop - Red

2.0" Wide Beech Paddle Strop, Finest Tallow Tan Leather & Hard Wool Felt

A good quality strop made from a base of solid hardwood - English Beech.  There are two stropping panels.  The pre-stropping panel is made from hard wool felt and is about 6mm thick by 13.0 inches long by 1 and 7/8th inches wide.  It is a good substitute for canvas left untreated, or it can have powders, spray or paste applied to it.  It is particularly suitable for diamond products because the diamonds embed themselves in the felt and do not roll about on the surface like they would on a harder material, giving the felt a smoother cutting effect.  This material is not pristine white - the manufacturing process leaves it with spots and specks of other colours and it can tend to look a bit "grubby" although brand new and unused.

The finishing panel is made from the finest quality european tallow tanned leather.  It is somewhat similar to horsehide but with more draw and feedback and gives a very fine edge.  It is 13.5 inches long by about 1.75 inches wide.

The overall length of the paddle is about 18.5" (varies slightly - each item is hand-made and is a one-off) including the handle, by about 2.0 inches wide. 

The solid beechwood frame is about 1/4 of an inch thick, giving a good solid support.  It is lightly sanded and treated Renaissance Wax to make it moisture-proof and to enhance the grain.  The handle is cut to the style of a favourite Victorian paddle strop I own.

Because leather is a natural item and also due to the hand-made construction there are some small marks, cutting variations and natural faint lines/grain, but these will not affect it's ability in the slightest to produce a keen edge on a razor - I use prototypes of all the strops I make, and can tell what is an acceptable cosmetic marking and what will impede the quality of the leather and affect its performance - I only sell the best quality selected leather - the rest is discarded.

This is a hand made strop, made in small quantities and you should expect the small eccentricities and deviations that such an item inherently possesses - no two items will be exactly the same, so each is, in effect, unique.

Paddle Strop Pros:

• Easier for the novice to use - no need to worry about keeping it taut!
• Lighter and more compact than a loom or a hanging strop, so good for travelling with.
• Ideal for pastes because it does not sag - sagging contributes to edge rounding.