Chipboard Strop?

My 1950s Rolls Viscount has a pasted chipboard strop in the case.
Thinking about it, chipboard could be midway between balsa and felt in its characteristics, so has anybody tried pasted chipboard before?

Here's a pic of the underside:

mjclark said:

My 1950s Rolls Viscount has a pasted chipboard strop in the case.
Thinking about it, chipboard could be midway between balsa and felt in its characteristics, so has anybody tried pasted chipboard before?

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I have read of woodworkers using pasted MDF, but I will not have that stuff in my house.
I wonder if there is asbestos in that strop...

Depends on what you call chipboard: wood pulp or paper particles suspended in some sort of polyvinyl matrix. If you apply an agent that has the potential to alter the humidity, like a paste, then the wood pulp or paper particles are going to react differently than the matrix. Never had much luck with balsa wood myself, for similar reasons. My advice is to find a scrap piece of hardwood and go to town with it instead.

Alum of Potash said:

... My advice is to find a scrap piece of hardwood and go to town with it instead.

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I have some Mahogony veneer, I wonder if that would be good.....


ETA: from wikipedia- Mahogany is a kind of wood—the straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus Swietenia, part of the chinaberry family

I was thinking of something solid and ubiquitous, like maple. But why not, glue it to something and try...

Alum of Potash said:

I was thinking of something solid and ubiquitous, like maple. But why not, glue it to something and try...

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Being as how this stack of 1'x2.3' sheets of 1/8" veneer is doing me no good otherwise.....

Recent recommendations of cereal box as a successful stropping medium (at least for testing) has me returning to this old thread. Wouldn't cereal box be a thin sheet of chipboard? If so, then it can be purchased in various thicknesses and dimensional sizes where one could cut it to whatever size is desired.

I’ll probably give it a miss. I have seen a number of videos of people cutting wheels out of board, and pasting them on a bench grinder. More for tools.

You can paste a piece of cardboard or newspaper, and it works fine. But for a razor I’d want something softer than chipboard. Chipboard is a bunch of random bit of wood, held together by hard glue. How would that be kind to a razor?

My chipboard strop in my Viscount is pasted and works very well. Works in that context, anyway.

I make paddle strops from 6-8mm thick cutting boards and glue leather to them in a variety of sizes. I buy discounted cutting boards from a local Home Goods shop that are cracked for a couple dollars. Once glued they are super strong, not that you need it for a strop.

6 in paddles for Axes that can be slipped into a back pocket when doing axe work or larger paddles for knives and tools.

I have pasted all kinds of wood even plain bamboo, anything that will hold paste and is flat and smooth works. For tools, not razors. I have even glued cereal box cardboard to wood with great results, once contaminated, cut it off and replace.

After years of testing my favorite substrate for pasted razor strops is Pellon. Pellon is a paper fabric stiffener, often use in shirt collars between two pieces of fabric. It is similar but not as slick as Tyvek.

It is about $5 a yard, (any fabric store) which will make about 20 strops, folded over a D ring, and glued with iron on fusing makes a great pasted razor strop.

Cereal boxes, shirt and gift boxes are easy to find, poster board is too slick.

Used pasted mdf many years ago when i first started out. Had good shaves but i am positive my standards where much lower back then.

Pack line said:

Used pasted mdf many years ago when i first started out. Had good shaves but i am positive my standards where much lower back then.

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Yep, back when I started a pasted piece of MDF and a Norton 4K/8K was every shaver's dream stone. Times have changed but remember our grandfather did with far less.

Tony Miller said:

Yep, back when I started a pasted piece of MDF and a Norton 4K/8K was every shavers dream stone. Times have changed but remember our grandfather did with far less.

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Back when they drug perfectly good fire hose thru the dirt not knowing the benefits that can be had with a clean piece of hose.