Re-facing the WEPS paddles... leather/stones?

[REK Knives]

This post is essentially 2 questions... 1. What leather should I get to re-face my strops (and yes, I want leather for convexing, no balsa) and 2. Have you guys found any DMT or other stone that can be put on a WEPS paddle that will re-profile better than the stock 50/80 grit diamond stones?

If I can buy a big piece of leather and then cut out pieces to size that would be great... I have buggered up my 5/3.5 WE strops and want to re-face them.

I have not been too impressed with the 50/80 grit diamond stones from Wicked Edge... they don't cut near as fast as I would like. I feel like the EP stock 120 cut faster than the 50 grit diamond stones I now have. Thanks for any help/links!

 

[Komitadjie]

Well, my first suggestion would be to talk to Ken over at chefknivestogo. He has a HUGE variety of stones, plates and films in all ranges of grits. If you want the fastest cutting plates in the world, grab a set of paddles with Atoma 140s on one side, and something like a ~220 grit Shapton on the other side to clean up the gashes from the huge diamonds.

For the leather, pretty much any good, hard vegetable-tanned leather is suitable, either Ken can set you up, or you can order the leather just as sheets, strips or what-have-you from a large variety of places.