I picked up a rolls razor at my cottage recently and looking at pictures of them they appear to have a guard on the blade and mine doesn't also when I strop it only the two edges contact [::::] like so on the strop would this be the reason or can I put a piece of folded paper under to bring the height up in the middle so it can contact the whole edge
A lot could be wrong with a old Rolls strop. The pad (under the strop) could be gone. The leather could be so dried out that it's lost it's flexability, shrunk and curled. Try running it thru the clean - neetsfoot oil - strop paste process. If the backing is gone, some have had success with cardboard as a replacement. Before pad replacement:
Do I need this paste as I've never seen any type of strop before. I did this anyway first I cleaned it with baking soda then sanded out the nicks with 220 and 1000 grit. What I did then was apply hand cream with red dye I think the blade is the problem as it says 1933 so it's gotten a lot of wear since that time the edge looks concave here look see for yourself