home made pasted strop

[joke1176]

a while back, I set out a thread when I was debating on whether to get a Chinese 12k or a Spyderco UF. Long story short, I decided to make my own pasted paddle strop, charged with 0.5 micron green chromium oxide from these dudes:
http://www.handamerican.com/newscary.html

I set out with the idea of making a paddle strop with no tools , excluding sandpaper and a bit of elmers glue. Something any poor grad student could slap together at their apartment with minimal cost or effort.

I made a balsa block the same size as the Norton 8k (just seemed right to me) and glued it to a piece of poplar I got from home depot for cheap. I sanded everything nice and flat, applied the paste and have been using it on my daily shavers for a little while.

Talk about a noticeable difference between a shaving sharp straight off the norton vs. the paddle strop! Sooooo much smoother and sharper, it was really worth the time and money I put into it! (considering I had a minimal investment in either...):wink:

Sure it's not as nice as the ones offered by Tony (which are awesome), but it does the job. Plus now I have a large amount of "extra" green chrome I can put on a linen strop, use for polishing compound etc!:biggrin:

I can post a pic of the ugly little bugger if you want, otherwise just imagine something that one of the beverly hillbillies would use.

[FloppyShoes]

It can be very economical to make your own pasted strops. All of mine are home-made, I refuse to pay the going rate for fancy ones. IMHO balsa is superior to leather when it comes to pastes.

I also like the fact that you can customize the size. I have 3 pasted bench strops with CrO paste: a 1", 2.5" and a 4". All of which have their puprose, and each costing less than a cup of coffee.

[indykramer]

I having a hard time trying to figure this out. So you use balsa wood instead of leather?? Can you guys post a picture of what you made?

[JonnyAngel]

Ive heard of this and it seems to be pretty effective. If Im not nuts I heard Joel say somewhere that balsa is better for diamond paste than leather is. So Im not shocked that you Gents are having good luck with them!

[Ltltony]

I have been thinking about trying this so would really appreciate some pictures!

[Pudu]

When applying the chromium oxide to leather and balsa, are you using the powder and then mixing it with something to make a paste?

[joke1176]

no, I bought the liquid. If you order from handamerican it is 60% Cro-Ox by weight or something. Just put some on (like Joel stated in his sticky) and spread it around.

[joke1176]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06685.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06684.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06683.jpg

I provided a few perspective shots to show how big I made it. That is a standard norton 8k and a Boker "Our Own" provided for reference (I stole that one from ebay for less than 15 bucks!)

[Ltltony]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06685.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06684.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06683.jpg

I provided a few perspective shots to show how big I made it. That is a standard norton 8k and a Boker "Our Own" provided for reference (I stole that one from ebay for less than 15 bucks!)

Looks great, thanks!
What was the total $$ for everything?

[gglockner]

There is also a guy on ebay that sells diamond paste at a very low price. He doesn't usually advertise the lower grits, but if you email him he has paste down to at least .25 I think. He typically sells a 12 pack variety and is from China. I received my order faster than an item two states away. If you can not find him and you are interested, send a PM and I can send you a link.

Glen

p.s. I am sure it is not the quality that you would get from Classic, but can get it for 1/2 the price or better.

[Pudu]

Very nice!

Thanks for the info, and the photos.

[joke1176]

Looks great, thanks!
What was the total $$ for everything?

hmm, the paste was the most expensive part, and that was around 12.50 for that bottle...which will last for ever.
The balsa cost me around 3 bucks and I don't remember how much the cheap piece of poplar cost. I think the glue set me back $1.25.

All told, it was pretty cheap. The hardest part was sanding & checking the balsa block, and the top of the poplar to make sure they were dead-flat. And that was pretty darn easy:wink:

Like I said above, now I have a bunch of extra paste to use for anything else I want, I put some on my linen strop, and I have been using it as a polishing compound as well. Works great for both!

[asbjorn]

hm, could you "lap" the balsa on an dmt ?, or is that plain wrong?

Oh, you said that part was easy.. :D

[joke1176]

shoot, balsa wood is so soft, I just use some kinda fine grit sandpaper and it cleaned right up.

[biminyrd]

$2.16 is what this strop cost. It would have been free had I a scrap piece of balsa wood.

This will probably make some of you guys cringe, I cut this with my sawzall. Elmers wood glue overnight compressed between two pieces of wood. Sanded it with some 50 and 220 grit on a block. Done. I've since added paste and it works like a charm
Crappy cell phone picture as my wife is out of town with the good camera.
aaron


http://bp2.blogger.com/_GhYWIu_rwTo/R7ZBAuEQEbI/AAAAAAAABbo/VOQtuitlUbA/s320/0215081903.jpg

[2Sharp]

I have posted this picture before but it shows the design pretty well. I used red oak boards about 16" long and 3" wide and about 1/2" thick. My oak was free so all it cost was for the pastes and balsa. I used 3/16" thick balsa but 1/8' would work also. The balsa is lightly sanded flat with a belt sander before the pastes are added. The small one is 2" wide and used for travel. I would like to see someone make one out of plain 1/2" thick balsa. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJC98&P=0 I think it would hold up pretty well and you could easily make it flat again if it became a little cupped by resanding on the belt sander.

bj

[indykramer]

I am new to straights so please forgive me this next question. Can someone explain stropping with balsa? Would it be just the same as it would a regular leather paddle strop. One side without any paste and the other side(s) pasted?

[joke1176]

Before I give my two bits on this: I have never used/made a leather paddle strop.

In response to your question indykramer; pretty much the same, it's just easier to make flat initially, costs less, and is easier to repair a nick/gouge if you screw up (which you will if you are new to the process).

I'm sure there is someone out there who would disagree with me on the above of course.

[riooso]

I am new to straights so please forgive me this next question. Can someone explain stropping with balsa? Would it be just the same as it would a regular leather paddle strop. One side without any paste and the other side(s) pasted?

Here you go. There are leather strops that you hang and it may have a canvas or linen side and a leather side. You use this before shaving. The strops that they are making are loosely called paddle strops. I bought a 4 sided one with leather on each side that is coated with 4 different grits of diamond paste. Chromium is not diamond but the same general idea. It is a 0.5 micron paste that you use after your razor has been honed to put a very sharp edge on the razor. I also have 0.25 diamond on my strop so I do not use the Chromium. I am going to try the balsa strop with Chromium because the claim is that a razor stropped with Chromium is a lot smoother than diamond and gives a really nice shave. I think that is it in a nut shell and not at all comprehensive but it will fill in some of your gaps.


Later,
Richard

[Chrisl]

As some of you on this very post know from our dual membership at SRP, I have been offering sample sizes of Chromium Oxide .5 micron powder to apply to at least 2 strops. Hand American sells the powder, but the downside is the 4 oz tub costs $18 and is enough to apply to the strops in an entire town. WAY WAY WAY more than anyone would ever use. I'm going to post on B&B in the most appropriate area for such a thing. Problem is, DE users would have absolutely no need for this, so a general BST post would fall on a lot of uninterested ears....

Chris L

[Chrisl]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06685.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06684.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e183/joke76/DSC06683.jpg

I provided a few perspective shots to show how big I made it. That is a standard norton 8k and a Boker "Our Own" provided for reference (I stole that one from ebay for less than 15 bucks!)

Wow, that is a TON of Chrome Ox you've applied! How many passes do you normally do for a touch up???

I've been using chrome for quite some time and don't nearly apply that much or find that much necessary. That much would easily get me into overhoning territory.

Chris L

[joke1176]

I now know that I went a little overboard since it was my first strop. As far as overhoning, I only make about 15 passes if the blade needs a "refresher". That stuff cuts so slow, a light touch, hasn't got me into trouble yet...

[asbjorn]

Is there a rule that says that green chrome oxide is 0.5 micron?

I was searching on ebay, and see that you can buy some huge quantites of the stuff, but no info about particle size.

Take a look at item number: 320039217786
That seller has all sorts of powders, yellow chromium also, when are we going to see that used? :D

[joke1176]

oh man, I would be careful buying anything like that from ebay. But I am really paranoid. Who knows what garbage they mixed together. the handamerican stuff is great, and for the amount you get it is CHEAP. I recommend them, their customer service is fantastic as well.

[asbjorn]

possible, I don't know when they are going to sell things, have you been here lately? http://www.handamerican.com/

And I don't know if they sell to norway.., It would be great if they could, sounds like they have other cool things also, according to people here.

[Tony Miller]

Particle size can vary widely so unless that seller can assure you it is 0.5 (or a grit you want anyway) I'd stick with a known source.

Tony

[Chrisl]

Particle size can vary widely so unless that seller can assure you it is 0.5 (or a grit you want anyway) I'd stick with a known source.

Tony

Agreed. I have researched ways of purchasing chromium oxide and have found that it's used as a reagent in laboratories and as such can be purchased in "laboratory grade" which I understand to be uniform in quality and grit. I'm wondering if Hand American's chrome ox is lab grade since it is such a uniform powder (all chrome ox I've purchased comes from Hand American). The only downside I see is that you have to buy so much and actually need so little....with so much excess just sitting around unused. So...I decided to portion out Hand American chrome ox for dirt cheap to give others the option to buy a usable amount for a fraction of the Hand American cost.

Chris L

[asbjorn]

As far as I know, we don't know if this or that has that uniform particle size?, I for sure don't have access to any scope or tools to verify things like that, so we just have to take for granted that Hand American has the best chrome.
The green chrome I refered to, was like 500grams, for little money, and the seller say that people buys it for polishing, but then again, depends on which kind of poilishing, if it need the same particle size like we are after.
Anyhow 500grams is toomuch for anyone, insane amount.

But the HandAmerican size, how much in the package? (metric system please), and for how much?, I think I have heard about $18 or something?, I don't see that as expensive if it is some. It isn't easily accessible here in norway as far as I know, and the money I have spendt on other things will far exceed any cost for any paste..

[joke1176]

It is 4 oz. (don't know metric equivalent, sorry bub!) for about $12.50 american. That is one hell of a deal, considering how long that quantity will last ya.

[Chrisl]

It is 4 oz. (don't know metric equivalent, sorry bub!) for about $12.50 american. That is one hell of a deal, considering how long that quantity will last ya.

114 grams. $18 for the tub including shipping in the U.S. The 4 oz is more than 25 guys would ever need for strop application purposes.

Chris L

[AlpinMacK]

I got my inspiration from 2Sharp. Thanks man! I think the whole thing cost $4.12 not including the pastes of course.

[joke1176]

right on! that's a nice long strop you got there.

[2Sharp]

Good job Dan.

bj

[TstebinsB]

I got my inspiration from 2Sharp. Thanks man! I think the whole thing cost $4.12 not including the pastes of course.

Now, THAT'S a strop. Great job, Dan! I was going to buy a paddle strop but this is perfect. Is that a 2-sided strop or just a base?

[AlpinMacK]

It's 2 sided. I hang it from a hook so that the faces remain free of debris. It works great and the price was right. Thanks.

[max-s]

I've had some great inspiration from some off you guys so I decided to make my own balsa paddle today since I'm waiting for TM's 4 sided paddle to be online again.

The handle is a 0.97 cent picket fence, $3.48 for the balsa wood and a few bucks for the wood glue since I was out. I had some sandpaper and polycrylic laying around.

First I had the picket fence dry out all day yesterday in the baking sun since it was moist when I bought it. Cut the balsa in pieces, shortened the picket fence by sawing off a piece, sanded the picket fence, glued everything together and had it pressed together for the whole night. Today I sanded the handle again, taking away all roughness and also flat sanded the balsa with a very fine grid paper. A few layers of polycrilyc water based clear semi-gloss on everything except the flat part of the balsa. Once everything was dry I again fine sanded the balsa wood. Looks incredible smooth, sturdy and very nice.

This was actually a very easy task with little effort except patience for everything to dry. I can still drill a hole in the handle but since I will be storing the paddle away I really don't have much use for hanging the paddle. The hanging TM strop in the bathroom has already received the blessing from the wife. No need to push my luck trying to get a hanging paddle in the house.:biggrin:

Since I have some leftovers from the balsa wood I'm going to make a second one which will be less wide.

I can definitely recommend anyone making one of these as it's really not that difficult. (It's so easy, even a caveman can do it!)


http://members.cox.net/onlineserver/bb/paddle01.jpg

http://members.cox.net/onlineserver/bb/paddle02.jpg

http://members.cox.net/onlineserver/bb/paddle04.jpg

[Silb3r]

Man these are all awesome. I'm definitely going to make myself one over the summer. These DIY paddles might give TM a run for his money :blush:

[TstebinsB]

I've had some great inspiration from some off you guys so I decided to make my own balsa paddle today since I'm waiting for TM's 4 sided paddle to be online again.

The handle is a 0.97 cents picket fence, $3.48 for the balsa wood and a few bucks for the wood glue since I was out. I had some sandpaper and polycrylic laying around.

First I had the picket fence dry out all day yesterday in the baking sun since it was moist when I bought it. Cut the balsa in pieces, sanded the picket fence, glued everything together and had it pressed together for the whole night. Today I sanded the handle again, taking away all roughness and also flat sanded the balsa with a very fine grid paper. A few layers of polycrilyc water based clear semi-gloss on everything except the flat part of the balsa. Once everything was dry I again fine sanded the balsa wood. Looks incredible smooth, sturdy and very nice.

This was actually a very easy task with little effort except patience for everything to dry. I can still drill a hole in the handle but since I will be storing the paddle away I really don't have much use for hanging the paddle. The hanging TM strop in the bathroom has already received the blessing from the wife. No need to push my luck trying to get a hanging paddle in the house.:biggrin:

Since I have some leftovers from the balsa wood I'm going to make a second one which will be less wide.

I can definitely recommend anyone making one of these as it's really not that difficult.


Thank you very much for the post, Max. I don't have the tools to shape my own handle but now I have options.

[max-s]

I don't have the tools to shape my own handle but now I have options.

Surprisingly it actually feels extremely nice and comfortable to hold. I found the picket fence at home depot.

[joke1176]

that is a GREAT idea right there. Picket fence paddle strops... the wave of the future. Eat your heart out Tom Sawyer! :biggrin:

[joke1176]

Here be my second paddle strop. I made it BIG this time. I got tired of making so many passes on my prototype, so I made this one 2 feet long. :biggrin:

I used a nice piece of red oak as the backing, no flexing for me!

21456 21457 21458

I have a TM 2 1/2" red latigo next to it for comparison. I have it hanging in the bathroom with the green to the wall so SWMBO doesn't have to look at "that ugly green stuff".

It's attached with a stainless eyebolt and a quick clip so I can take it off the wall easily for use.

IMHO, long, consistent strokes seem to work better for getting a good edge, this monster should do the trick. Plenty of real estate to use, that's for sure.

Edit: I also used basswood instead of balsa this time, I figured it would "give" less and be less of a problem with that microscopic rounding of the edge.

[TstebinsB]

Surprisingly it actually feels extremely nice and comfortable to hold. I found the picket fence at home depot.

Apparently, someone doesn't want me to make a handle for this strop. My local Home Depot didn't have any picket fence wood. Oh well. I'll make it as a bench hone instead.

[rodd]

Just ordered my first straights last night, was looking for a strop. If I made one of these with some .5 micron diamond, would that be sufficent, or would I need an additional strop? If I made it two sided, .5 on one side, what on the other? Thanks for the idea and advice guys!

[asbjorn]

That very much depend on what you take the knive off.. If you take it out of the packet, I guess you should consider some hones.
If you take it of an hone, or it is already honed for you, then you prably need something in between, perhaps, 1 micron, .5 micron diamond, and proably 0.5 micron crome.

I have bought TM's foursided paddle with 3, 1, 0.5 diamond, and 0.5 micron crhome.
Aditionally, I have created some balsa-paddles with an selection of pastes to experiement..

It just depends..

[rodd]

I am hoping to have someone hone them for me the first time. I sent Nick (papasmurf) a PM about that. I want to make sure I enjoy shaving with a straight as much as my DEs before I make a large investment in it.
So, I should start with a 1 micron, then work my way up to the .5 chrome? So minimum of 3 stropping surfaces? I appreciate the advice!

[TstebinsB]

I am hoping to have someone hone them for me the first time. I sent Nick (papasmurf) a PM about that. I want to make sure I enjoy shaving with a straight as much as my DEs before I make a large investment in it.
So, I should start with a 1 micron, then work my way up to the .5 chrome? So minimum of 3 stropping surfaces? I appreciate the advice!

It depends on what hones you have, if any. If you don't have any hones and you're getting someone else to hone your razor for you, then 0.5 green compound and a leather/linen strop are all you need. Once you start shaving regularly, your razor will need to be refreshed. At that time, come back to us because there are many options - some costly, some cheap. :wink:

[barrettw]

Hate to resurrect an old thread but I just made one of these using balsa on oak. I used the polishing compound from Lowes (Mibro #6). It's like a big green crayon. I am wondering how much to use though. It seems if I put too much it would be "waxy" and too little would not be effective. I attached a picture in hopes that someone can steer me in the right direction.

This link is the full size picture to see it in better detail:
My paddle strop (http://www.brspot.com/ebay/paddlestrop.jpg)

http://www.brspot.com/ebay/paddlestrop-sm.jpg

[riooso]

You have enough on it. It takes a very small amount to work correctly. It looks like you did not put it on to thickly which is good.


Later,
R

[Bluestaco]

Balsa...I'll be damned. :w00t:
I just made one like that with saddle leather and it would be okay if I had something to clamp it in to make/keep it flat, which I don't. I think I'll use that one for carving tools and glue a piece of balsa to the leftover piece of oak and give this a try!

[kelbro]

Hate to resurrect an old thread but I just made one of these using balsa on oak. I used the polishing compound from Lowes (Mibro #6). It's like a big green crayon. I am wondering how much to use though. It seems if I put too much it would be "waxy" and too little would not be effective. I attached a picture in hopes that someone can steer me in the right direction.



Looks fine. That's about how mine looks. Looks about the same as I do on a piece of newspaper.

[backpackerx]

Ok, here's one that both looks nice and requires zero talent and basic tools. Only tools needed are some sort of saw to cut one 2 inch straight cut and a razor knife to cut the balsa and the wood was found at Home Depot. First, credit goes to Max for the picket fence idea but since my Home Depot didn't have any either I found this which I think might actually look like it was cut for a pasted strop. See pics and then I'll explain at the end.

Finished product before applying paste.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=13610
http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=13611

The handle...

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=13612

And the best part is.........It's a stair railing (I think) that I simply had to cut in half! Here's both sections. It's 2 1/2 inches wide which is about what my leather strop is.

http://badgerandblade.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=13613

This took about 3 minutes to make and believe me when I say I'm not handy at all. In fact, I'm unhandy. The handle feels like it was custom made for this and all I had to do was cut and glue some balsa on it and then sand it down to lap it flat and drill a hole in the handle to hang it. The railing was about $2 and I could make 2 if I wanted to from it. All told, I spent about $4 dollars on this :biggrin:

[FloppyShoes]

I just finished making a few of these using balsa on maple.
It's important to lap the balso flat, as it it were a hone, before applying the paste.
Mibro paste works well, but I find it helps to disolve it in methyl alcohol and paint it on. That way it goes on evenly without changing the balsa's flatness. The waxiness is actually a positive attribute as it adds a little feedback to the strop.

[Bluestaco]

I glued a 3 X 1/4 piece of balsa to each side of a 3 X 1/4 piece of oak. I lapped it on the glass table, put the chromium oxide on it, and stropped my collection. I'll still be damned! :w00t: Works great!

[chem_fun]

Ok, I'm REALLY new. I just ordered a starter set from kenrup, and I've been doing a lot of reading and watching videos. Lynn's videos on SRP are GREAT. It makes me want to get a 4000/8000 stone in a few months.

Can I, however, use pastes instead of a stone? I have a buddy at church with a really nice planer, and my wife has a chunk of bass wood downstairs that's not doing anything (she was planning on carving). I could easily take off a few swipes on a table saw, plane them really smooth and paste them up.

If I get all 3 pastes, would that truly be equivalent to getting a stone? I'm sure my wife would love to see me do the same thing with less money.

[backpackerx]

If I get all 3 pastes, would that truly be equivalent to getting a stone? I'm sure my wife would love to see me do the same thing with less money.

No, unfortunately not. Pasted strops are only for touching up an edge between honing and you will need to hone every 2-6 months on average for most guys. A pasted strop with 2 or 3 different grits can keep a newly honed razor sharp for quite a while but in a few months at most you'll need a hone for a few quick laps to touch up the edge but they will buy you some time. Pasted strops won't do much of anything to a dull razor or to a "new" razor that hasn't been honed correctly previously. They are very, very mild abrasives and only remove small amounts of metal for a final polishing to give sharpness but won't bring back a bad edge.

[chem_fun]

Not to sound to harsh, but then what's the point? Would it not be better to spend the money on the hone and learn how to use it?

As a second thought, didn't I read somewhere that a .25 micron is equivelent to a really fine grit stone? Or would the money be better spent on a 12k or 16k stone to use after the 8k. (This is all assuming that I will learn how to use the 4k/8k and then feel that I need extra honing on a yet finer grit to finish the edge.)

[rodd]

Not to sound to harsh, but then what's the point? Would it not be better to spend the money on the hone and learn how to use it?

As a second thought, didn't I read somewhere that a .25 micron is equivelent to a really fine grit stone? Or would the money be better spent on a 12k or 16k stone to use after the 8k. (This is all assuming that I will learn how to use the 4k/8k and then feel that I need extra honing on a yet finer grit to finish the edge.)

I think the point is more to save cost. I can make 30 of these easily for the cost of a high grit stone. I am still not totally sold on my straights, probably mostly due to prep, so a couple of these will get me by until I know it is worth dropping the coin on a set of hones. Plus, I like to make things. :wink:

[chem_fun]

Maybe I don't understand the point of the paste then. I was under the impression that a leather strop with ChromOx on the rough side would extend the blade life to 2-3 months between hones. After that I'd need to use the hone to get a good shave.

What's the advantage of the other pastes. Man I feel so ignorant.

[Alacrity59]

I just finished making a few of these using balsa on maple.
It's important to lap the balso flat, as it it were a hone, before applying the paste.
Mibro paste works well, but I find it helps to disolve it in methyl alcohol and paint it on. That way it goes on evenly without changing the balsa's flatness. The waxiness is actually a positive attribute as it adds a little feedback to the strop.

Where does one find methyl alcohol these days?

[chem_fun]

Where does one find methyl alcohol these days?

Locked up in my flammables cabinet. :)

Methyl alcohol is methanol. Due to my research into bio-diesel, I learned that the yellow bottle of fuel dry is nearly 100% methanol if not 100%. The stuff you put in your tank in the winter to get rid of the water.

It's cheap too.

You're just trying to make me feel like I know something. Shucks. :blushing:

[Ltltony]

Where does one find methyl alcohol these days?

The automotive aisle

http://www.brasslite.com/SiteImages/Misc/HEET.jpg

[Tony Miller]

Not to sound to harsh, but then what's the point? Would it not be better to spend the money on the hone and learn how to use it?

As a second thought, didn't I read somewhere that a .25 micron is equivelent to a really fine grit stone? Or would the money be better spent on a 12k or 16k stone to use after the 8k. (This is all assuming that I will learn how to use the 4k/8k and then feel that I need extra honing on a yet finer grit to finish the edge.)

Eventually any razor needs time on a hone, not just a pasted paddle BUT, most guys find it far easier to learn to use the paddle than a hone and get good results. Ideally in time one would own both, maybe a 4K/8K and something finer, say a paddle with 1.0/0.5/0.25/Chromeium or some combination of these grits.

For many honing/sharpening is part of the hobby and all the stones, etc... are important. For others it's the shave alone and the minimum of tools is all they want.

I have a huge collection of natural stones and barber hones but typically use a 4 sided paddle with 3.0/1.0/0.5/0.25 and a hanging strop for all my upkeep and choose to send my razors to my honer once a year.

BTW, very clever ideas for making paddles using commonly found materials!

Tony

[chem_fun]

Can the paddle or pasted leather be used in place of a 12k or 16k (or both) stone? I saw some post somewhere that gave the relative micron size of paste and it's stone equivalent. Can anyone point me towards that?

[Alacrity59]

Locked up in my flammables cabinet. :)

Methyl alcohol is methanol. Due to my research into bio-diesel, I learned that the yellow bottle of fuel dry is nearly 100% methanol if not 100%. The stuff you put in your tank in the winter to get rid of the water.

It's cheap too.

You're just trying to make me feel like I know something. Shucks. :blushing:

I thought that stuff is Methyl Hydrate. Is this the same thing?

Never mind . . . just looked it up . . . it is the same thing.

[TstebinsB]

My two local Home Depot stores didn't have balsa so I bought it off eBay for real cheap. I should have my 0.5 and 1.0 strops made by Monday. :biggrin:

[backpackerx]

Yeah, I don't think HD carries balsa but most any craft store will like Michaels, A.C. Moore, Jo-Anne fabrics or similar.

[DogHair]

I had a good bit of work to get my strops flat. I didn't want to go at the balsa with anything to rough so making it flat with 220 paper took a while. Then I went up to 600. It looked flat to the eye but three of the four were seriously cupped once I checked them. I'm sure that would make a difference when stropping. Anyone else notice this?

[TstebinsB]

I had a good bit of work to get my strops flat. I didn't want to go at the balsa with anything to rough so making it flat with 220 paper took a while. Then I went up to 600. It looked flat to the eye but three of the four were seriously cupped once I checked them. I'm sure that would make a difference when stropping. Anyone else notice this?

I flattened my balsa with 400 grit sandpaper. I took the same approach as flattening a hone: I drew lines on the balsa and sanded until the lines were gone. I tried to make the lines go from side to side so I wouldn't concentrate on the just the middle, like in your case. I did it twice each for my 0.5 strop and my 1.0 strop. It worked perfectly. This could be an option to deal with the cupping.

[Tphm]

would the small tubes of 10 gram strop paste (the green and red) be sufficient to cover a balsastrop, or is it only for leather?

I mean the paste that can be found on this page http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/stropsbrushessoaps.html

[Webro]

This is an excellent idea, and very cost effective.Can any of the UK members tell me where you can buy some Cromium liquid in a bottle.Also is there only one type of Balsa Wood? and where is the best place to get some

[tsenfw]

Can someone describe in detail how they are lapping their balsa wood? And what final grit sandpaper they used?

Do you have to apply chromium each time you use the strop or just initially?

[backpackerx]

You can lap your balsa with a perfectly flat object like glass, some cut stone, or I use a DMT hone which is perfectly flat from the factory. You just place or wrap sand paper over that surface and rub the balsa (after fixing it to the wood) against it. Draw a very light grid with pencil on the surface of the balsa so you know you have worn it off evenly when all the pencil disappears. For the Chromium you apply a very light coat and it's only done once and will last for touching up dozens and dozens of razors or more. You'd probably have to replace the balsa before ever adding more chromium oxide because by that time your balsa would be coated with metal from the blades.

[Bluestaco]

You can lap your balsa with a perfectly flat object like glass, some cut stone, or I use a DMT hone which is perfectly flat from the factory. You just place or wrap sand paper over that surface and rub the balsa (after fixing it to the wood) against it. Draw a very light grid with pencil on the surface of the balsa so you know you have worn it off evenly when all the pencil disappears. For the Chromium you apply a very light coat and it's only done once and will last for touching up dozens and dozens of razors or more. You'd probably have to replace the balsa before ever adding more chromium oxide because by that time your balsa would be coated with metal from the blades.

I just glued the balsa to a piece of oak, set a sheet of fine sandpaper on the glass table, used the pencil marks, and sanded it until they were gone. Worked just great.

[tsenfw]

Awesome, thanks guys! Oh, what grit sandpaper did you use?

[Bluestaco]

I wish I could remember and tell you what grit I used, but it was just what I had on hand and I really don't remember. :confused: I do know I stepped it down, so it might have been something like 200-800 (which I think would work), but I honestly don't know.