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Balsa turning green?

Eben Stone

Staff member
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Any idea what's causing my diamond pasted balsa strops to turn green? This has happened with all 3 balsa strops. It looks worse in real life. I can't seem to get the color to look realistic in my photos.

Is it ok to ignore it? It's time to sand and refresh the balsa anyways, cause I have a few imperfections in the surface, so I'm solving the problem that way. Just curious is this is something I should be concerned with.

This didn't happen overnight. It's been getting progressively worse over time. This has happened slowly over 2 months.

Thanks.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Two (0.5μm and 0.1μm) of my four balsa strops have the same from their latest relapping and pasting. It doesn't appear to affect the use of the strops.

I don't know what the cause could be. Mine are stored each in their own light-proof "socks" and always kept in a dry environment. I'm putting it down to extraterrestrials. They seems to be blamed for many unknown things.
 
Which paste are you using? Brand, etc. have you used anything to thin the paste prior to application? Honing copper razors?

Mine turn grey/black with use. Not green.
 
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Mine turn grey/black with use. Not green.

Same here. Slowly greying from steel polished off the edge. No moisture on mine, stored under cover. When the darkening annoys me, I re-sand them down and apply diamond paste again, using acetone (nail polish remover) as a thinner and a surgical glove to keep my hands and the balsa surface clean. I do not touch the surface with anything other than my dry blades.
 
Looks to me like it's crying out for chromium oxide. Normally, I would think it was mold or moss, but if you're located in Southern California, I suppose moisture isn't really an issue. Green swarf perhaps? Assuming that the diamonds are neutral, maybe the swarf and the balsa are combining to create something photosensitive or causing a chemical reaction? What kind of matrix are the diamonds suspended in?
 
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rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Which paste are you using? Brand, etc. have you used anything to thin the paste prior to application? Honing copper razors?

Mine turn grey/black with use. Not green.
I have been using the same TechDiamond pasted since new. Have gone through about 1g of each in the past 30 months. I thin my paste with spray alcohol (possibly the cause) on all my balsa strops. No copper razors, although I would mind trying one 🤔. The balsa strops still develop a dark grey to black colour from the swarf, it's just that the green is still quite noticeable.

The interesting part is that it has only occurred on two of my four balsa strops. They are all due for a relap and paste in about a month's time so I'll see if it develops again.
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
Which paste are you using? Brand, etc. have you used anything to thin the paste prior to application? Honing copper razors?

Mine turn grey/black with use. Not green.
The paste brand is Tech Diamond Tools.

I don't thin the paste.

As far as I know, all my straight razors are carbon steel. Definitely no copper, brass, bronze getting anywhere near the balsa.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I also thought that it could have been caused by some form of contamination on the sandpaper used for the relapping. I use a different sheet for each grade of balsa strop.

Then I realised that I had green on just one of my two 0.1μm strops. They were both relapped using the same sheet of sandpaper.
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
I think it's either the carrier paste Tech Diamond is using, or something interacting with the metal of the razor. Look carefully at the photo. Notice there is no green at the close and far edge. I didn't put paste there. I would guess the metal does touch there sometimes because I tend to flip the blade very close to the edge.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Here are my four pasted balsa strops. They were relapped and pasted about 6 weeks ago and this is the first time that they have turned green. The paste was purchased about 30 months ago. The green only tends to appear where I dabbed it on, not where I also spread it around before wiping it down/off. I relap and paste mine about every 2 to 3 months.

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Eben Stone

Staff member
The green only tends to appear where I dabbed it on, not where I also spread it around before wiping it down/off.
Ok, now *THAT* is weird.

Wipe it off? Hmm. I haven't been doing that. Maybe that's why the Leprechauns like me.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Ok, now *THAT* is weird.

Wipe it off? Hmm. I haven't been doing that. Maybe that's why the Leprechauns like me.
After dabbing the paste on and spreading it around, I then use a clean old T-shirt to wipe any excess off. I keep on wiping until no more appears on the cloth. Remember, like most things in SR shaving, less is best (except for the number of SRs that you have :c1:)
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
less is best
To some extent, I find the more I use the smoother the razor glides over the balsa. However, if I use too much it leaves too much residue on the blade making a mess. This is my 3rd time loading the balsa with diamond paste. I try to guess how much to use and keep rubbing it in until I don't see any smudges on the surface.
 
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