Great instructions! I have experimented with balsa but, your instructions will take my edge to another level! I love to hone and sharpen in many different ways so thank you for this!
How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop
- Thread starter Slash McCoy
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- #22
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I just wanted to add that lately I have settled into using only the .1u board for my normal maintenance. 50 or 60 laps and I generally don't need to ever drop back a grit. Keeps things simple and it just works.
That's a great article! I was looking to refine just a little more from refreshing with a coticule and a few laps on an old strop with CrOx (then linen/leather, obviously). Adding 0.1u diamond paste to balsa could be a great third stage as I'm looking towards little more sharpness now my shaving tecnique has improved. Anyway, my main point was to thank you! Well done.
You had indicated awhile back you were leaning toward toward the .1u (or more, away from the .25u) so I followed that lead then. I have to admit, I strayed from the maintenance routine and felt the degradation.
I'd like to ask, does .1u diamond and .1u iron oxide produce the same "feel"? I didn't know iron oxide was .1u but have found some marked as such. I assume it cuts slower or might otherwise require a different lap count but I am just curious about the FEEL you might get from FeOx or CrOx vs diamond pasted balsa.
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- #25
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
IME, not even close. Diamond gives a brilliant edge when you get down to .1u and FeOx sometimes seems like it is not really doing anything at all. Its better than nothing but diamond has it beat IMHO. And I dont think it is just me. I have never heard of anyone keeping their edge fresh indefinitely without re-honing, using the FeOx. But you don't have to take my word for it. A proper experiment might prove enlightening.
Subscribed....this is a great read...im going to have to give this a try!
Yes, I'm actually very interested in it myself. I can get a good strop at my local general store but this is something I want to try.
do you paste the leather on the balsa or do you put the paste on the balsa itself?
paste on balsa directly. Read through Slash's description because he makes clear that the coat needs to be LIGHT, if you think you have enough you have too much. Having access to a good strop to use after the balsa strops is still important. My best results were obtained by going several (12-24) laps on the pasted balsa, wipe the blade with TP, several passes (8-16) on a "hanging balsa strop", wipe, then on to my regular stropping routine (which in the early days only included a generic strip of buffalo hide). Do this daily and you will be very happy.
Slash has posted in a few different places some slight modifications to his routine which are worth following but the original post information is still golden. I would only adding that it is worth adding 0.10micron pasted balsa or using it instead of 0.25micron, the 0.10micron feels less harsh on the face for some reason (I did start using 0.10 FeOx in place of diamond or after the diamond and I think it DOES feel smoother than a diamond edge ...I am not savvy enough to know how it impacts the keenness or speed nor what it does to the edge over time)
*the hanging balsa strop is a THIN strip as long and wide as a regular strop used in a similar manner.
Slash has posted in a few different places some slight modifications to his routine which are worth following but the original post information is still golden. I would only adding that it is worth adding 0.10micron pasted balsa or using it instead of 0.25micron, the 0.10micron feels less harsh on the face for some reason (I did start using 0.10 FeOx in place of diamond or after the diamond and I think it DOES feel smoother than a diamond edge ...I am not savvy enough to know how it impacts the keenness or speed nor what it does to the edge over time)
*the hanging balsa strop is a THIN strip as long and wide as a regular strop used in a similar manner.
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- #30
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I never apply paste to leather.
Use a very small amount on LAPPED balsa, and rub it in good. Use not enough. Even then it will probably be too much. The idea is to embed the diamond particles in the grain so they only stick out there a little bit.
have you ever used wet dry on balsa instead of 500 grit because its so fine?
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- #32
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I don't remember ever using any 500 grit, actually I usually just go to 400 grit. Wet/dry sandpaper will work fine. But dont use it wet, I don't think. Or try it if you like. I think using it dry is better. Wet, it might load up pretty bad.
OK Slash, going to give balsa a try as a polishing medium substrate. I have some 4"x12" glass tiles, so I ordered some 36"x 4"x1/4" balsa to glue on them. What do you use to stick the balsa to the solid base? I was thinking about using rubber cement, so that I can replace the balsa eventually when it wears down with sanding repeatedly.
Also, I think your custom title should be changed to "Baron of Balsa"
Also, I think your custom title should be changed to "Baron of Balsa"
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- #34
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Rubber cement will work fine. And no I like my current title just fine.
speaking of glass tiles, have you heard of glass honing stones?
My go to razor hones are Shapton glass hones. They are glass plates with synthetic abrasive attached. they are very uniform in particle size and quite aggressive in their cutting properties. They do not require soaking prior to use, just a spritz of water. They are not cheap (especially in the finer grit hones). The finest mesh size they produce is 30K which is 0.49 microns. I currently go from the 30K stone to felt strops with diamond paste, but I am going to give the balsa a go, just to try and learn a new trick.
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I looked into the Glass hones, Never heard of sharpening metal with glass until I started searching around for diamond paste. I grew bored with DE shaving and figured I had learned as much as there is to learn. Now its Straight Shaving and man o man have the word opened up to all kinds of new interesting things.
I did use my paper wet (I think it was 600 grit) and the problem was not loading it was board warp. I anticipated the wood would soak up SOME water and I would sand off the swollen fibers ...the water penetrates so deep you get two problems. 1) warp 2) board separates from the tile. Worse, you don't see anything wrong until the board starts to dry, until then you think you got the smoothest balsa this side of the Rio Grande. It isn't worth it, believe me. I am one of those guys who messes with everyone's idea because I think I can make it better, believe me when I say "DON'T try to improve upon Slash's balsa techniques"! It's simple, It works...it simply works.
So Slash, I made a set of balsa strops per you description, and have been very pleased with the results. They seem to make the diamond paste more effective than using my felt stropping media. I was curious how many stropping sessions you get prior to needing to sand and re-paste. Also, where do you get your 0.1 micron paste? My source is a bit expensive.
Sorry, just realized that you listed your paste source in the OP. Much cheaper!
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