- Thread starter
- #21
Interesting, but the balsa is good as the medium?
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Jende nanocloth strops
- Thread starter Raymond Luxury Yacht
- Start date
20 laps on .1u won't do much. You must realize that this is roughly 200,000 grit. It should not be possible to chip an edge on it. It should also be pretty much not going to improve your edge. What was the razor finished on? From 12k or 1u you really need a three stage progression to get a .1u edge. And you can't build upon a crappy edge. If you have a fin edge or you ran through your stones or films too quickly then the balsa won't help you
Balsa as a medium is just fine! Do remember, because the diamond and/or CBN will embed into the balsa, using .1um on the balsa will result in a smaller effective particle size.
I agree with Slash that if you began with a crappy edge, all your going to do is refine a crappy edge. I do disagree that the jump from your 12k nani to a .1um pasted balsa strop is too large of a jump. I have gone from 16k shapton glass to a linen strop followed by CBN on balsa and finished on leather. With roughly 50 laps the edge was most definitely refined and the shave was incredibly close and comfortable. I did find that if I followed each shave with 25 - 50 laps to "maintain" the edge after each shave, the comfort would degrade and the edge became harsh.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Sometimes "harsh" and "sharp" get confused. Remember that with a sharper blade, the shave angle must be lower. In an ideal, perfect world, the shave angle would always be dead low, with the spine almost touching the face. We typically use a higher angle to compensate for an edge that needs a little help to shave. Some edges need less help than others. When you can use a very low shave angle and get a satisfactory shave in a single pass, you are naturally going to irritate your skin less. When the edge is at peak sharpness, naturally you will experience the absolute minimum pulling sensation.
At the beginning of the balsa progression, the edge does indeed take on a harsher feel but seeing it through to the end will find the shave becoming more comfortable again. I can only guess what is happening when jumping straight to .1u, or 200k grit. I am not the only one who has noticed this breakthrough in comfort as the progression reaches its conclusion, or the .5u to .25u sour spot where the shave has a somewhat disagreeable feel no matter how low the shave angle might be or how light the pressure might be.
I maintain with 50 laps on the .1u post-shave. Much less than that and the edge gradually degrades in similar fashion to the old school CrOx on leather treatment. I have never tried going straight from a 12k edge to .1u diamond on lapped balsa but I have tried skipping the .25u and it took a couple hundred laps at the very light pressure that I use to max out the edge on the .1u diamond. As few as 8 or 10 laps can increase sharpness, but it isn't done yet.
The thing that really makes this work is the ultra light pressure and plenty of laps. Feedback is not strong enough for me to use to determine when a stage is done, and so laps and sharpness tests and occasional shave tests (my forearms are all at just under a 1/4" crew cut now, and I can only shave a couple times a day and see meaningful results) are the only thing I can really go by, and I assume it is so for everyone else. If you are holding the balsa horizontally and using only the weight of the razor, then you are using more pressure than I am using. I hold the balsa vertically, end up. Since there is no honing water or oil to run off, this works pretty good.
At the beginning of the balsa progression, the edge does indeed take on a harsher feel but seeing it through to the end will find the shave becoming more comfortable again. I can only guess what is happening when jumping straight to .1u, or 200k grit. I am not the only one who has noticed this breakthrough in comfort as the progression reaches its conclusion, or the .5u to .25u sour spot where the shave has a somewhat disagreeable feel no matter how low the shave angle might be or how light the pressure might be.
I maintain with 50 laps on the .1u post-shave. Much less than that and the edge gradually degrades in similar fashion to the old school CrOx on leather treatment. I have never tried going straight from a 12k edge to .1u diamond on lapped balsa but I have tried skipping the .25u and it took a couple hundred laps at the very light pressure that I use to max out the edge on the .1u diamond. As few as 8 or 10 laps can increase sharpness, but it isn't done yet.
The thing that really makes this work is the ultra light pressure and plenty of laps. Feedback is not strong enough for me to use to determine when a stage is done, and so laps and sharpness tests and occasional shave tests (my forearms are all at just under a 1/4" crew cut now, and I can only shave a couple times a day and see meaningful results) are the only thing I can really go by, and I assume it is so for everyone else. If you are holding the balsa horizontally and using only the weight of the razor, then you are using more pressure than I am using. I hold the balsa vertically, end up. Since there is no honing water or oil to run off, this works pretty good.
- Thread starter
- #24
I really appreciate the feedback guys, the razor edge is off a 12k and actually feels better to me after several shaves, it was perfect last night. I used the balsa after shaving and noticed the tiny nick. It might not bother me while shaving. The only thing I did differently to the razor was the balsa strop which is why I think that was the culprit. Since I’ve only used linen and leather the balsa still seems harsh to me even though it’s .1u. Lol.
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