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Strops

I get perfect shaves from using my CrOx pasted balsa strop. But I figured since plain leather strops did so good for every day use, I'd get a separate leather paddle strop and put CrOx on that. Opinions?
 
I would think the chrox leather would do the same job as the chrox balsa. I keep my chrox on my balsa, and my leather clean.
 
It depends on what you are looking for in a blade. If you strop on a flat substrate such as balsa or leather backed by wood, glass, or granite, your CrOx will tend to produce a sharper edge. If you are stropping on a hanging strop, the CrOx will tend to produce a less sharp, smoother edge as the flexibility of the hanging strop produces a slight rounding of the edge.

I like blades that are sharp and smooth, so I use flat pasted strops going all the way down to 0.1 micron CBN to produce a very keen edge. However, the edge can be a little harsh, so I then smooth the edge using clean linen and leather hanging strops.

High quality CrOx is typically around 0.5 micron. However, if you are using lower quality CrOx from places like Harbor Freight, the particle size might be even larger.
 
Balsa is very soft and has “give” to it and over time it will convex your edge. There is nothing wrong with this as a convex edge is more stable than a wedge and when we’re talking about decimal microns IMO it’s just as sharp. I have maintained an edge off of CBN loaded balsa strops and finished on hanging leather for some time (not any more) and you can easily do this indefinitely without ever having to re-hone unless you ding your edge. This said, a leather paddle strop will not be as effective as it should be if at all due to the convex edge created by the balsa strops. Hanging leather will ensure the edge makes full contact with the strop.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I get perfect shaves from using my CrOx pasted balsa strop. But I figured since plain leather strops did so good for every day use, I'd get a separate leather paddle strop and put CrOx on that. Opinions?
How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop | Badger & Blade
My opinions are there. And they work better than anything I have ever tried by orders of magnitude. The Method will work for you, too, if you can read, and follow instructions precisely.
 
If you strop on a flat substrate such as balsa or leather backed by wood, glass, or granite, your CrOx will tend to produce a sharper edge. If you are stropping on a hanging strop, the CrOx will tend to produce a less sharp, smoother edge as the flexibility of the hanging strop produces a slight rounding of the edge.

This was explained to me by Ulrik of Koraat...but using different words.
He said the harder the substrate the CrOx is applied to, the more "aggressive" it behaves.
What he meant (I guess) was that CrOx on balsa would give a keener, more aggressive edge while CrOx
on leather would deliver a more comfortable edge, perhaps smoother.

Agree?
 
This was explained to me by Ulrik of Koraat...but using different words.
He said the harder the substrate the CrOx is applied to, the more "aggressive" it behaves.
What he meant (I guess) was that CrOx on balsa would give a keener, more aggressive edge while CrOx
on leather would deliver a more comfortable edge, perhaps smoother.

Agree?

Not necessarily. Balsa is a very soft wood. Hard substrates include things like glass, granite, or even very hard woods. Even basswood (also called Linden in some places) is much denser than balsa. One of the reasons that balsa is a popular substrate for diamond pastes is that the octahedral crystals of diamond embed into the balsa grain making the diamond less aggressive. If you tried using diamond paste on glass or granite, the resulting edge would feel harsh.
 

Tony Miller

Speaking of horse butts…
I agree that the harder the surface, the more aggressive the result from any abrasive. As RayClem mentioned the abrasive particles sink into soft balsa, soft leather, cloth, etc.... Now balsa, just like leather varies in firmness. There is a hard and soft balsa but both are quite soft compared to basswood, maple or even particle board. Among leathers some is soft, some is harder, even among the same types. The steerhide I get now is more firm than the tannery used to run it. Horsebutt comes in either hard or soft rolled. I find that very thin steerhide, 3 to 4oz on a hard surface is much more firm than the same tannage of hide in a thicker weight.
 
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