I recently bought some balsa wood and was given some diamond paste by a guy who showed me how to set it up and use it, and I am awestruck by how good it works! So you are saying that there are even better ways to use abrasive pastes than on balsa? What do you use, exactly? And would you recommend it for a newbie? Do you just use it on a regular strop? This Cerium sounds interesting. I guess the diamond is more cutting and the cerium is more smoothing? If so, could I use diamond first and then cerium? I have all the way down to .1 micron in diamond paste but it is already rubbed into my balsa wood. I plan to order some next week. Diamond that is. What I got was give to me. Maybe I should look for some cerium too?