Duro Felt (felt material)

[Southbound]

Hi,
Does anyone have any experience buying from Duro felt? I was going to purchase the 1/8" thick for refreshing razors with crox, but I'm not sure what density to get they have" hard felt" in 0.70 density and "rock hard " in 0.80 density. I want something with just a little give or compression, but nothing solid like balsa wood, because it tends to leave a harsher edge. Any suggestions?

[BobH]

I'd be interested to know that too.

Bob

[RayClem]

A couple of years ago, I purchased felt stropping material from SRD. I think it was advertised as rock hard felt, but I am not sure. I do not know the density. Sorry I cannot answer your original question.

What are you trying to accomplish with the CrOx? If your edges are becoming too harsh, you might be doing too many laps. I have found that to be the case with CrOx. Diamond abrasives also have a reputation for leaving a harsh edge if you do too many laps.

Also, are you using a high grade of CrOx? Some CrOx crayons designed for knives and tools tools have mixed abrasives and mixed sizes that might leave a harsh edge on your razor.

You can try other abrasives like CBN. Due to the cubic crystalline shape, they are less likely to produce a harsh edge. I use 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron CBN.

Although somewhat expensive, I have found the glass backed nano-cloth and kangaroo strops sold by CKTG to be excellent substrates for pastes and sprays. They provide a much finer surface than wool felt. Unfortunately, they are currently out of stock.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/strops.html

[Southbound]

A couple of years ago, I purchased felt stropping material from SRD. I think it was advertised as rock hard felt, but I am not sure. I do not know the density. Sorry I cannot answer your original question.

What are you trying to accomplish with the CrOx? If your edges are becoming too harsh, you might be doing too many laps. I have found that to be the case with CrOx. Diamond abrasives also have a reputation for leaving a harsh edge if you do too many laps.

Also, are you using a high grade of CrOx? Some CrOx crayons designed for knives and tools tools have mixed abrasives and mixed sizes that might leave a harsh edge on your razor.

You can try other abrasives like CBN. Due to the cubic crystalline shape, they are less likely to produce a harsh edge. I use 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron CBN.

Although somewhat expensive, I have found the glass backed nano-cloth and kangaroo strops sold by CKTG to be excellent substrates for pastes and sprays. They provide a much finer surface than wool felt. Unfortunately, they are currently out of stock.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/strops.html

I agree! I did to many laps, and applied way to much crox. I bought some highly graded crox. So does your felt have the slightest give or compression?

[Gasman]

My SRD Felt strop is coated with CrOx. It is 5mm thick or maybe a touch less. It has a great feel when in use but as far as compression, id say next to none when using. If i pinch it with my fingertips i can get a tiny bit of squish but really not much. Its thick and hard.

Id gues its the same material as the rock hard stuff. Just my guess but i think this stuff would be good for compounds.

[RayClem]

I agree! I did to many laps, and applied way to much crox. I bought some highly graded crox. So does your felt have the slightest give or compression?

I'm glad you purchased the good stuff. As Jerry said, the rock hard stuff is pretty hard with little give.

Do you plan to use the felt as a hanging strop, or as a bench/paddle strop? Since a hanging strop flexes as you use it, the compression of the material is less important than it is with a flat bench strop with some sort of backing.

One of the fun parts of pasted strops is that you can use a lot of different materials for the substrate. I have not tried it yet, but I recently purchased some leather chamois like is used for drying vehicles after washing. It is probably made from sheep leather and is a little stretchy, but I plan to glue it to a backing material for stability. It has a little compression, so it might work just fine. I have used various types of leather, balsa and basswood/linden, various cotton and linen fabrics, even textured plastic cutting boards. I have had some success with all of them. But my favorites are the nano-cloth strops I mentioned in my earlier post.

[Southbound]

Sounds like a good idea! Are you talking about those shammy cloths? Yes I am using it on a wood substrate. I will probably us 3m 77 to adhear it. I have balsa, but I did like 60 laps on a overloaded balsa, and I think I caused a wire edge and my edge crumbled after about 4 shaves. From what I've read 10-15 laps is all Thats needed on a lightly coated substrate.Lol My balsa strop looks like I painted it with green paint. I went over boad. Oh well I'm fairly new to this hobby. Live and learn everyday and with everything in this walk of life. When we mess up we can learn from our mistakes.