BALSA vs LEATHER FLATBED HONES

Hi All,
does anyone have the experience to say whether a flatbed hone with leather is the same as one with balsa {both impregnated with diamond paste } for results ? Or is one superior to the other ?

It probably depends on the grit your using. Leather would generally be the proscribed choice. Balsa is probably better when you get up to the 3-6 micron grit. The grit sits deeper in the grain.

For .5 or .25 I'd go with leather.

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

proscribed

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I do not think this word means what you think it means:hmmm:

:) I was probably thinking of prescribed . . .

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Originally Posted by mparker762

I do not think this word means what you think it means:hmmm:

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Inconceivable ;)

I've used both balsa and leather, and both work very well. Like Alan said, the grit sits on top of leather and sinks into balsa a bit. Balsa strops cut more slowly than leather.

I have had good results from .5 micron diamond paste on balsa, so you may want to give that a shot before investing in a leather bench hone or paddle strop. You can get strips of balsa at a craft store for $3--and that's enough for four or five strops. :)

The balsa seems to slow the diamond paste down enough that it leaves a finer edge. :shrug: YMMV.

Good luck,
Josh

My experience differs from Alan's. If you are going to use both, I would use leather for the coarse grits and finish with the fine grits on Balsa. However, after using both leather and many different species of wood, I see no advantage to going with a wood bench hone...I now use leather for all grits of paste.

One other bit of advise, if you do want to experiment with a balsa bench hone, consider using maple instead (hard maple is better than soft maple, but either will do). I found that it gave me a better edge and better 'feel' while stropping, than the Balsa (or other soft woods).

Just another data point,
Ed

Ed,

Sounds like a good plan! I haven't used pastes enough recently to really be any good with them.

Maple sounds like a good alternative, balsa is so soft.