Thread: 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.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

proscribed

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

I was probably thinking of prescribed . . .

Originally Posted by mparker762

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

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. 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.