Originally Posted by
kaptain_zero
While Glen suggests that balsa is recent and was originally used for "testing" pastes, I do remember my Dad having a balsa surfaced paddle strop he pasted and used in his barbers business (1950s and 60s)... I seem to recall he used it with black paste... probably one of those black crayons you can get from several sources today. He never bought any of these things... all his pasted paddle strops and his hair brushes, he made himself. I still remember going out to a farm with him, where he would get horse hair to tie his own hair brushes.
Were his edges any good? No idea other than he would cut my hair with a straight instead of shears or clippers.... And, for the record, he never shaved himself with a straight, but rather a Gillette safety razor and Wilkinson Sword blades.
Regards
Christian