Thread: Balsa vs Felt

I have tried both leather and felt. I preferred spray on felt. In my experience it is dramatically superior than putting crox on leather. I've never tried a Balsa strop and have no plans to. I put this all in past tense since I now jump from a 12K stone to a finishing stone (Zulu Grey) then to a leather strop. I can get the same or even better sharpness but achieve much more 'smooth' by going this route. If I was super lazy (lol) and needed a quick touch up I guess then I would pull out the felt paddle strop and give the razor a few swipes on a Crox sprayed felt then 0.25 diamond sprayed felt.

I tend to use homemade paddles w/leather for pastes like crox and diamond. Sparys, I use felt, and just recently tried CBN on balsa.

You are comparing effectiveness.

The base for the Sprays or Pastes is partially determined by what you put it on

Basically it runs from most effective to most gentle

Balsa
Linen/Webbing
Leathers (these vary also)
Felt
Nano Cloths

Which you choose comes down to the edge that you start with and the feel that it gives on YOUR face...

I'm a little lost on this regarding effective.

My list for effective is:

Felt (with sprays and some pastes)
Webbing
Leather
Nano
Balsa

But as you indicate, it is a matter of what YOUR preference is.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You are comparing effectiveness.

The base for the Sprays or Pastes is partially determined by what you put it on

Basically it runs from most effective to most gentle

Balsa
Linen/Webbing
Leathers (these vary also)
Felt
Nano Cloths

Which you choose comes down to the edge that you start with and the feel that it gives on YOUR face...

In my list the "Effective" is how much of the grit is on the surface of the strop..

ie: Felt allows the grit to sit "lower" into the surface then Balsa, so it gives a more gentle cutting action

Which is exactly why I find it to be so effective.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

In my list the "Effective" is how much of the grit is on the surface of the strop..

ie: Felt allows the grit to sit "lower" into the surface then Balsa, so it gives a more gentle cutting action

You know... this stuff just kills me lol. I love absolutes . I demand absolutes. Science!! Give me facts! All this "I feel," "you feel" is just crazy voodoo and a ploy to get me to buy more stuff to try lol!! What's a guy like me who's just starting to think when two gents like this differ in opinion lol??

But then it dawns on me. The reason that straights are so much fun is because in this world of sterile science and absolutes... there be voodoo in honing a straight lol. And I do get to buy other stuff and give it a try and... ultimately creating my own science lol.

Thank goodness lol!!

Originally Posted by earcutter

You know... this stuff just kills me lol. I love absolutes . I demand absolutes. Science!! Give me facts! All this "I feel," "you feel" is just crazy voodoo and a ploy to get me to buy more stuff to try lol!! What's a guy like me who's just starting to think when two gents like this differ in opinion lol??

But then it dawns on me. The reason that straights are so much fun is because in this world of sterile science and absolutes... there be voodoo in honing a straight lol. And I do get to buy other stuff and give it a try and... ultimately creating my own science lol.

Thank goodness lol!!

Lol!! No absolutes. Just preferences which may change at a moments notice.

Yo

Originally Posted by Lynn

Lol!! No absolutes. Just preferences which may change at a moments notice.

Yo

So true, I am constantly changing my mind

I've only tried crox on a leather bench strop so I can only speak in reference to that. For me, that has produced excellent results. No reason at this point to try anything else.