Made my own Balsa strop!

decided to make my first attempt at a homemade balsa stop last night... all in all I think it went very well...

first step was to pick up a couple of pieces of balsa wood from Michaels.... i can't remember the kind of wood I mounted the balsa to, but I basically just used some wood glue and left it overnight with some weights on it.... I kept the piece it is mounted to longer... as a hand grip

for the next step I just laid some 220 grit sandpaper on the countertop with a little bit of water to help it stick.... and passed the balsa wood over the sand paper until flat and smooth...

next I carved a 1/16 inch groove down the center of the balsa wood to separate it into two distinct sections...

the last step was to follow the instructions given with the poor man's balsa stop I ordered some time ago from Larry at Whipped dog....

I used a little bit of Johnson's baby oil as a pure mineral oil to mix the chromium oxide powder and iron oxide powder.... then I simply painted a couple of X's on the balsa wood with my finger tip....sprinkled a few drops of baby oil on the strop and spread the powder/pate around......

I would say the whole project took about an hour of actual work, at first I think I put too much of the paste on each side of the strop so I went back with paper towels and proceeded to wipe off a lot of the excess... haven't had a chance to try it yet but we'll see how it goes : )

Very nice job! I was wondering where to get balsa from- Michaels. Thanks for the heads up.

thanks! it is a bit pricey at Michaels but i was there with the wife and saw it in with the craft woods and such...they sort of stand it up in a rack...you can only see the tops so it's easy to miss...

i also got the wood for the backing in that same rack...it's a bit thicker and harder than the balsa...almost like a Baltic birch

HI,

I bought some balsa wood in this store: Tower Hobbies - Best Source for Radio Control ( R/C or RC ) Cars, Trucks, Airplanes, Boats and Helicopters.
I'm waiting now to come to the north of Norway. (i hope it comes in perfect conditions)

seems like even an online hobby and craft store would sell only the highest quality balsa...so it will hopefully be in good shape

I've tried balsa and felt both. Tend to like the felt with the powdered paste better. Any other feelings on balsa vs felt???

im still up in the sure on which i prefer, i picked up a modular paddle strop from SRD and a felt pad for it....then got some of their CrOx spray and it worked very well

I was looking at making something similar for use with chrome oxide.
What is the advantage, if any, of using balsa as opposed to a leather strop?

BTW, I too am having difficulty in deciding how much oxide to apply.
I use a cream and mix the co powder with it before applying to my strop.
Will a thick layer of co be a problem?
Looking at some google images of co strop, they seem to be completely green and
covered in the stuff. If I wipe of the excess the leather starts to show and I don't
know what's better, too much or too little ;)

Thanks

I'm not sure if there is a specific advantage or disadvantage to the Balsa Vs Leather....but if you sand the Balsa wood down real nice it strops real smooth like leather.

i kind of went by the poor mans Balsa strop i got from larry at Whipped Dog when i made mine...tried to coat the balsa at about the same level he did....i started by drawing 3 X patterns on the balsa with the CrOx and spread it around....i wore some exam gloves which helped it spread ....

looking back i probably should have painted the X patterns, smoothed them out and not bothered to really coat the surface as I now realize that less is more haha

i have also read that applying too much CrOx or FeOx can dull your razor.

the good thing about Balsa is that you can wipe off all the excess with a towel or paper towel and the wood does not begin to show through like leather.

Using the powdered crox is a pain.
Has anyone tried the Dialux Vert or Dialux Rouge compounds for balsa strops?

Canning Compound | Dialux | Vonax | Carbrax | AA Rouge | Steelcut | Radio Rouge | Hyfin

Seems very cheap.
The red stuff is meant to be .1 micron.

yea the powder is tough to work with...i mix it with mineral oil...

i wouldn't probably use any of those compounds shown in that link...i would try to find a vendor that is well recommended here on SRP for CrOx or FeOx

only because I've read that if the CrOx compound isn't completely pure it can have some rogue particles that are bigger than the 0.3 to 0.5 microns that the CrOx is supposed to be

Would you mind telling me the quantities of oil and crox you mix?
How does balsa react to the mineral oil?
Thanks

i basically take a pinch or 2 of the CrOx powder...not more than like 1/4 teaspoon and put it in a glass cup or bowl....anything you can get your finger in to stir will work...then i drip in the mineral oil like 1 or 2 drops at a time while mixing with my finger the whole time....i just did that until i got a smooth paint like substance that's easy to spread

thanks mate, you've been very helpful indeed
i just ordered some balsa sheets off flea bay
can't wait to try it out and check the results under my veho x400
one thing i can't figure is why most people only to 10-20 laps on the balsa
if the crox is equivalent to 30K grit, why so few laps?
i guess the microscope will reveal what's going on on the edge...

awesome man, glad I could help... I've only been honing for a few months myself but honestly lately things really starting to take off...

I've been using a Norton 4k/8k combo along with the Naniwa 12k and I just wasn't getting the buttery smooth shaves that I wanted.... I think half the battle was the fact that I wasn't quite setting the bevel 100%

so once I got that sorted out and spent a little more time setting the bevel things got much better, but still wasn't getting really smooth shaves even after the 12K stone....

that's what I ordered the balsa strop with the CrOx and FeOx from whipped dog....i admit to doing between 30-50 laps on each side followed by about 100 laps on my English bridal modular paddle strop from SRD and lately I've been getting the keenest edge and most comfortable shaves I've ever had....it really is a beautiful thing : )

good luck...and post up some pics under the microscope if you have the ability to do it i mean....I'd love to see what your able to see at that magnification

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boarder277

seems like even an online hobby and craft store would sell only the highest quality balsa...so it will hopefully be in good shape

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They sell what they get. Does anyone involved with balsa strops really know balsa? If so, should it be A, B or C grain and what density? 4 lb/cu ft or lighter is considered top quality... If you talk to any "olde time" modelers they will tell you what is sold today is for the most part crap!

Hi,

As i posted earlier, i bought a balsa Block in this store: TowerHobbies.com | Midwest Balsa Block 1 x 3 x 12".

I found this information on a norwegian modeling forum and some members of this forum has bought there. It seems to be good quality.
I just hope the mail company take a good care of my balsawood. ;)

ps: If i don't like the result With balsawood, it's always possible to glue a piece of leather on it. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Boarder277

awesome man, glad I could help... I've only been honing for a few months myself but honestly lately things really starting to take off...

I've been using a Norton 4k/8k combo along with the Naniwa 12k and I just wasn't getting the buttery smooth shaves that I wanted.... I think half the battle was the fact that I wasn't quite setting the bevel 100%

so once I got that sorted out and spent a little more time setting the bevel things got much better, but still wasn't getting really smooth shaves even after the 12K stone....

that's what I ordered the balsa strop with the CrOx and FeOx from whipped dog....i admit to doing between 30-50 laps on each side followed by about 100 laps on my English bridal modular paddle strop from SRD and lately I've been getting the keenest edge and most comfortable shaves I've ever had....it really is a beautiful thing : )

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I too use a Norton 1k for bevel setting followed by a 4/8k :)
I'm not an expert by any means but I recon a correctly set bevel is 95% of the job.
Unless the bevel is right I find that no amount of work on the finer stones can fix the issue.
Like I said, I use a veho 004 microscope to check the initial bevel.
If it's right it will shave hairs off my arm even after the 1K.

Here's a very good vid that show examples of bevels and how they can be the main factor for a poor shave:
Supercharged JNAT Straight Razor Edge - YouTube
As the man says the bevel must be "to the edge", that's the whole trick right there.

I was considering a naniwa 12k but will try the balsa block first.
I bought a 3x4x12" on fleabay.

At present I go straight to a strop after the norton 8k and get my razor to pass the hht on about 20% of attempt...

ATB