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I am looking to make myself a wooden strop and planning to use either a 3"-3" or 4"-4" 12inc long piece of lumber. It seems that everyone is using balsa wood but have been having trouble finding balsa wood I have gone to the local Home-Depot and local craft stores. Either they don't have balsa wood in stock or don't have at all other then balsa wood what other pieces of lumber would make a good wooden strop? I am either planning to paste with diamond or chrome pastes .
some people use bass wood too or it seems there was a thread about using red cedar, though the bass wood that might be just as hard to find. Have you checked with a hobby store that has model air plane building supplies?
i make my own balsa wood strops and apply CrOx to it...i get the Balsa wood at Michaels, there's an aisle where they keep Balsa and Bass wood vertically in racks...
i usually grab a 26" piece of Bass wood and then use wood glue to fasten an 18" piece of Balsa to it...then I sand it down with some 220 grit sand paper..
you could also go onto Larry at Whipped Dog's website and order the poor man's strop...its a good piece of Balsa for only $10 and its treated with CrOx on one side which is 0.3 microns, and FeOx on the other side which is 0.1 micron
The likes of Toyworld have balsa wood (as wells bass tubes & pins materials) in their models areas you may have a similar toy / model shop similar in your area
I went to menards but they didn't have it in the usual spot. I had to ask for it and it was over by some craft stuff.
I saw some balsa wood at Hobby Lobby this week.
Dave
It might help getting pertinent advice if you put your location in your profile!Quote:
Originally Posted by Giorgio
Yes went to a local craft/hobby shop and they told me that they were expecting a shipment from a new supplier but not sure when they will get their delivery. I have been thinking of getting a piece of lumber like oak and making a strop from that.
Oh and I agree - you should post were in the world you reside. It really does help in recommendations. :)
Good luck and happy hunting!
You can use regular wood too, make it flat and smooth and paste it, it works well.
Any smooth wood will work, Popular, Pine and even MDF will work, It is just a carrier. Paper, cardboard and cheap Foam Core work
very well also. The cheap stuff from the dollar store has more texture, that holds the paste better.
These work better than balsa, in my opinion, Nylon and Canvas even better.
3 in is plenty of width, 12-18 in length, use 4 -6 inch for knives.
Thanks guys I will let you know how it turns out now all I have to do is choice the right paste I think I will be using the chrome Ox paste. It seems that the diamond paste is a bit aggressive when it comes to stropping straight razors.
if your looking for high quality CrOx paste, check out GemStar Custom Razors, Glenn sells excellent 99.99% pure CrOx paste very cheapQuote:
Originally Posted by Giorgio
Thanks I think I found some from Amazon.ca In the mean time just got my new leather strop which looks nice and getting ready to use my Thiers-Issard sharpening paste on the felt side of the strop. Attachment 165312Attachment 165313
For what it's worth, I made some wooden strops with old timber found on the side of the road.
I used wood glue to stick 4mm balsa strips on and put non-slip pads underneath.
Chromium oxide, Iron oxide and a leather strip. Very cheap and effective !!
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Are those crox and feox or dovo green and red?
Dovo green and red:Quote:
Originally Posted by ezpz
Attachment 165523
I have made 2 which suspend the thin balsa. It allows the balsa to flex a bit. By loosening one end or both, the amount of flex can be tuned. I have taken to leaving both ends loose and stropping very lightly. They work quite well.
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If you are going to buy artist pigment Chrome Oxide, you might want to buy from Kremer Pigments.
Their Pigments are very uniform and have been used by many here for pasting razors for years with success, cannot say that about others on Amazon. They also have some good Iron Oxides.
When it comes to Chrome Oxide many things are advertises as so but contain little actual Chrome Oxide or are not of uniform grit size.
Just one errant grit, can ruin an edge.
It is not that expensive and an ounce or two will paste several strops, so buy the best quality (purity) and that tested for razor use, Sixgun, SRD or Kremer.
You may want to paste a piece of cardboard first and test your paste on a couple of razors first. If you paste your leather and are not happy with the paste, you will never be able to remove all of the paste once it gets into the pores of the leather.
Cardboard is a great test bed for paste.
I was just wonder which paste should I use on my wooden strop I found the CromOxi paste in bar form found on Amazon or maybe use the Dovo sharpening tube paste which one would best results om maintaining my straight razor?
I've tried the CrOx bars from Amazon and I've found that they don't work all that well..also more experienced members on SRP have noticed that those bars from Amazon are typically not Very "pure" and contain other materials within the bar which are of a much larger grit size than the CrOx which should be 0.3 to 0.5 microns...Quote:
Originally Posted by Giorgio
i would suggest either buying the green CrOx crayon from the Straight Razor Designs website, its in the sharpening center at the bottom of the page...Lynn Abrams himself uses it and its the same CrOx that Mastro Livi himself uses...i have found this CrOx crayon to be extremely consistent and high quality...you simply rub it on the strop, i find the SRD premium webbed fabric works well and there is a video on Lynn Abrams YouTube channel instructing how to apply the CrOx
Straight Razor Honing-Refreshing Straight Razors: http://youtu.be/
you could also google, "Whipped Dog" and order the poor mans strop kit,b which is a piece of Balsa wood with CrOx on one side, and FeOx on the other, it works great...you can email him here larryandro@gmail.com and ask to buy a package of his CrOx powder...his CrOx comes as a very fine powder and is also excellent and very consistent...he typically includes very detailed instructions on how to mix the powder and apply it...i have ordered from him quite a few times...
the other option is to go to Glenn's website (gssixgun) GemStar Custom Razors and email him about his CrOx...it is Shari excellent, 99.99% pure and comes pre-mixed as a paint like consistency, very easy to apply.
best of luck and have fun! p.s. these are all VERY affordable options!
Chromium Oxide is the best paste to start with, to finish post 8k or higher stone. Chrome Oxide will smooth out most edge and can revive a failing edge if it is not damaged or too dull.
Buy Chrome Oxide that is known to be pure, do not buy from hardware stores, wood working supply or on line, unless the will tell you the purity. I would only buy from Kremer Pigment, Six-gun or the SRD stick.
Diamond Sprays .50 and .25 to refresh an edge, are more aggressive than Chrome Oxide. Again buy quality Diamond spray SRD or CKTG are ones I have used and recommend.
CBN will smooth an edge even more and maintain keenness. CBN must be used wet (misted water) for maximum performance in .50, .25, .125 or .10.. um grits. I like .50 and .125, stropping daily on .125 for final finish and .10 on some razors.
Buy CBN from CKTG (Chef Knives to Go).
Good Diamond and CBN sprays are pricy, but again one bottle is a life time supply.
Off of a 8 or 12 K stone, strop on Chrome Oxide, finish on CBN. To refresh, Chrome Oxide then CBN.
If more keenness is needed .50 or .25 diamond, followed by Chrome Oxide, followed by CBN then shave, no leather.
Be sure to wipe the blade clean between strops or grits so as not to contaminate strop. Once you contaminate a strop it is useless.
I use hot running water and toilet paper to dry and a micro fiber towel to wipe clean and dry.
I have been experimenting with paste and sprays for years and tried many combination and substrates. I have a cabinet full of powders, pastes and sprays.
Thanks guys just took a look at some of the websites you suggested and it seems they are all out of stock CromOx paste but the DMT paste looks interesting. I will also be going downtown later at the local cigar and grooming place that sells men's grooming product including Dovo and Thiers-Issard razors and see if they have any of their paste available. In the mean time I still have to cut in half a nice peace of wood I picked at H-D earlier a 24inc by 3 1/2in which I first need to smooth with sandpaper.
SRD may be out of stock on the CrOx crayon but I'm pretty sure the CrOx spray is in stock...also i have many many extra packets of the Kremer pigments CrOx and FeOx which are excellent and came from Larry @ Whipped Dog...i would be happy to send you a packet of each, no costQuote:
Originally Posted by Giorgio
