Balsa wood strop

[noobs]

Hey folks! wondering about the balsa wood strop, not sure if I'm ready to give my razor a bit of touch up with it yet, but more curious about the progression, technique, direction etc.
My current razor that i got from larry at whippeddog has been doing great despite what is probably some suspect stropping technique, i'm finding it is not doing so hot on the arm hair test, but I don't feel what I think is excessive tugging on the actual shave. obviously i'm new to it and a vet would probably think i'm shaving with a rusty butter knife. I picked my gear back in March, couple shaves a week on a pretty thin beard.
thanks!
Noobs!

[JimmyHAD]

I have a few pieces of 'aircraft balsa' picked up at the hobby store. I bought a 3'x3"x1/8" piece for about $3.00 IIRC. Cut it 8" long and got some plexiglas pieces the same size. Glued it onto them with contact cement. I put diamond paste on them in progressive grits and use them seldom. They do work though. If I had it to do over, I'd have cut them 12" long.

[RollinCoal69]

Jimmy I read some where on here recently about lapping balsa.??? Do you feel that if it is glued to the plexiglass this is not needed? I am looking to make a balsa strop in similar fashion to what you have done.

[Boarder277]

here's a link to a post i made a few months ago detailing how i make my own balsa strops...hope this helps!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=105530

[JimmyHAD]

Jimmy I read some where on here recently about lapping balsa.??? Do you feel that if it is glued to the plexiglass this is not needed? I am looking to make a balsa strop in similar fashion to what you have done.

I went to a hobby store that more or less specializes in those gas engined planes and helicopters that guys fly by remote control. The 'aircraft balsa' I bought there was plenty flat. I have never bothered with flattening it. Didn't see a need. OTOH, if the balsa is from another source, I don't know.

[Druid]

I bought a four sided paddle with no surfaces finished. I glued two strips of balsa to opposing surfaces, and sanded them smooth and flat with wet or dry. Applied two kinds of ChromOx. It works very well, but even four extremely light laps is too much for me. Just too harsh an edge. I like shaving off natural stones much better...

A friend told me a long time ago about chasing the wrong side of sharp, and for my skin, he was quite right. I like sharp, but I like smooth better!

[JimmyHAD]

"Wrong side of sharp" is a great way of describing it. I'm with you on liking the smooth better.

[nipper]

What are two kinds of ChromOx? Two different grit sizes?

[Substance]

0.5 micron chrox
0.3 micron chrox
0.1 micron Ferrox

There are coarser chrox also at 1 micron or more

i lapped my balsa just as a check mainly
i also did a thread last week or so "DIY balsa strop in Aus"
if you are getting slightly dull edges the chox balsa will help for sure

[criswilson10]

You can get CrOx in varying grit sizes. The most common is 0.5 micron, the next common ones are 0.3 micron and 1.0 micron.
I think the Dovo paste is 0.5 micron and most bars/pastes that just say CrOx with no grit size are 0.5 micron. Usually the CrOx that isn't 0.5 is labeled with a grit size.

I make my balsa strops using the model aircraft balsa, cut to 3"x9". I epoxy them to 3"x9" travertine (scrap/broken tile is cheap and flat). After the epoxy dries I sand it smooth and load it CrOx, diamond, or whatever. And then I label the bottom side with the grit type and size. I use the 3"x9" size because most of my hones are that size, so I'm used to travel.