Thread: DIY Strop Felt balsa or for diamond paste

So I have spent the better half of this morning reading about these different strops you can make. And I just want to make sure I understand and maybe get more info about the advantages and disadvantages to each type. Also maybe some links on DIY strops. Now I am fairly new to the straight razor world and SRP I'm a month into this. Being the DIY kind of person I am I want to make a strop. Balsa seems like it would be the easiest to make as long as long as you can make the wood flat. I have read that balsa wood can be harsh on an edge with diamond paste especially if you are a newbie like myself. So if there is a good DIY balsa link I would appreciate that. Felt sounds like something I'm leaning towards because from what I've read it will work best with the diamond paste (of course correct me if I'm wrong) I couldn't really find a DIY felt strop but I'm sure there is one out there... I was contemplating of either making a 2 sided or 4 sided felt strop I dunno if there are really any downsides between the both of them. I guess I'm just trying to pick some brains and get some ideas and come up with something that will best suit me... As always thank you for taking the time on reading this and making all your suggestions! I have really grown fond of this community....

Easily make a pasted balsa strop - Straight Razor Place Library

Found this in the wiki.

Make sure you "pop" the grain first. Use a spray bottle or a rag with water and lightly coat the surface of the balsa when you think you're done sanding. The water will raise the grain. Use the last grit in your progression and lightly sand off the raised fibers.

i got the felt for my strop from duro-felt. get the high density carbon rock hard felt Duro-Felt Products . they are nice to work with and are very helpful. i would order it a size wider than you need because the piece i got was kind of sloppily cut IMHO. it is hard to cut with a knife but i found that my leather strap cutter worked well.

I'm a proponent of DIY strops. Making your own strop is always a learning experience and also a lot of fun if one enjoys that type of craft/project. What you learn will help you better understand the stropping process which is so critical to wet shaving. I make strops for friends and customers. I've made several paddle strops with different stropping surfaces and I find that I prefer pasted balsa for knives and other tools. Leather is my choice for a pasted strop (paddle) for the precision edges I sharpen at work. I do like the feel of balsa and the fact that it's fairly cheap and available. Leather however, gives me a choice of different textures which is a great variable to play with.