Basswood strop?

Hey guys/gals,

I have an abundance of basswood blanks leftover from my decoy carving days and was wondering if there was any reason that they couldn't be used for a pasted strop in place of balsa?

Thanks in advance

Dan

It will work just fine. Balsa has the most "cushion" in regard to woods and on a micro level I envision balsa conforming to an edge more similar to a leather strop than other woods.

I've used balsa, basswood and also hard maple. The hard maple after being lapped very smooth with high grit sandpaper using a granite surface plate was such that I could use that with diamond paste edge leading as one would for a hone/stone. The razors did not dig into or cut the maple.

Chris L