DIY Balsa Strops

Holiday

Holiday

from Lanolin
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Feb 7, 2019
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Darwin
Finally started making a set of balsa strops after reading @rbscebu thread and downloading the PDF in September. Preparing all '66 straights and vintage brushes, soaps and birthyear Slim L1 for birthday celebrations in January.

Timber cut and glued, sanding edges and levelling off next. I appear to have made a mistake when ordering diamond paste and went 1/0.5/0.25 instead of 0.1 although I am sure 0.25 will be fine enough for this beginner

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Holiday, keep me posted with your progress. I hear so much about balsa progressions and how wonderful they are, I'd like to hear your thoughts as you go down that path.
 
Straight up said:
Holiday, keep me posted with your progress. I hear so much about balsa progressions and how wonderful they are, I'd like to hear your thoughts as you go down that path.
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Cheers @Straight up, I have accepted that I am not expert or experienced enough to achieve HHT sharpness from stones alone, although will eventually with persistence.
Stropping wax on leather strop has achieved HHT, but I don't want to convert all hanging strops and therefore went down the path of balsa.
I am still a newbie with little over 1 year and 1 straight shave per week. ATM I am letting the beard grow because it's Christmas, I am on holidays, and because I want to experience a straight shave with full beard
🪒🪒🪒🪒🪒
 
Holiday said:
Cheers @Straight up, I have accepted that I am not expert or experienced enough to achieve HHT sharpness from stones alone, although will eventually with persistence.
Stropping wax on leather strop has achieved HHT, but I don't want to convert all hanging strops and therefore went down the path of balsa.
I am still a newbie with little over 1 year and 1 straight shave per week. ATM I am letting the beard grow because it's Christmas, I am on holidays, and because I want to experience a straight shave with full beard
🪒🪒🪒🪒🪒
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Use a wedge. It will mow right through.
 
Ebonysw45 said:
If you decide to collect the stubs and want me to PM you when I see them hit me up.
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Thanks @Ebonysw45, I need to stop collecting and start using. I have about 8 restore jobs to work on. Will have a go at home made timber scales and probably pick up some new scales or salvage a damaged razor for the other.
I don't think stub-tail will be for me (yet) because I am still learning and they require a different hold and technique.
 
Just a bit of PVA glue and what more fitting weight than 1/6K king stone in tupperware container
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Sanding (lapping) next - pinched the mirror from the old vanity cabinet and some 400 grit wet and dry
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Balsa had quite a concave bow to it, as evident by pattern of pencil markings, a couple of minutes and all level
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Diamond paste and stropping a few razors next 🪒Don't think I'll try for the fools pass though. I like my nose where it is
 
@Holiday, a few observations.

I have shaved off a 12k natural, 0.5um, 0.25um and 0.1um. The most uncomfortable of the four was 0.25um followed by 0.5um and then 12k. The best and most comfortable was off the 0.1um. I strongly recommend that you get the 0.1um diamond paste.

It appears that you have bonded your balsa directly into a timber substrate. This will give you recurring problems as the timber substrate will warp, swell and shrink with changes on humidity and/or temperature. The balsa needs to be perfectly flat to achieve the desired result. Such cannot be achieve with timber-only substrate. You will need to lap flat and repaste each time that you want to use your diamond pasted balsa strops.

If you don't get your desired results, don't blame the diamond pasted balsa stropping but rather your inability to follow instructions.
 
Wilkshire13 said:
I'm with you @Gargravarr , that's pretty blunt (pun intended)
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Blunt but honest. If @Holiday continues the way that he is going, I can almost guarantee that his edges will be worse off than if he never used diamond pasted balsa strops. Remember, diamond pasted balsa stropping does not make a good shaving edge. It only improves an already good shaving edge.

I put a lot of work into preparing the diamond pasted balsa instructions. I don't want people to do their own thing and then say that their SR edges are not improved (or even degraded) by using the diamond pasted balsa strops method that I have prepared.
 
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rbscebu said:
Blunt but honest. If @Holiday continues the way that he is going, I can almost guarantee that his edges will be worse off than if he never used diamond pasted balsa strops. Remember, diamond pasted balsa stropping does not make a good shaving edge. It only improves an already good shaving edge.

I put a lot of work into preparing the diamond pasted balsa instructions. I don't want people to do their own thing and then say that their SR edges are not improved (or even degraded) by using the diamond pasted balsa strops method that I have prepared.
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Hi @rbscebu I appreciate the advice and observations without arrogant pomposity.

FWIW the reason this project has taken so long is because I could not find the perfect substrate. The cheap ceramic wall tiles at the local hardware are intentionally rough and uneven, aluminum plate was too expensive, galvanised steel ugly and too heavy, so I went with kiln dried Merbau decking chosen for it's strength and durability and with full knowledge that I will have to lap the balsa regularly. I lap stones every session so why not lap balsa every session?

rbscebu said:
I have shaved off a 12k natural, 0.5um, 0.25um and 0.1um. The most uncomfortable of the four was 0.25um followed by 0.5um and then 12k. The best and most comfortable was off the 0.1um.
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I struggle to understand this comment. There are many experienced honemeisters that achieve the perfect edge off 12K natural and logically speaking the finer grits (0.5/60K & 0.25/100K) should achieve a more polished finish. Are you suggesting the 0.5 and 0.25 are only a progression to 0.1 and not a better finish than 12K?
 
Holiday said:
Hi @rbscebu I appreciate the advice and observations without arrogant pomposity.

FWIW the reason this project has taken so long is because I could not find the perfect substrate. The cheap ceramic wall tiles at the local hardware are intentionally rough and uneven, aluminum plate was too expensive, galvanised steel ugly and too heavy, so I went with kiln dried Merbau decking chosen for it's strength and durability and with full knowledge that I will have to lap the balsa regularly. I lap stones every session so why not lap balsa every session?



I struggle to understand this comment. There are many experienced honemeisters that achieve the perfect edge off 12K natural and logically speaking the finer grits (0.5/60K & 0.25/100K) should achieve a more polished finish. Are you suggesting the 0.5 and 0.25 are only a progression to 0.1 and not a better finish than 12K?
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With regard to a suitable tile in your substrate, that tile needn't be perfectly flat or smooth. It just needs to be extremely stiff and not change shape due to humidity and/or temperature. No timber, however well seasoned, will meet this requirement. It is even a problem with the balsa and one of the reasons that extra-thick balsa is not specified.

Lapping flat and repasting before each use may work, however you will end up going through a lot of diamond paste. Remember that to keep a consistently perfect edge, you will be balsa stropping an edge after each and every shave. Do you intend to lap and repaste with each shave?

With regard to needing to use 0.1um paste, I am expressing my personal observations and those of others who have experienced the same or similar results. I cannot explain why this is so, only what I and others have learned from experience.

Shave comfort is not just about "sharpness". Once you start getting into sub-micron "honing" you are dealing closer to a molecular level rather than a granular level. Steel grain sizes are of the order of about 4um.
 
Holiday said:
Hi @rbscebuAre you suggesting the 0.5 and 0.25 are only a progression to 0.1 and not a better finish than 12K?
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You have a point there @Holiday, since 12000 grit is just under 1.8μm. If @rbscebu says he has shaved off a blade ground at 0.25μm and 0.5μm and found it less comfortable than off a 12000-grit stone, that doesn't make much sense to me. You could be chasing a snark or a boojum...
 
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Gargravarr said:
Perhaps, but I might suggest that you made your point sufficiently in the preceding two paragraphs, and that making observations on the character failings of another forum member was unnecessary. That's what wives are for. ;)
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Thank you and I accept your comment. It is a fault that I have developed through dealing with a very few of my clients in my profession. They seek my guidance in solving a problem and then do not properly follow the advice that I give them.
 
Gargravarr said:
You have a point there @Holiday, since 12000 grit is just under 1.8μm. If @rbscebu says he has shaved off a blade ground at 0.25μm and 0.5μm and found it less comfortable than off a 12000-grit stone, that doesn't make much sense to me. You could be chasing a snark or a boojum...
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Those with good honing experience will attest that honing is not just about the grit size that you are honing to. Many have tried to make sense of this but none have been able to properly explain it to me. It is just an experience thing.

I am no hone meister. I have only honed about 100 different SR's and shaved with most of them. I'm sure that there are others here far more knowledgeable than I am.
 
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