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INSTRUCTIONS - Making & Using Diamond Pasted Balsa Strops [Rev. B]

rbscebu

rbscebu

Mr. Strop
Refining a SR on diamond pasted balsa strops may not be for everyone but many will appreciate shaving with probably the sharpest edge that they can put onto a traditional straight razor.

The attached instructions are a dynamic document that will be revised as now things are learned and questions raised by those who use them. Any questions or suggestions should be posted in this thread.

 
CTP said:
Richard - have you considered making YouTube videos?
Click to expand...
I have already made a few very short YouTube videos where I thought they were needed. Videos covering about all aspects of SR shaving have already been made by others and published.

I you believe that an aspect of using diamond pasted balsa strops needs a video, let me know and I will consider it.
 
So just to clarify.
I need diamond paste grits:
100 000
50 000
10 000
?
Also the AU (Rubyvale and cut) seller give no info about concentration.
 
karol.elec said:
So just to clarify.
I need diamond paste grits:
100 000
50 000
10 000
?
Also the AU (Rubyvale and cut) seller give no info about concentration.
Click to expand...
NO.

You need:
200 000 grit = 0.1μm
100 000 grit = 0.25μm
50 000 grit = 0.5μm

I should include that in the next revision. Thank you for bring that up.

Don't worry about concentrations. Any concentration will do. To applyit, you will be watering it down with rubbing alcohol.
 
rbscebu said:
NO.

You need:
200 000 grit = 0.1μm
100 000 grit = 0.25μm
50 000 grit = 0.5μm

I should include that in the next revision. Thank you for bring that up.

Don't worry about concentrations. Any concentration will do. To applyit, you will be watering it down with rubbing alcohol.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much.
Thats really confusing. I was sure that grit 1000
Means 1/1000 mm, 10000 means 1/10000 mm etc.
 
Hey Richard,
I’m wondering if a cheap chopping board of suitable thickness could be cut up to make a suitable substrate for the balsa? You can grab ones 12mm thick fairly cheap at big w or K mart. Might have to glue two bits together.
 
Andrew C said:
Hey Richard,
I’m wondering if a cheap chopping board of suitable thickness could be cut up to make a suitable substrate for the balsa? You can grab ones 12mm thick fairly cheap at big w or K mart. Might have to glue two bits together.
Click to expand...
Read section 9 of the instructions again.

You can use a part of a chopping board as the underside part of your substrate but you will still need to use a piece of tile on top to mount the balsa on. The tile is needed as it doesn't warp or swell with atmospheric changes.

Using a heavier timber will make the overall balsa strop heavier. This will make it more tiring to hold and will not work as well with the 0.1μm strop when being used hanging. You may find the using balsa wood instead of a chopping board may also be cheaper and easier.
 
The balsa wood for the substrate and strop arrived today. I’ll post a pic once I’ve knocked it up. Diamond paste should arrive tomorrow
 
I think that you will be surprised with diamond pasted balsa strop edge.

Just remember, diamond pasted balsa strops do notake an edge shave-ready, they just further improve an already good shave-ready edge. The 0.1μm pasted balsa strop (hanging) used after every shave will keep the edge in in pristine condition.
 
Still waiting on 1/0 micron paste from RS Components. A phone call revealed that they were out of stock and it’s now shipping from the UK.
If I’d known that , I would have shopped elsewhere.
 
Used my 0.1 hanging balsa strop for the first time this morning. We’ll see if I can notice any difference when I shave tomorrow.
I followed @rbscebu instructions for making the strop although mine isn’t finished as neat and tidy as his.
FYI, If you go to Bunnings they won’t sell you a single tile. You have to buy a box of them….. Unless….. you find a damaged box that someone has bumped or dropped. Then they’re usually quite happy to sell you a single tile for $2 odd.
Making the balsa strip was a relatively easy job. Don’t get a glazed tile like I did. The glaze is so hard you can’t really rough it up without a grinder. It laughs at 80 grit sandpaper.
Fortunately my contact cement adhered quite well anyway.
Applying the diamond paste was actually the most difficult part. I mixed about 5 grains of rice worth of paste into a dish with a little rubbing alcohol as instructed and started dabbing onto the balsa but found that it was quite difficult to spread evenly. When angled to the light, I ended up with some spots obviously pasted and other area quite bare. I tried to resist the urge to use more paste and just rubbed it all over as best I could, waited 30 minutes and then went over the whole strip very firmly with a clean lint free cloth until the cloth was no longer showing any signs of residue.
Holding the strop between thumb and fingertips whilst stropping vertically takes some getting used to but I managed my way through the progression.
Thanks to Richard for posting the very detailed instructions.
 
@Andrew C, you may not notice a difference from before and after shaving off the 0.1µm hanging. The 0.1µm hanging is used to just maintain the blade's edge, not necessarily improve it.

If you made a full set of diamond pasted balsa strops (0.5µm, 0.25µm and 0.1µm), you may notice van edge improvement if you put the blade through a full balsa strop progression. Indeed, I recommend that you put a blade through a full balsa strop progression after each shave until you notice no further edge improvement. Then you can just use the 0.1µm hanging for edge maintenance.

As for applying the paste, you could have used more rubbing alcohol, about 2 teaspoons, (using the same amount of paste). This should make it easier to spread and, provided you apply all the alcohol mix, you will get the same result as the alcohol evaporates off.
 
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