I struggled with getting a comfortably clean shave with my straights until I started balsa stropping. Straight razor users seem to fall into either of two camps. They either prefer the edge from a natural stone like a coticule or jnat, or they prefer a very keen edge. I fall in the keen edge group.
On another forum, and I believe he has a youtube channel, a user named SlashMcCoy made a post about how to properly use a balsa strop. I followed his suggestions and saw immediate results.
This requires three balsa strops and some lapidary pastes. He suggests 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron. He also suggests getting actual lapidary pastes instead of buffing compounds. Not sure if there's really a difference as I've only ever used lapidary pastes from the auction site.
A balsa strop consists of a 0.75-1 inch thick piece of flat cast acrylic cut to 3x12 inches. You'll need:
1. Three cast acrylic flats which cost about $45 at TAP Plastics without shipping. TAP will precut them to your desired size.
2. 3-inch-wide balsa strips to cover each flat. You can get this at most hobbyist stores. Get at least 12 inch long strips. I used 0.25 inch thick. Too thin and you'll scrub it all away when flattening (discussed below). Too thick and it will be prone to absorbing moisture out of the air and ruining the flat surface.
3. Spray adhesive.
4. Sheets of 320-400 grit sandpaper. These need to be full sheets. I used 9x11 3M sheets, but if you have access to longer, that would be better.
5. A known flat surface. I bought a granite flat surface plate because I have lots of hobbies that benefit from it, but you can go much cheaper using a granite countertop cutout from a cabinet shop (usually free or VERY inexpensive), or a granite tile.
6. At least 3 or 4 clean pieces of old t-shirt.
7. A pencil. No pens or ink of any kind.
8. 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron lapidary paste. I bought
these.
First, make sure the acrylic flat is actually flat. This isn't a deal killer unless they are way out of level. You'll see why in a minute.
Next, if necessary, cut the balsa to fit the 3x12 inch top of a flat. Make sure the balsa and the flat are free from dust and then spray some adhesive on one side of both the balsa and the acrylic. Follow the directions on the adhesive, but I found it worked best to spray both items, let them dry a bit until they were both still just tacky, and then place the balsa on the acrylic.
Now put a sheet of the sandpaper on the granite or tile surface plat and put a small piece of tape at each corner to hold it in place. Using the pencil, use the least amount or pressure you can to lightly draw a crisscross pattern over the entire balsa surface. Be very careful not to make indentations in the balsa. Use VERY light pressure.
Turn the balsa side to the sandpaper and apply even pressure over the strop and sand until all the pencil marks are gone. Do this to all three strops.
Once you've trued up the balsa surface of each strop, it's time to apply a lapidary paste to each. Now the goal here is NOT to coat the surface with paste. Ideally, you'll use just enough paste to embed the diamond bits into the balsawood. It is very easy to use too much, and more is not better. Slash suggested using a piece of the clean t-shirt to wipe of the excess if needed, again being careful not to scratch or dent the flat balsa surface. Also, only use a piece of the shirt on a single grit. Don't use the one you wiped down the 0.5 grit to also wipe down the 0.25 or 0.1 grit.
Once you've properly applied paste to all three strops, it's almost time to use them. One thing I see people complain about is that their razor doesn't seem to be getting sharper on the balsa strop. Turns out, they haven't already gotten the razor shave sharp before trying to strop. If you can't already easily remove hair with the edge, balsa strops aren't going to do much.
Now, you've sharpened your razor on stone up to 8000 grit. Awesome. Wipe it down to remove any of the stone's grit, and start with the 0.5 grit strop. Carefully strop the razor with spine-leading strokes. I do 50 laps (once on each side is 1 lap), turn the strop and do 50 more. I do a total of 200 laps on each strop, then wipe down the blade with a clean rag, then move to the next strop.
After doing 200 laps on each strop, I shave with that edge. Done correctly, you'll have a wickedly keen edge that really does shave with just the weight of the razor. And the good thing is, you can go back to just the 0.1 grit strop for touch ups, which I do after every shave.
Doing this, I haven't had to put any of my razors on a stone since they first went on a balsa strop. At worst, I'll go back to 0.5 grit and work my way back through all three strops.
Give it a shot!
