Balsa recommendations

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labor of love

labor of love

Cowboys from Hell
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Is there a particular balsa you guys prefer using? I’m guessing thicker is better. Curious if there’s a particular brand or type that’s preferred. Thinking about buy some adhesive tape magnetic backing to put on some balsa that I can just attach to an atoma for stropping.
 
Balsa's nice for razors, but it's soft, and stropping knives on it can make it get beat up and un-flat much too soon. For knives, I prefer basswood, which is generally available in nice rectangular blocks at hobby shops, or was when I got mine.

Why the attachment to an Atoma? What does that add to the picture?
 
Yep. I really don’t like holding stropping material in place with my hand, much rather attach it to something. Never heard of using basswood before I’ll look into it. Balsa does get beat up quickly! Maybe I’ll just start using denim.
 
Cktg sells a strop kit with balsa, leather, metal base, and diamond compound. The strops have magnetic backing to hold to the base. They also sell it all separately and sell balsa with magnet and also just sell magnet sheets. I picked up the strop kit a few years sgo and have liked it. I’m a fan of balsa as it gives lots of feedback.
 
Justinv said:
Cktg sells a strop kit with balsa, leather, metal base, and diamond compound. The strops have magnetic backing to hold to the base. They also sell it all separately and sell balsa with magnet and also just sell magnet sheets. I picked up the strop kit a few years sgo and have liked it. I’m a fan of balsa as it gives lots of feedback.
Click to expand...
Yeah so I was looking at those exact balsa strops actually and was thinking “why don’t I just make my own?”
And to your second point I’m wondering where I can buy balsa specifically made for stropping put my own backing on it or if that’s even worth it and just buy the cktg product instead.
 
I like the base and strop. The base is solid and has rubber feet. And of course the strop fits it perfectly. Its much bigger than an atoma, below is a picture next to a shapton glass stone. Balsa gets beat up so extra size is good. This one definitely needs sanding.
IMG_0182.jpeg
 
if it helps ... I bought some basswood at Hobby Lobby within the past 6 months. Don't remember the cost but cheap. I bought 3in wide x 3/4in thick. Don't remember the length but I cut it down to 10in long each. I did check Lowes and Home Depot and they did not carry either basswood or balsa

It's not all straight and flat. I held up various pieces against the steel rack they were in to find the straightest/flattest that I could.

My purpose was to use/play with diamond emulsions so I drew a cross hatch pattern like you would to flatten a whetstone, taped a piece of sandpaper to a piece of granite and sanded them flat. Started with 80 or 100 grit and them moved up to higher grits since I'm using diamond emulsions. If you're just going to use w/ leather then higher grit/smoother not necessary but flat still is. I've never stropped on just the plain basswood (or balsa) so don't actually know what grit you'd want to start/stop sanding at ... if you do sand at all.

For holding it down when stropping ... I've not tried this but I suspect that it would work ... the non slip shelf and drawer liners might work well. I've used it with whetstones and it works well so with strops should be fine as you're using little if any pressure. Just not 100% sure how it would hold wood. I could probably test it for you if needed but pretty busy at the moment so can't right now. Also very cheap and easy - just search for "non slip shelf drawer mat" and you'll find all kinds of options. Here's just an example of what I'm talking about

Con-Tact Brand Excel Grip Non-Adhesive Shelf Liner - Alloy Gray (12''x10')
$6.49
Con-Tact Brand Excel Grip Non-Adhesive Shelf Liner - Alloy Gray (12''x10')



Hope that helps... M
 
FWIW my basswood strops are basswood + acrylic, attached with rubber cement. I was able to find basswood rectangles at a hobby shop, and acrylic blocks on eBay, that were just the same size, so no adjustments required, just glue, sand, paste, and go.
1705600290362.jpeg
 
Thanks but I think I’m sold on the 3 x 11 balsa and denim strops w magnetic backing at cktg. Not sold on the $25 plate however. Think I can just put them on the back of an atoma and it will work fine enough. And if it doesn’t I can just buy the plate later on.
 
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but aren't the atoma plates made of aluminum? And if so ... not magnetic ... I can test this quickly for you .... elevator music playing in background ... yep - no magnetic qualities to the atoma plates - tested with an Atoma 140 and a really strong magnet

You'll need another option for your base.

Mike out ...
 
mike59 said:
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but aren't the atoma plates made of aluminum? And if so ... not magnetic ... I can test this quickly for you .... elevator music playing in background ... yep - no magnetic qualities to the atoma plates - tested with an Atoma 140 and a really strong magnet

You'll need another option for your base.

Mike out ...
Click to expand...
Use the front side of Atoma. The grit side. It holds a magnet
 
labor of love said:
Quick follow up, went ahead and bought this one I found incase anyone else is interested.
https://www.sharpeningdepot.com/product/basswood-strop-with-magnetic-backing
Click to expand...
Quick follow up. This basswood is the first I’ve tried. I don’t know if all basswood is the same but this stuff feels more dense or compressed, and finer than the balsa I’m used too. The magnet is very serious, have to use both hands to get it on an off the atoma. Not bad overall but I miss balsa, can’t wait for this hobby lobby block to arrive.
 
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