Chromium Oxide (or other) Recommendation

[DrC527]

Hi everyone:

I know that asking stropping techniques from 10 people will get 15 answers. I have never used chromium oxide or diamond paste on the primary strop I use. There is a rougher textured side to the fabric part, listed as PolyPro. What is a good recommendation for a touch-up between honing?

 

[CBLindsay]

Honestly, my go to for maintenance between honing is pasted balsa strops. I stick with very high grit diamond paste or high grit FeOX. I use a very very high grit diamond almost daily and include a slightly lower grit occasionally to do a little heavier work. The diamond is so fine it needs to be applied via spray, I mix it in an alcohol/water mix. I don’t know if I have much if any of the diamonds paste left because I split what I had among a bunch of guys many years ago. If you do decide to go this route you might be able to split the cost with a few others.
I personally would not put anything on a leather or fabric strop. I prefer the firm and flat balsa because I feel like the hanging strops can round out the edge if they had any abrasive on them. (My personal opinion, may or may not be scientific fact). I am very careful to wipe the razor clean after I use the pasted balsa so I don’t contaminate the clean linen or leather.
Here are a few photos of my favorite ones.



Very easy and cheap to make. Glass tile+balsa plank+spray adhesive + lapping plate or sandpaper on a large glass tile+the paste.
I do plan on making a set of convex pasted balsa at some point. I want to try out the concept first brought to the cadre by @Bill M (I think ) several years ago

 

[DrC527]

Thanks, I have never used balsa; will have to give it a try.

 

[supertrunker]

i second the balsa strop for maintenance. i bought a couple of 1" x 3" x 12" bits of balsa from Hobby Lobby a few years ago and some diamond paste in a little syringe from Ted Pella.
Whipped Dog still sells ready made balsa strops with the CrOx and FeOx already applied for those of us that are lazy and averse to making a mess.
After a shave, i strop my razor on the fabric to dry it and then give it 20 laps on the CrOx balsa strop, wipe it off, and then 50 laps on the diamond paste strop, wipe it off, oil the blade and put it away.
Refreshing the blade with hones hardly ever has to be done unless it's because i just want to. There was a guy on another forum, Slash McCoy, who reckoned one could maintain a razor indefinitely with just this arrangement of balsa strops and although i do fewer laps on diamond than he recommended, i'd say he's right. If anything i find my edges getting sharper than i like if i overdo the diamond.
Getting paste off a leather strop is not an easy or fun task, but the balsa can just be sanded and re-used.

T