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What is this??

Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Messages
1,864
I got a Flexx Strop for Christmas and it came with this piece of wood. Can someone help me identify what it is? It is a great strop and highly recommended.cThanks

 
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Does it look or feel like balsa? I'm not sure but then it's hard to tell in the pic.

Balsa wood stops are sometimes used to fine tune straight edge razors. When you strop on leather, the edge can be progressively rounded. This slowly changes your blade from a V shape to a very sharp U shape. After a few weeks or months, leather stropping might not be as effective. When this happens, stropping on the balsa wood strop will usually return the razor to shave readiness.

I'm not sure this is what you have. Just a guess.
 
Looks like fatwood, it's basically the heart wood of a pine tree. The stuff is great for tinder, the heart wood of a pine tree is extremely rich in resin, it'll light right up if you hold it to a flame, only takes a couple shavings to start a fire. :)
 
Check on the maintenance sub forum. Someone there will probably know.
 
Thanks guys! I have been wandering about it and haven't been able to find any information on it.
 
That's the "field strop" right? How do you like it? I see them mentioned all over EDC & Survival forums but almost never here. Have you got a chance to use it yet?
 
Yes it is the field strop. I really like it so far. I've stropped all six of my knives on it and they have turned out great. I was previously using one that I made out of an old belt so this was a really good upgrade for me. I got it for $16 shipped if I'm not mistaken so in my opinion it is really nice for the money.
 
I also use an old belt. What does it do better than your old strop, what compounds were you using and what are the pre loaded compounds in the flexx strop?

Its cool you used a DIY strop from an old belt like me and now you've upgraded to the same one I was lookig at, you'll have to keep us updated on your longer term opinion. What happens when you need to add compound, do you just use whatever you like or is there a specific brand/grit your supposed to use?
 
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