Thread: Pasted edge refinished on a stone

I have been chewing on this one for a while,

I was reading an article on the science of sharp blog a while ago and it was about using metal polish as an abrasive strop compound. Which by the way works exceptionally well despite all the criticism it receives. So here's what I have been playing with when taking a break from the shapton glass. This works very well with a one stone method on a coticule.

I have been setting the bevel at 1 or 3k. Really not important. I would then take the razor's edge as far as I can go on the coticule using a milky slurry and diluting to plain water. Some hones I can get right to shave ready and others fall short which is due to any number of things, including grind of the razor, coticule in question, coticule speed on slurry, how refined the edge will get on water etc. etc.

So not wanting to add a layer of tape to the blades I decided I would give this metal polish a go. Put some on a linen strop and rubbed it in. Then I would proceed to 30 laps on the pasted linen. The edges were ridiculously sharp. Tree topping leg hairs with ease and passing the HHT with flying colours if you use that test. If you've got it calibrated bravo, if you haven't and think the HHT is for idiots. Nobody cares. Especially not the guys who successfully use it as "part" of their sharpness tests and use it before a shave test.

So wanting that nice gentle coticule edge I would refinish the edge on my coticule with water. Which retains the sharpness of the edge but smooths out any microchips that the paste would cause. Resulting in uberkeen, smooth edges that shave without irritating the skin which in my world with sensitive skin is a top priority.

My question is what happens when you refinish or transition from a pasted edge to an edge from a hone? Are you reaching the edge or just straightening out the convexity you just introduced?

Whatever the case it is a pretty bullet proof way to hone a razor on a coticule if the stone you've got is giving you problems and it keeps that extra layer of tape off.

- Scott