Thread: TM Pasted 4-side paddle strop

Well, I began shaving with my razor tonight, but it was not as smooth of a shave as I remember. My neck was beginning to show razor burn and I was cutting myself.

It has been about a couple of weeks since I got the new DOVO, but I decided to take the Tony Miller 4-sided paddle strop from its vinyl bag and use it for the first time.

I have often heard that the razor does not need to be sharpened very frequently, but I think that it needs to be sharpened more frequently with a novice shaver ... especially if not starting out with the best stropping and shaving technique. This seems to be the case with me.

I started with 20 or so passes on 1, then 20+ on 0.5, and ending with 20+ on 0.25. I rinsed and toweled off the blade before stropping the blade again on the starter strop.

I shaved the other half of my face ... it was like new. That paddle is awesome!

Thought I would share

That's good news for me cause I have been meaning to get a 4-sided paddle. This is the kick in the rear I needed to push me to it.Thx for sharing.

0.25 is too freaky sharp for my personal taste. I have a 3+ leather which goes 3.0, 1.0, 0.5 chromium oxide. That 0.50 is as sharp as I ever want a blade to be.

Stropping well makes all the difference, really.
Poor stropping had me scratching my head at first wondering why these hair-popping edges weren't smooth, so I took them to a hone again and wasted some metal.

thats it i need one of these waiting untill tonys taking orders tonight

I have one too and love it. Question. Right now I have a four sided with 1, .5, and .25 diamond pastes and one side chromium oxide. Does that makes sense and if so, should I finish with the .25 diamond or the chromium oxide? I've thought I should finish on the chromium oxide. Wondering if it would make more sense to change it to a 3, 1, .5 and chromium oxide. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Hmmm. I have the 3, 1, .5, and .25. I thought about getting it with chromium oxide since everyone recommends it, but I asked Tony to put what he suggested on there. I have to say, I am not disappointed at all.

Originally Posted by shaveshell

I have one too and love it. Question. Right now I have a four sided with 1, .5, and .25 diamond pastes and one side chromium oxide. Does that makes sense and if so, should I finish with the .25 diamond or the chromium oxide? I've thought I should finish on the chromium oxide. Wondering if it would make more sense to change it to a 3, 1, .5 and chromium oxide. Thoughts?

Thanks!

What you have seems like a pretty good selection of usable pastes. If you look at purely the grit/micron ratings it might seem like you have some overlap, but in practice the results from the chromium oxide and the diamond pastes are sufficiently different that you want both. Some razors ( as well as some faces), respond well to diamond pastes and some seem to prefer chromium oxide. What you finish with should be dictated by how the particular razor in question performs. In my personal experience, most of my razors seem to do their best with chromium after a few passes on .5 diamond. This is, of course totally anecdotal evidence and I can't prove a thing, other than this seems to be how I like it with my razors.

I also think that if you are using 3 micron paste you are probably in the range of a finishing hone and that might be more useful to just use a stone instead of a coarser paste.

Yeah, I only used the 3 micron once ... tapped the faucet lightly with the razor.

Many guys who choose the 3.0 micron either do not plan on owning a Norton and are trying to spread the time needed for a stone based honing or just want a quick refresh surface for a single razor without wetting a Norton and the related mess. Great if you just want a one razor touchup but if doing quite a few it is better to just get out the Norton.

I myself do not own a Norton and simply use pastes for nearly everything.

Tony