Thread: Next newbie purchase: Norton 4K/8K vs. paddle strop

I've done a lot of reading today on old threads in this forum and still am unsure of the next best move.

I'm conflicted over whether I should purchase a pasted TM paddle strop as my next big investment or to go ahead and get the Norton 4K/8K & lapping stone. When you include the cost of the diamond pastes with the paddle strop, the strop and the hone (plus the lapping stone) are roughly equal in price.

I've shaved about 7 times and have already had to send my razor out for rehoning (whether due to poor shaving technique or poor stropping technique, I don't know). I really want to be self-sufficient at this and not rely on an outside source to have to keep my razor sharp.

I'm also of a minimialist/keep it simple mindset. If I don't REALLY need a paddle strop in the long run and can get great results with just the Norton and a strop, then I'd rather just go ahead and get the Norton. Also, I'm not crazy about the thought of having an extra ongoing expense and maintenance of having to reapply the pastes ever so often. At least with the Norton, once you have it and the lapping stone, you're pretty much set, right?

However, if I can get by on the paddle strop and no hone for a long time (a year or so) and if it will help me in the future to go a long time between honings, maybe it would be worth it get the strop now. This would give me more time to continue building my stropping and shaving techniques before tackling honing.

Let me know what you all think.

Payne

There are some here who shave with their razors straight off an 8k, but a lot of folks like a more polished edge than that. If your razors are currently shave ready the pastes could be all you need for a while (a year might be stretching it). You could prioritize by picking a cheaper temporary fix for one of the two items. I.e., you could buy the pasted paddle and purchase some slipstones (or use the microabrasive films for honing) or you could buy the norton and make do while you save up with some pastes on a strip of balsa wood or newspaper.


Some more experienced folks will chime in soon.

Thanks, Foudling. To clarify, I currently have a hanging strop that I got from Kenrup, in one of his startup kits. On the rougher, back side if this strop, I have .5 micron chromium oxide paste. I've stropped on it several times, for about 50 passes, before stropping on the unpasted side. My edge became dull pretty quickly all the same, though---again, maybe this is just poor technique.

Anyway, maybe if I get better at the stropping, this .5 chromium oxide paste that I already have could be all the "touch-up" that I need between honings. I had just heard that there's more danger of rounding the edge of the razor in stropping on paste on a hanging strop, vs. a paddle, which is why I was thinking of going with the paddle strop (plus, TM's paddle strops are beautiful!).

Still, the practical side of me wants to own as little hardware as possible while still getting an excellent shave.

Payne

An 8k edge will do but it is not comfortable. If you have shave ready blades then definaly the pasted strop so that you can continue to enjoy the razors for as long as possible without having to sent them out to get rehoned. If you get the 4/8 you will need other razors to practice on and then you will get RAD. Next you will want the edges better so you will get more hones and get HAD. And then you will ge the pasted strop anyways.

Come on guys you know this is true. Back me up that all the AD will kick in.

If you take the hanging strop and lay it flat on a countertop with the chrome ox side up then you will have your paddle strop. It has far less chance of rounding the edge of your razor.

So.. since you already have a paddle strop now you need the Norton and a means to keep it flat and the DMT diamond hone from Howard is the best way to flatten a Norton. Then you will be set for many years.

Hope this helps,

Thanks, Randy. Exactly the kind of answer I was looking for.

Plus, I'm thinking that I'll eventually get TM's artisan red latigo strop, in which case I could put .25 diamond paste on the smooth side of my current strop and have two levels of paste to finish on.

I like the idea of laying the strop on a table. In fact, I could probably tie off one end and stretch it across a table, to keep it taut.

Thanks again!

Down the road if you do add the second hanging strop you can cut the original one, already pasted, glue it to wood and make your own paddle. I have had guys do this with my Apprentice once they nicked up the ends or with my practice strop once they got the hang of stropping and moved on to the better one.

Tony

That's another good idea---Thanks, Tony. I would love to get your paddle strop too, but, alas---my budget can stretch only so far.

50 laps on the chrome-ox side? That may be the cause of your problems. 50 laps would really draw an edge out long and thin causing it to fail quickly.

I would say that in my experience, 10 laps is a max with 5 laps usually being more than adequate.

Hmmmm.... I usually use 30 laps and have no adverse effect. This morning I used 50 laps but that was on a wedge razor that was very hard steel. The only way to find out what suits you is to try it a number of ways. Kinda like women!