Thread: I can't quite get to shave ready...

Sorry to take a bit to post - I've been out of town showing off my new daughter The leather does burnish or smoothen the edge - at least for my face it does. Last week one time I touched up the edge of a Griffon 67 on my hanging chromium oxide canvas strop, and I completely forgot to strop on the leather. I got a smooth shave as it was....

If you aren't able to get a smooth shave it may be due to your need for an intermediate stone. When you finish with the 8000 norton, you are creating microscopic points on the edge, like this:

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

When you use the paste and newspaper, It could be that you are only rounding those points, and the edge ends up looking like this:

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

But, to get a very smooth shave, you want the edge to look like this:

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Perhaps an intermediate stone, like the chinese 12K, could be a great solution to your problems. Woodcraft sells them for 20 dollars (6x2) or 30 dollars (8x3), and they are fantastic deals for the results they get. Either that, or try more passes on the polish.....

Good luck,

Thanks. That would make sense. I even took the time to go back and make sure my bevel was good and then did the 4k/8k. Then did the glass/newspaper, then some leather. And I was pretty much in the same place I was to begin with.

Bigbad - if I understand right, your progression right now starts with a bevel setting stone (1k side of 1/6 japanese?), then the 4/8k norton, then newspaper on glass. This is about the same as just finishing on hte 8k norton. The newspaper and glass is a VERY slow method and only meant for extreme final finishing.

Try getting some metal polish, and applying that to some newspaper, then doing a bunch of passes on that. THEN the PLAIN newspaper. Without something between the 8k and plain paper, you're just wasting your time. Peeks, Mothers, Flitz, Maas, all are good options to try.

The best option is a finer stone, but the metal polish has been used by many with good results. It's a bit slower than some stones, but it can get the job done.

Ben

I'll do that. I've got some Maas metal polish. Should I make another glass/newspaper strop for the metal polish? Or do you do this just on a bench? Also, should I let the metal polish dry on the newspaper? Or should I strop while it's still wet?

newspaper and polish comes pretty cheap, so I just tape down a piece of newspaper, then apply the polish. Don't go overboard with the polish, I usually do only a two inch strip in the middle. Provided the paper stays taught, you can start right away, no need to wait for it to dry. When I'm done with hte polish, I pull it off, and tape down a clean piece of newspaper.

making another setup couldn't hurt, though, as you're sure to get some chromium oxide one day, and will need a place to put it!

Good luck,

I recently bought this Kohl Strop Paste off Amazon.com/. It's not arrived yet though. The ingredients are not listed. But is considered a chromium oxide paste?

i believe this is strop conditioning paste - non-abrasive.

Ok, then here's a stupid question. What's a good brand of chromium oxide to buy and where can I get it?

Well, some gents here will tell you that hand american is the only place in the world to get it, and they would not be steering you toward a bad product. Very good quality stuff. I've got a 6 oz bar from Lee valley tools, as their compound is limited to a 0.5 micron particle size. Beware of other chromium oxide bars, however, as they are often mixed with larger particle carriers/abraisives.

If I were buying some right now, I'd buy it from Dave Martell at Japaneseknifesharpening.com. He's a great guy, and very active on the kitchen section of Knifeforums.com. He's one of very few retailers of Hand American products, and seems to carry more of their stuff than anyone else. The "liquid" chromium oxide is what I would get.

Find it here: JapaneseKnifeSharpening.com

Ben

Hey thanks. I guess I'll have to get the 12k stone and the paste ordered before I can make some progress in my honing techniques.