Thread: How many microns is the "puma extrafein" paste?

Hi everyone!

I am fairly new to straight razors, but thanks to all the info I could gather on this site, I already managed to have a good shave with my straight razor. Here is my problem however :

I ordered a "shave ready" Dovo razor, which, as you can guess, was not shave ready at all (completely failed the hair test). I honed it for quite a while with a chinese waterstone (advertised as a 12.000 grit) until it passed the hair test.
I stropped on a linen strop pasted with "puma extrafein" paste, then on regular leather.
All my shaving products (soap, badger...) give me great results with a double-edged razor, so the problemn isn't there.
I now get a more than decent shave with my straight razor. It is slightly better than with a regular Gilette, but far less close than with my Merkur adjustable fitted with Feather blades. And it takes me too many passes to get there, when two should be enough it seems.
Of course my DE technique is fat better than my straight shaving technique, so it must account for a part of the difference.
Anyway, I feel my beard could use a sharper razor (Feather blades are wonderful, even though I don't think I need my straight razor THAT sharp).
Question is : what is the diameter of the particles of the Puma extrafein paste?
I have no idea what it is made of, though I guess this is Chromium oxide, as the paste is green. A thourough search on forums would lead me to think the paste is 0.5, but I cannot be sure. Does anyone haave any info?

Do you think having another strop or a paddle with a diamond 0.25 (or finer?) paste would help make each pass more efficient and up with a closer shave?

Thanks a lot for reading through all this

The Puma No. 3 Green strop paste says "mit chrom" on the package, which I suppose to be chrome oxide, so it's quite likely that it is 0.5 microns. I say 'quite likely' because the micron size of crO2 can be coarser, and the carrier for the paste might have other, coarser additives. Puma used to do a black paste, too - I think that was finer than the green paste.

I always finish on a plain leather strop for the finest edge - even after using paste.

A lot of people say the 0.25 diamond paste makes for a scratchy, uncomfortable shave, maybe because the edge is too refined, and after trying it I must agree with them!

Sorry I can't give any definitive info re: the green paste.

Regards,
Neil.

Welcome to SRP ! I don't know what the Puma paste's micron size is either. Must be some old stock as they have been out of business for many years. When they were in production they knew what they were doing so it is probably good stuff. Personally I like one hanging linen and leather strop without paste and another with.

I also have a hanging felt from Lynn with 0.5 diamond spray that put my flatbed HandAmerican hone with chrom ox in the closet. I used to use 0.5 diamond paste on a paddle and found it left a harsh edge. I would hit it 20 round trips (weight of the blade) on the chrom ox and that would smooth it out. Many times I would skip the diamond paste completely. Why the spray leaves an edge that feels so much better to me I don't know but it does.

I have continually tried to achieve the best level of sharpness I can get with the hones and strop alone. There is nothing wrong with using pastes but I want to see how far I can go without them. If the first pass leaves something to be desired I go to the paste after I rinse and relather. Then that razor will go back to the hones.

Aside from developing my skills in honing and stropping I also had to develop my my skills at straight razor shaving. Over the months of doing it for this first year I have made gradual progress and I am getting better shaves in less time then I did even a few months ago. My guess is that, like me, you will find your shave improves as you continue to practice the honing and shaving.

BTW, I hone a razor until I feel it is ready. I look at the bevel under 30X magnification which is a big help to me to see my progress. When I get to the level that the TPT is good all along the blade and the blade pops hair when I run it over arm or leg hair without touching the skin I do 50 linen and 50 leather. If it passes HHT at that point I am pleased. If it does not I shave and 9 times out of 10 I get a fine shave one way or the other.

If you haven't done so already check out the SRP Wiki for many great tutorials.

Thanks for your fast answers!

I did check the SRP wiki and many other resources before even buying a straight razor. And of course I looked for answers before posting my questions.
Unfortunately I was unable to find a definitive answer.

I think the only way to know for sure is to try and strop my razor on a paddle pasted with 0.5µ and 0.25µ pastes, and see which of the Puma, 0.5µ or 0.25µ gives me the most conmfortable shave.
But I must say it would bother me to pay another 50~70$ for a paddle and pastes that I may end up using only once.
Maybe I should wait another month or so to see if the improvements in my shaving technique (which are amazingly fast) are enough to provide the excellent shave I am looking for (and was able to achieve only with my expensive and not that durable Feather blades so far).

In the Wiki and in the thread archives you will find guys who have made flatbed hones with balsa wood and chrom ox. Also newspaper with paste has a following. Do a search on the forum for balsa and another for newspaper and you will find a cheap and effective way to experiment.

You've got it - wait a while and see if your technique impoves, which I am sure it will. There are loads of extras out there to try, but once you get the basics right you will be in a better position to choose.

There is also another thing to take into consideration, one I found out the hard way from being addicted to developing b&w film - the magic bullet doesn't exist: we often think something is better when in reality it is only different.

Good luck!
Neil

Thanks for all the advice.
I will wait a bit before making a decision.
My birthday is in two weeks so I may treat myself with a new razor and top-notch badger brush. Then I can probably spend the extra bucks for a 0.25µ diamond paste, that I can apply on a home-made balsa paddle!
Damn it! I have only been using a straight razor for 2 months and am already starting to collect stuff. Talk about addiction...

Well, I found that Puma Knives in Germany still stock the green paste, so I emailed them to ask them the micron size. A lady helpfully replied:

Dear Neil,
sorry but I can not tell you the micron size. It is a company secret.

Now that's what I call good customer relations!

Regards,
Neil