Thread: moving beyond leather

Well, as an interim measure I thought I'd give the "balsa strop" a go with the Chromium paste. But, no joy finding an applicable piece nearby. So I gave it a go with some paper.

Took an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of printer paper, folded in half lengthwise and then taped it taut on my formica desk, even with the edge. Then colored it in gently with the CrOx "crayon", which showed it to be reasonably flat. Stopped adding paste when the paper was still fairly lightly loaded, and then rubbed everything with another piece of paper.

Did 5 easy laps with the blade perpendicular, then 2 more with it at a bit of an angle, to present different features to the strop, if that makes any sense?

Checked again with magnifier and could no longer detect the "burr" or "rolled spot" (sorry not quite sure of the terminology). The bevel seemed shinier, as did the "hone line" along the spine.

Cleaned up the blade and then stropped on my paddle; 15 on the scrub-leather and 40 on the hard leather. Will strop again right before next shave as usual, but that won't be until tomorrow night due to very early start tomorrow morning.

It's cutting hanging hairs, fwiw. Interested to see how the shave will go.

Thinking of a 12K stone for touch-ups at this point. BTW, what grit is a "barber hone", or is that a different concept altogether?

Originally Posted by Nubo

Thinking of a 12K stone for touch-ups at this point. BTW, what grit is a "barber hone", or is that a different concept altogether?

Yes it is a different concept. They are fired like porcelain & work by their nature of being mostly abrasive content. Where they would fit would be governed partially by abrasive size & by how smooth they are polished. Some can even set a bevel so choosing the right barber hone is VIP.

The next shave went better so the paste seems to have done its thing.

Of course there are a lot of variables changing, including my overall skill/knowledge in using the blade, which is improving though certainly has a long way to go. I'm now past having to use the cartridge around the mount/chin area and even venturing into against-the grain for that area. Nowhere near perfect but gaining confidence.

I can see this whole idea of reaching, maintaining and improving shiny, sharp steel is going to become a "thing" for me. This is going to adversely impact my theory of "saving money" as the Return on Investment starts to extend past any reasonable lifetime....

Good save on the printer paper and CrOx. As long as you don't let the edge go too far, or actually ding it on something, a Naniwa 12k could be a good hone for you. It's almost as fast as a barber hone, but unlike them is full size (about 8 x 3 inches). Barber's hones are usually sized to fit in a coat pocket, about 5 x 2 or sometimes even less. If you want to bring ebay blades back to life, you'll need a 1k bevel setter, a 4k/8k or similar, a means to flatten them, and a bunch of practice.

Yes, you have discovered the hidden truth about return on investment. Now, hush! Don't spoil the fantasy for the other guys! Or, more important, the excuse for their wives. Once you've got a good hone collection going, you can increase your ROI by buying more razors and honing them yourself. But that's a question for calculus, and beyond there be dragons!

Best wishes to you, and happy shaving.