Thread: Resonably priced stuff Uk

jscott

Just looked at Tony's site again i see what you mean his smaller Heirloom #3 Standard Hanging Strop is the same price delivered it is 2.5 inch wide and it will be better quality just the extra import tax to pay on top!!

Are you sure you don't work for him or get commission, maybe you should ask!!

Regards

Tom

simply a happy user

The reason we praise Tony so much is b/c we're extremely satisfied with his products and service. In my books, combined with helping a small businessman who's also a part of the community, it would be worth an extra tenner.

FiReSTaRT

I agree we should support the smaller business man and a member of the community.

And will be doing so now i have looked more closely at it!!
Trouble is i keep being drawn to his Heirloom #1 BEST Wide 3" Vintage Honey Brown Hanging Strop i like the look of very much!!

Where would you advise i should get a hone from and do you advise a norton???

Tom

Tom,
It really depends on what you'll be using the hone for. If you're only going to be doing like 2-3 blades, then you can get away with using Japanese slip stones for about 15GBP (4k and 8k grits). But they're slow cutters so if you're planning on going overboard with razors and honing like 5-10-15+ then you need a Norton. VintagebladesLLC sells them for $70 (about 40GBP) but shipping from the States may be prohibitive. Other UK members would have to chime in with that. You could even get a pasted paddle strop for about 25GBP + 10GBP per paste (you can get away with just using 0.5micron as it's a happy optimum) and maintain your blades with that but they'd have to be honed by someone else. In any case, even though I'm not saying that these vendors WILL make arrangements, but how would your average customs official know how much a stone or a piece of leather from a small US craftsman cost?

You could try classichandtools.com for your Norton stone. Based in Suffolk.
I have just ordered a 4k 8k from them, total £48.75.
The only problem is they are waiting for a delivery as it's their most popular one...wonder why
At least the gent was straight on the phone to let me know about the delay and check I was OK with it.

Ben

FiReSTaRT

Thanks for the info i have just sourced the materials and was starting to make a paddle strop faced with balsa wood i was planning on using 1.0 micron one side and 0.5 on the other, this was to try and keep away from the hone a bit longer.

bennyboy
That's a good price i will keep that one in mind!

Tom

Hand American sells 0.5micron chromium-oxide abrasive powder which may produce a smoother edge than diamond. I just did a group buy (4 guys) of 1lb of that stuff. I'm asking around for the best medium for the powder other than strop paste (which I have but some of the guys don't). Keith was nice enough to offer to ship it double-bagged via letter-post so we saved about 50% on shipping. They have smaller sizes and this would be a good alternative for Amplex.

Yes i read that it gives a smother finish than diamond and was all up for using some instead of the diamond paste. But when i looked in to it i could not make sense of the colours of the different pastes pepole kept saying conflicting grit size for each colour on the dovo tubes also some people said that pastes of the same colour from different sources had varying grit sizes!! confused!

I never really thought of using the powder and mixing it with some kind of strop conditioner or paste whould you still use strop pase or conditioner if you were to put it on a balsa wood face???

I also read that if your razor was a perticualy hard steel using chromium oxide paste could dull your razor as it would not be able to cut in to the steel as it would not be hard enough.
However i take this with a pinch of salt as i would have thought it would be bloody hard steel!!!