Thread: Is this good advice?

In my quest to be a completely self sufficient straight razor addict I have recently ordered a Norton 4k/8k waterstone and am looking for an inexpensive means of "finishing/ touching up". I presented this scenario to my local honing professional and he recommended a table strop with abrasive paste as an alternative to a finishing hone until I can raise the cash for a 10-16k. He did say that it is an inferior alternative that was likely to take much longer than a proper hone, but that it would work better than just an 8K finish.

What are your thoughts on this?

You can also use the back side of your strop and get a paste or some powder for stropping. It doesn't have to be a table strop/paddle strop. It's not a bad idea at all, but you'll have to find a fine paste, as most of them are not fine enough. The SRD chromium oxide is a good and friendly choice.

Table, or paddle strops have a place in my line up.
Nappy leather with .25 diamond, or crox will maintain and edge between honing's, so presumably it would finish a razor from 8k as well although I personally have not tried as I have a number of finishing hones and barber hones in the +8k range.
Look on ebay for hones, there are deals to be had. Were you north of the border I would send you one of mine to get started.
Good luck.
ps, I hear with proper technique, which I still do not have, you can get shave ready from 8 k and stropping.

There are many who use a pasted strop as part of their finishing routine as well. I have heard many comment about Chromium Oxide and Ferrous Oxide and a smaller group that use cerium oxide. They will also work great for touch ups until it get to that certain point where the blade needs a little more help than pastes can provide. A barbers hone is also a great way to help keep an edge maintained, and if you combine a barbers hone with a pasted strop you may never need to fully hone your blade unless something bad happens to it.

You can get a Chinese 12k ish off eBay pretty cheap as well

Some guys have reported good results from the Apache Strata stone after an 8k - I just picked up a small one suitable for finishing for less than $50.

If your advise came from Glen It's golden , he wouldn't steer you wrong , he's pretty good at razor edges you know , But I don't know the grit rating on CRoX but it's a lot finer than your stones ,, and you can maintain the edge a long time with it ,, them hones don't have to touch the razor very often, and yes an 8 k edge is very good to shave with ,, Tc

Some years ago the 8k side of the norton was considered the 'finishing stone.' My honing mentor told me to restrict my finishing to the 8k until I was getting a DFS at that level, before going on up the ladder. Matter of fact there were more than a few guys on SRP, back then, who were not caught up in the HAD, and stuck with the 8k completely satisfied with it. Chrom-Ox is nice to have to gild the lilly, but get real good up to the 8k before you spend $ on a 12 or a 16k. IMHO.

I have read in a post recently that an 8K edge will not last as long as a finer grit finish. Is that because the edge has a more jagged surface?

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

I have read in a post recently that an 8K edge will not last as long as a finer grit finish. Is that because the edge has a more jagged surface?

That does not sound right. I think as an edge gets refined it becomes more fragile. It gets to be a slippery slope, both the refinement of edges and this discussion about them. We are talking about super tiny differences. Of course a lot of this also comes down to the hand that refined the edge and the blade that was refined and the rock it was on. Very technical, very minute differences that would not be easily backed by science. I would be curious about the source on that.