Thread: Question About Being "Done" on an Arkie

Originally Posted by Marshal

Well, I wasn't saying that the green wax compound degraded the edge. Far from it. It was just a harsh/biting edge that I disliked shaving with. Far sharper than the Norton 8K, but not as comfortable as the green CrOx spray that I picked up from SRD. And that's kind of immaterial because with a few shaves and passes on just linen and leather the razor came out smooth as you'd please. As you said above Dave, a bit of good stropping with linen and leather does wonders to make a comfortable edge.

I'd still steer people toward the SRD spray, Maggard's, or a graded paste intended for stropping razors over the Micro-Fine wax stick, but that isn't me implying that it degrades an edge. Just that other options are more comfortable out the gate without having to spend 3 to 5 shaves letting an edge 'break in' so to speak.

But, my point in the post above was that I doubt there's any residual paste left on the hone because I don't get that same harsh biting edge, even after the several hundred laps I ordinarily end up doing on those stones to finish an edge. Just feels like a well broken in Arkie.

As for my own stropping, the vast majority of it is done on linen and leather. SRD's premium fabric specifically in the case of the linen, maybe some day I'll find some vintage material to pair with the buffalo hide. I have a few strops pasted with SRD .5 CrOx, some of Ken's .25 CBN, and .1 FeOx but that's all used on one razor as kind of an experiment. By and large I'm finding myself on the same page, the edges are serviceable sure but too brash for my taste.

I'm slowly approaching that phase where the experiments are slowing down and most of my blades are in maintenance mode. Linen and leather until the stones are needed. Which I suppose is a good sign, even if it is a little boring.

Thanks for the clarification, Marshal. I wasn't singling you out, I just haven't been on here in a while. I remember the first go-around with the green stuff a long time ago when someone got the MSDS for the stuff after (can't remember the reason, maybe it was spiderwebbing?) many folks had used the sticks for a long time with good results (something that I think would still happen if it was necessary, but in the age of actual graded pigments with no wax in them, it's not -the pigments are so cheap that I've got bags that I never finished using and have divvied off bits of each bag to send to people who want to experiment with them). Almost overnight, folks who had been happy with the green stuff suddenly weren't because they read they shouldn't be. It spread to the woodworking boards, which is actually how I got introduced to SRP.

I agree about it making a brash edge, though, but brash because it's sharp, and not because it's full of damage like you'd get if you used a contaminated strop. I think they just didn't have that tight of control over the abrasive in the wax stick, and the result is a large particle here or there. There have been plenty of follow-on questions on the woodworking boards about "why don't I get a mirror polish?" when there is tiny spider webbing, and that goes down strange avenues, too, because the green microfine edge is far finer than is needed in woodworking - which itself does damage to the edges very quickly.

I find the preserved edge more regular/consistent and durable. The blinding edge that comes off of iron oxide is interesting, but very transient, and you become an addict of going back to the iron oxide, which means it needs to be kept dead clean (the strop, etc) and it starts to eat time that could be used elsewhere. And it doesn't have that ability that a linen edge has to get you as close as you want without being harsh.

Glad to hear you're using the arks and liking them, by the way. I think it's closer to what people did 100 years ago when they were just trying to get a good shave and the only bombarding they got was advertisements from time to time.