Thread: Finishing Hone ~ .5 Paste

What finishing hone would I need to duplicate the edge I get from .5 paste ? Also, are any of the barber hones about the same as .5 paste ?

Thanks.

I think its hard to compare paste to a hone. Hones do achieve a smoother edge than you think it just takes more practice. paste are easier to use. My coticule gives me smooth edge .5 oxide does not improve the ssmoothness. it does if my coticule has'nt got me there. most people just follow up with .5 paste afteer finishing hone.

Not sure if you can really "duplicate" it as such, but definitely a Shapton 30K, & possibly some Eschers & very hard (level 5) Jnats might give sharpness levels that are in the same ballpark. This depends a lot on the stone & even more on technique, & also your face, so it's still kind of subjective. Whatever you choose to finish with, the actual cutting of hairs should be effortless (for you).

Diamond spray is generally considered (this is also somewhat subjective, but still) to leave a somewhat sharper edge than crox, even though they're both rated @ 0.5 um. Barber hones generally are not even close. Some might be finer, but most behave ~10K or below.

Personally, I would never follow a good Escher or Jnat edge w/ anything but a clean strop--IMO it totally defeats the purpose of buying an expensive (in the case of the Escher) stone & then taking the time to really learn how to use it when I'm then not even going to be shaving with it's finish, but rather the finish of the paste/spray. Nothing wrong w/ them @ all--they work great--but if I were going to finish on paste, I'd just get a Shap 16 or something like it to use before it--cheaper & faster.

0.5 CrOx is 60,000 grit so your s.o.l there no stone in that grit range

There are several things that need to be corrected.
First of there is a stone below 0.5µm, that is the Shapton 30.000 (it specifically says 0,49µm).
You cannot translate 0.5µm diamond or CrOx to any grit rating number and compare this number with a different companies number.
If you´re interested in how these grit ratings seem to work, I have uploaded a little PDF of mine:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...tml#post758812


Second:

Please correct me if I am wrong-

Its my understanding a diamond paste of .5 is harder/harsher and can be/should be followed up with CrOx even if the diamond is .25 follow it with .5 CrOx cause it that much smoother-

That´s not necessarily the case. It is true that diamonds are much harder than Chromium Oxide, but both are much harder than steel, so it doesn´t really make all that difference.
But high quality chromium oxide like the one you get from Kremer Pigmente is known to be of spherical shape, whereas diamond partikles are splinters.
The splinters can cause more (miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicro-) damage to an edge than a spherical shaped abrasive.
But in reality you can get perfect shaves with a 1µm, 0,5µm diamond or 0,5µm Chromiumoxide or even 0.09µm Iron Oxide.
Bottom line, to each his own, because the differences are so small


To the original question:
I own a shapton 30k and gives me great results. But the results are completely different from 0.5diamond or Cr2O3 (as far as I can tell).
Diamond and Cr2O3 is just so effective and the results so smooth and keen AND so cheap, you really have to love what you do to buy something that expensive,
to try to replicate the results. If you love the Cr2O3 or Diamond, stick with it and get a C12k or maybe a Naniwa 12k to pre-finish before stropping.
Otherwise if your level of skill is high enough, anyway you can get perfect (but different) shaving edges from a Naniwa 12k, Shapton Pro 12k, Shapton Glass 16k, Barber Hone, Coticule....
all the known finishers can give you edges that will shave you just fine, without pasting afterwards

i may be wrong but the shapton is not finer then crox . crox is 0.5 the shapton is .49 crox is a half of a micron and the shapton is not 4.9 its 49 microns

Originally Posted by JohnG10

What finishing hone would I need to duplicate the edge I get from .5 paste ? Also, are any of the barber hones about the same as .5 paste ?

Thanks.

+1 on the comments from Gary

With paste it is also important to state what the paste is made of
and what the paste has been applied to.

A 0.5micron diamond paste is not the same as a 0.5 micron CrOx paste.
Or another 0.5 micron abrasive.

Then is the is paste on a hard surface like glass, brass, steel, balsa, apple, oak...
or on a hanging strop leather, canvas, felt...

The Wiki has a a number of pages on this and a 0.5 micron paste
is finer than just about any hone. A Shapton Pro & Glass
30,000 Grit is apparently a 0.49 micron product... See
the third URL to a pdf file below.

Using micro abrasive film - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Lynn Abrams On Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki

http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...n-07-23-09.pdf

Tom, Lot's of great info in those links I didn't find when reading through the wiki. Thanks !

The Shapton GS 30k purports to be 0.49 microns, but the
results (and use) is different from 0.5 CrO, which I assume
is also different than 0.5 diamond. I'd wager that you'll get
different results from 0.5 diamond pastes vs. spray as well

Pastes are much more affordable than the 30k stone...

- Scott

I've decided I don't like pasted strops as well as I like hones. (I dislike cleaning off the old paste, and how some areas have thicker paste than others).

Are the barber hones a better finisher than a 12K ? Which brand & model should I look for if I want something that refreshes and smooths an edge almost as well as .5 CrOx ?