Thread: Pastes VS High Grit Hones

No need to excuse, the thing is there is no the 12k or the 16k.

Every stone from every manufacturer works different and can not be easily compared to others.
Both the Naniwa 12k and the Shapton 16k and the Shapton pro 12k/15k are similar in speed: quick.
And they are similar in finishing capabilities: absolutely sufficient.
All of them can and are supposed to be used after a good 8.000 stone.

These high grit finishers are likeable and especially combined with a fine pasted strop
hard to beat in terms of smoothness (as long as your sharpening skills are sufficient!)

In short: what he said.

Originally Posted by roughkype

No, I haven't. The 16k is faster than a 12k? Wow. Bad assumption by me, sorry all.

No worries, just had to point something out. IMO, the Nani 12K and the Shapton 16K feel about the same on my face, I haven't seen scratch comparisons (or recall them anyways) in high magnification to compare the two though. As far as the speed of the two manufacturers, I feel that the Shaptons edge out he Nani's, but they are more finicky too. I have both systems & if I don't get a razor right on one of them...i just go to the other and it has worked every time. The Shapton GS's are my primary "go-to's"...

Thanks for a very informative thread Gents It has been very helpful.

Cheers,

Aaron.

I too have used 1/2 micron chrome oxide and 1/4 diamond sprays, on leather and felt but i prefer leather, after my naniwa 12k with very good results

ian

I placed an order with SRD a few hours ago :-)

- Shapton 16000 Grit
- DMT 325 Grit
- DMT 1200 Grit
- SRD Lynn Abrams Modular Paddle
--- Comes with: 1 spare smooth leather, 1 spare rough leather, 2 spare felt, 4oz 0.5 micron diamond spray
--- Extra: 4oz 0.25 micron diamond spray
- 4oz CrO spray
- Long English Bridle 3" strop
- SRD Scuttle
- Brush stand
- Proraso aftershave liquid cream

Can't wait!

Aaron.

Originally Posted by austy

I placed an order with SRD a few hours ago :-)

- Shapton 16000 Grit
- DMT 325 Grit
- DMT 1200 Grit
- SRD Lynn Abrams Modular Paddle
--- Comes with: 1 spare smooth leather, 1 spare rough leather, 2 spare felt, 4oz 0.5 micron diamond spray
--- Extra: 4oz 0.25 micron diamond spray
- 4oz CrO spray
- Long English Bridle 3" strop
- SRD Scuttle
- Brush stand
- Proraso aftershave liquid cream

Can't wait!

Aaron.

That's pretty much everything but the kitchen sink! LOL! NICE!

Originally Posted by austy

....snip...
Oz - specifically, what grade sprays do you use? Do I need separate strops for each? Or would a paddle be better?
....snip...
Aaron.

If someone answered this I missed it.

When pasting a strop (hanging strop or paddle strop) you can
switch to a coarser spray but not the other way around.
The abrasive in the spray embeds itself into the fabric of
the strop and is all but impossible to remove.

A paddle strop seems to be easier to learn and is easy to
store in many shared shave dens. The modular paddle strop
lets you tinker because you get more than two surfaces.
The image of a hanging strop draws most of us to a
hanging strop eventually for the coolness factor alone.

The most common situation is to have two unpasted
strop surfaces: canvas and leather. This will be used
each day prior to shaving. The canvas can be skipped
but has value in that it cleans the razor of any residual
lather and any micro corrosion that may have accumulated
over night.

Using a pasted a fine abrasive on an old strop, canvas, balsa or felt
has two useful contexts. After honing and when a razor begins
to tug (minor touch up). After honing a pasted strop (balsa, leather, canvas)
does two things. One of which is to pull straight or remove minor
burrs and then polish the bevel of the edge for smoothness. This smoothness
and polishing step is important for comfort. An edge needs to
snip whiskers but not dig into skin -- a difficult balancing act.

Of interest all strops collect minor bits of ultra fine steel that
oxidizes and over time develop the ability to polish a razor.
This is why the old well cared for well used strop seems
so much better than a fresh new one.

One of us (Glen) did an experiment with submicron pasted strops
on a single razor and found that the edge did not suffer from excessive
abrasion. What I took away from his many month experiment
was that I could run a razor over a submicron pasted strop
every Saturday to my hearts content and my razor will not suffer
from it and neither will the shave. At some point a visit
to a hone will be needed but not quickly.

So two clean strop surfaces for day in day out stropping... and
paste the others beginning with 0.25 or 0.5 micron
stuff and you will be fine. If you want more aggressive pastes
you can switch... just cannot go back.

Originally Posted by austy

I placed an order with SRD a few hours ago :-)

- Shapton 16000 Grit
- DMT 325 Grit
- DMT 1200 Grit
- SRD Lynn Abrams Modular Paddle
--- Comes with: 1 spare smooth leather, 1 spare rough leather, 2 spare felt, 4oz 0.5 micron diamond spray
--- Extra: 4oz 0.25 micron diamond spray
- 4oz CrO spray
- Long English Bridle 3" strop
- SRD Scuttle
- Brush stand
- Proraso aftershave liquid cream

Can't wait!

Aaron.

HOly big wow! :-) indeed. That should keep you off the streets a while.

I haven't gone any finer than the 0.5u diamond. That 0.25 should get you some insane edges. Ahahahahah. BWAhahahahaha!

How are you going to distribute your diamond and CrOx sprays on your wealth of strops?

At a hardware store, in the air vent section, you can get magnetic sheets to cut and stick over vents to totally cut the airflow. I got some of that and trimmed it to the size of two of the modular paddle strops, then glued it up inside my medicine cabinet. Great way to keep them out of the way and flat.

Enjoy all your goodies. Did you also get superfast shipping? At least as you wait your beard will grow out a little.

Many thanks or the informative posts above!

Yup- USPS priority international post. Says 1-5 days. Any chance that will actually occur?

Originally Posted by austy

Many thanks or the informative posts above!

Yup- USPS priority international post. Says 1-5 days. Any chance that will actually occur?

Good chance... Weekend days mostly do not count.