Thread: CrOx....Necessary?

Well, you are doing the right thing to send your razor to Lynn, but not because it doesn't pass the hht. Much has been written about the idiosyncrasies of the dreaded hanging hair...so I won't go into it here. Long and short....start with a razor known to be shave ready...... sending yours to Lynn is a good move.

CrOx is usually used to refine a freshly honed blade or to freshen up an edge that may have gone south. You will probably want to use it at some point, but for now working on the techniques needed to get a good shave should be front and center.

Thanks for the reply everyone. Always good to have people to go to for questions, SR shaving is obviously a learning curve that is greater then most out there and really looking forward to it. I will probably go ahead and order some CrOx from SRD just to have on hand then for down the road, cant hurt to have it for when I need it. For when I "do" use it, is CrOx something that you apply to the strop each time you use CrOx? or is it just a coating that you apply to the strop and when it runs out reapply?

You can get CrOx in many forms; powder, spray, paste or crayon. Which one you use will be influenced by the stropping material that you apply it to. One constant is that you want to apply it sparingly and infrequently. SRP has many threads on this topic, so check out them out.

When you contact SRD ask for a recommendation regarding matching up your strop with the right CrOx material.

If you can, try a modular strop with interchangeable stropping pads. That will give you max flexibility as you experiment with all the options to keep your razor in top condition.

Here is an oldie but goodie, pasting a strop by Josh Earl ....

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...-tutorial.html

Thanks Bill, This is the strop that I picked up, the material (leather and poly) are both interchangeable.
Premier Strop Co 3" Red Latigo with Handle | RoyalShave

For me, when a blade starts to pull I use 10-15 laps on a CrOx paddle, if that doesn't work I'll drop to a finishing hone or lower.

I have done my best to avoid using pasted strops but sooner or later I feel the need. CBN and CrOx are the only pastes I rely on save an occasional turn on the Dovo black. The fewer laps you need on a pasted strop, the better your honed edge is in the very first place IMO.

Learn to rely on a shave ready edge from the 8k stone and then 5 laps or so on CrOx or CBN. Should give you a nice and smooth shave. Finishing stones (12k+) are interesting, fun, expensive, but not necessary for a smooth shave. Any knowledgeable honer will have no trouble getting a perfectly acceptable shave from the 8k stone.

8k is my benchmark.

Jerry
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Whatever you do, DO NOT apply crox to you main strop you use everyday!!! Once you put crox on a strop it's next to impossible to get it completely out of it.
It's only to be used after honing to smooth the edge or to touch up on the first sign the razor is getting dull so you need a separate strop for that, either hanging strop or paddle with leather, fabric, balsa or whatever you choose.
I stopped using it as my honing improved and rather do a touchup on a stone and follow with only canvas and leather, some like it though and for new honers it could partially make up for bad technique (not saying it's only to be used by beginners).

Not necessary, nor the only option for pasting a strop, but it's a nice followup in my experience. I've accepted pasted stropping as an addition to my honing--but reluctantly. Unlike honing, pasted stropping does slightly change the bevel of your shaving edge, and eventually you need to go back to the stones. That's not why I've been reluctant, though... I've wanted to get that level of edge from my hones alone. But I've yet to hone out an edge that five passes on CrOx couldn't improve, and I've let that reality override idealism.

As your technique improves you'll also develop a better sense of what to expect of a blade. I expect my own to remove whiskers as easily as they scrape off lather. When one starts to fail at that I'll touch it up on something, either a pasted strop or a fine hone.

Best wishes.

I still have my Cr0x paste in my droor..never use it since my coti does great touch ups