CrOx....Necessary?

Hey everyone, going to purchase a SRD honing here in a few minutes and drop my Dovo Astrale in the mail to Lynn tomorrow morning for honing as it is just factory "shave ready" right now and cannot pass the HH test. My question for you on pre-shave stroping is the necessity of CrOx? I guess I am asking this mainly because I do not fully understand yet what it does for me and my SR. My strop is a 3 inch Latigo with a poly strap in addition to the Latigo leather.

CrOx, whats it do, do you think I need it? Thanks!

IME if you have a razor that is sharp but harsh 10 round trips, weight of the blade, will smooth it out nicely and add keenness. It will also get a sharp edge sharper. I think it is meant to be used in moderation though. Real good tool to have in the toolbox IMO.

You ask a few loaded questions here (no pun intended :)).

First of all, you should stop putting so much attention towards the Hanging Hair Test, it doesn't mean that much compared to the shave test. But since your razor has a factory edge you'd do well with an intial honing.

Chrome ox is a high grit equivalent stropping compound used for refining and/or sharpening an edge. Many use it after honing as they feel it imparts smoothness to an edge, while many others use it to touch up a dulling edge. It should be used sparingly and not be used every shave. If you feel your blade tugging and pulling it would be a good time to bust out the CrOx.

Do you NEED it? That's a highly subjective question. The answer is probably not, but in thus humble shaver's opinion everyone should have it in their honing arsenal.

Have fun!

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

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Originally Posted by smalltank

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

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Wow, you're lucky to have such a good coti!

IMO all coticules are nearly same. when you reach its limits no need for pastes.

That can be said about a lot of stone. No *need* for pastes, but in my experience chromium oxide powder will improve the sharpness of the edge off of any and every stone if used properly.

To me, it is one of the hard lessons learned when spending gobs of money looking for fabulous stones - none of mine creates an edge that is as keen as a graded chromium oxide powder finish on a firm (but not too hard) surface like balsa.

But all of the natural stones that are designated fine (including coticules) can certainly make and maintain an edge that is sharp enough to shave.

I do think a lot of us are chasing around fallacies thinking that there is something superior about the shaving edge off of natural stones vs. very fine powders (which also create a reasonably soft edge, but more keen). More interesting than powders? Certainly. Dominantly better for shaving? I doubt it. My personal opinion.

most staright shaver/honers will try some paste at some point...I don't think you can go wrong with crox... as with most honers , you get to a point where you will try and acheive the max from yours stones..some will say if you get te max from stones you will not need finishing paste some will use it regardlessly as the honing pattern .... i have tryed most paste and sprays and i think crox as been one of the most helpful paste i have tryed except ti white paste .. for over all and all round one paste you won't go far wrong with crox to aid your honing.... like some i like the idea of shaving staright of the coticule and i have become quite satisfied with coticule and my strop... there was one time when i'd never be with out . So i think you should get some ... i like it best on a leather hanging strop cotton or leather ...

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Originally Posted by gary haywood

most staright shaver/honers will try some paste at some point...I don't think you can go wrong with crox... as with most honers , you get to a point where you will try and acheive the max from yours stones..some will say if you get te max from stones you will not need finishing paste some will use it regardlessly as the honing pattern .... i have tryed most paste and sprays and i think crox as been one of the most helpful paste i have tryed except ti white paste .. for over all and all round one paste you won't go far wrong with crox to aid your honing.... like some i like the idea of shaving staright of the coticule and i have become quite satisfied with coticule and my strop... there was one time when i'd never be with out . So i think you should get some ... i like it best on a leather hanging strop cotton or leather ...

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I got into a phase where I really wanted to be able to maximize the edge with my finishing stones, coticule or escher. I finally got there. I have nothing against someone using paste. For me personally to pay hundreds of dollars for a rare and exotic finishing stone ..... only to come off it and instead of appreciating the edge from the rare jewel ..... strop it on $0.50 worth of paste doesn't make sense. YMMV. :shrug:

i no exactly what you mean .. the times i have finished with paste and started again on the stone .. just to see if i can get tan edge just as nice of my coticule ... there is no dout it can be done .. i also like the idea of grabbing my little 4x2 coticule and using the stone as apose a pasted strop.. just what i prefer nower days .. that way my favourite stones get used ...

gary

I too use sometimes a chromium oxide paste at the end of honing. It doesn't hurt and sometimes the edge gets even better and smoother.
I also use a Chinese stone at the end of the honing process and I find this to give even better results than chromium oxide paste.
As for touching up a blade, I use either the Chinese stone or the Swaty hone.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I got into a phase where I really wanted to be able to maximize the edge with my finishing stones, coticule or escher. I finally got there. I have nothing against someone using paste. For me personally to pay hundreds of dollars for a rare and exotic finishing stone ..... only to come off it and instead of appreciating the edge from the rare jewel ..... strop it on $0.50 worth of paste doesn't make sense. YMMV. :shrug:

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I haven't used paste, but I've used the powder on a balsa strop.

I get into modes (and am in one now) where I will try to maximize what I get from my stones and bare horse leather.

But it is an experimenting and screwing around kind of thing (along with attempting to justify to myself why I have dozens of stones), and in the end, the edge that I get with pure chromium oxide powder (not waxy sticks, etc) is still sharper and plenty smooth to shave.

I can say this logically, that I get that pure edge every single time with every single razor with the chromium oxide stone, and it's generally a better edge if you set up metrics to decide what's "better"...

.. but I still usually use the stones and nothing else but leather.

After 5 shaves, my edges are the same either way. With the natural stones, off the stone, they generally improve the first few shaves as the horse leather makes them better and better. With chromium oxide, they instead start better and come down to that point at 5 shaves. Whatever is used, after that, they stay very nice for a very long time, so not being the type who runs back and re-keens an edge once a week, it doesn't make too much difference.

Rational, no - especially not money-wise. Will I tell other people they're irrational for spending a lot of money on expensive stones to chase something that's mostly in our heads compared to selected modern abrasives? Yes. Will I do the same irrational thing? Most of the time, yes.

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Originally Posted by HDguy

Hey everyone, going to purchase a SRD honing here in a few minutes and drop my Dovo Astrale in the mail to Lynn tomorrow morning for honing as it is just factory "shave ready" right now and cannot pass the HH test. My question for you on pre-shave stroping is the necessity of CrOx? I guess I am asking this mainly because I do not fully understand yet what it does for me and my SR. My strop is a 3 inch Latigo with a poly strap in addition to the Latigo leather.

CrOx, whats it do, do you think I need it? Thanks!

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I almost never pass a hanging hair test, and I think the reason is because my arm hair is fine. I personally disregard this test because I fail when my edge is ready.

I'm a big fan of CrOx, because it cleans off the debris left over from honing, soap film, or whatever. It can lengthen the time between actual honings if the blade is dull from debris rather than lack of sharpness, which saves metal. Mine is on a balsa strop.

This was recommended to me by someone when I did all the right things to hone the blade but it still irritated my face when I shaved. It solved the problem on several razors.

Put another way, it can't hurt, it's not expensive, it doesn't take much effort, and can potentially help a lot.