How much improvement can I get with chromium oxide?

Hello everyone, I own two straight razors, both were manufactured from DOVO, one is a bismarck, which I bought from Lynn at SRD, therefore it was pre-honed. The other razor is a dovo flowing, which came in the sealed box (I got the bismarck later than the flowing). So I had been shaving with the flowing very nicely since I got the bismarck pre-honed, and there's a notable difference between the shaves from the pre-honed razor. What I did was 10 x strokes on the naniwa 12k with my dovo flowing (I chose to go straight to a finishing stone because the edge wasn't so bad, it was passing the hanging hair test, as well it was shaving arm hairs midway) and It did improve, but didn't achieve the same level of sharpness as the bismarck, so, finally, my question is: what will a webbed fabric strop with chromium oxide do to that razor? I mean, how much can the edge improve from a stropping with the ChOx?

Sorry for the long post, have a nice day!

You are trying to match the edge Lynn put on a razor ? This may take some practice and I would first find out what progression he used . You may be skipping a step or 2 by just going 12k C/O.

Try it and see, the best way to learn is to play around.

I wouldn't count on CROX to improve "sharpness", that comes from the mid and fine grit hones. The finishing hones and especially the crox improve the edge by polishing it and therefore improving the feel.

I'm really not trying to achieve the same edge that Lynn did, after all it has been only 4 months since I started shaving with a straight razor. The main thing I was going for with this post was to get an answer for this question: How much improvement can a strop with chromium oxide do on the edge of a blade that straight out of the box passed the hanging hair test, cut arm hairs midway also, and has been polished on a naniwa 12k with 10 x strokes? Hopefully the ChOx can get me close as possible to an edge set by Lynn.

Lemur, I don't have the Chromium Oxide yet, that's why I wanted to clear this doubt, to decide wether I buy it or not, so there's no way to try to see what happens, thanks a lot for the attention anyway.

As far as I can tell, Cro-ox makes a slight but noticeable improvement after 12k.

The above only applies IF the razor is properly honed up to that point.

Without seeing the blade I would say to try it. You won't regret buying a pasted strop anyway. If it still doesn't shave well then send it out.

Michael

Pastes can do a lot, but if you use it to finish an edge that is not already shave ready you will deprive yourself of the opportunity to improve your honing. If your goal is to learn to get the most from your hones, use the past only to guild the lily or touch up the edge. If your goal is to just get the razor shave ready NOW, use the crox and get back to shaving.

Personally I fall into the get the most from the hones group. I would think that if 10 - 20 passes at 12k did not bring the edge back. Dropping down to 8k would be a good next step.

Jonathan

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Originally Posted by WilliamDallaPorta

I'm really not trying to achieve the same edge that Lynn did, after all it has been only 4 months since I started shaving with a straight razor. The main thing I was going for with this post was to get an answer for this question: How much improvement can a strop with chromium oxide do on the edge of a blade that straight out of the box passed the hanging hair test, cut arm hairs midway also, and has been polished on a naniwa 12k with 10 x strokes? Hopefully the ChOx can get me close as possible to an edge set by Lynn.

Lemur, I don't have the Chromium Oxide yet, that's why I wanted to clear this doubt, to decide wether I buy it or not, so there's no way to try to see what happens, thanks a lot for the attention anyway.

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Sorry I didn't mean to sound negative. In fact I would cheer you on to try and get that good. I was just thinking if you like that sharp ask how he did it and go for it. His hone job would be the goal your shooting for. More what I was trying to say is ,,, Lynn took a factory new and did XYZ to it. That's where you should start. As others here are saying CO will help improve an edge and may solve your problem but it may also be as I said , you will be skipping some steps. I have never had a new razor myself so if I get one it usually needs to start at 1k and go all the way. Which by the way is 1k, 4k, 8k, linen,strop. I get great shaves and know nothing past that point so I will shut up now.....

In my limited experience, it will be a slight but noticeable improvement in sharpness and smoothness if there's more to be had on that razor. I was advised to take a razor and hone it as good as I could then shave with it without stropping to see what the edge felt like for reference, then CrO3 and test shave again then strop and test shave again. I could tell a noticeable difference in sharpness and smoothness on the razors I've done this with. I noticed the least difference when I got a really good edge off the last stone (at the time I was doing this it was a Naniwa 12k or a Shapton 16k). When I did this off the Gokuyomo 20k, I didn't notice that much of a difference. I notice a difference when touching up as well. I won't test shave my razors off a finishing stone if they aren't passing my wife's HHT at a 4 because it hasn't proven worth while for me with the razors I have.

Thanks to all you guys that replied, I have a few more questions though. As I read the post of 10Pups I started wondering wether I should hone the razor which came in the sealed box (remembering it is a dovo, and most of them are not shave ready from the factory), I'm not sure if I should drop to the norton 4K - 8k -12k (naniwa), the reason I'm not sure it is because the razor doesn't perform a bad shave at all, it's just not good as the bismarck pre-honed. What do you guys think? And dropping down to the 4k to begin the progression wouldn't damage the edge that, in my opinion isn't so bad? What progression do you guys recomend if I chose to rehone the razor? Thanks to everybody.

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Originally Posted by WilliamDallaPorta

Thanks to all you guys that replied, I have a few more questions though. As I read the post of 10Pups I started wondering wether I should hone the razor which came in the sealed box (remembering it is a dovo, and most of them are not shave ready from the factory), I'm not sure if I should drop to the norton 4K - 8k -12k (naniwa), the reason I'm not sure it is because the razor doesn't perform a bad shave at all, it's just not good as the bismarck pre-honed. What do you guys think? And dropping down to the 4k to begin the progression wouldn't damage the edge that, in my opinion isn't so bad? What progression do you guys recomend if I chose to rehone the razor? Thanks to everybody.

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that sounds okay... just keep a light touch on the hones.. If you want to do the Chromium Oxide, then just go to Hobby Lobby and get a piece of balsa wood and put the CO on that... If you like it advance up to buying another strop.. Truth be known though I just went down to the leather store and had them cut me a piece of cow hide, poked a hole through it an tied it to the towel bar... CO'd in a striped fashion and that serves as my CO strop.. It doesn't need to be a high dollar strop if you are just gonna gue it up anyway.

If I were doing it, I'd try 10 strokes on the CrO3 and shave test the edge, then 10 more if that didn't work. If that doesn't work then I'd go to the Naniwa 12k for about 5-10 strokes until the edge shaves better (after stropping) than it does now, then I'd use the CrO3 if you want the edge a tiny bit sharper and smoother. Like Wintchase said above, make sure your pressure on the hones is the lightest needed to keep the edge in contact with the hone and not skipping or chattering (this is what I've determined is "weight of the blade").

William

Much of razor maintenance and especially honing is problem solving. First you must uncover the problem. You can just bevel set and completely hone all razors that begin to flag and even then some/most razors will thwart your every effort until you determine the source of the problem. So first find out why your razor is not shaving. Most edge problems with novice shavers are caused by improper stropping. Stropping does take some time to learn.

A new unhoned razor is always suspect and a complete bevel set may be needed, I certainly would do so. But you may miss an opportunity to learn about an edge creation and maintenance.

Chrome Oxide is not magic dust or paste for that matter. It is an excellent polisher that I am sure you will not regret purchasing, though not expensive. It can be put on almost anything and get good results, leather, nylon, cotton, wood even plain paper or cardboard. I have achieved best results with Polyester Canvas and weaved Nylon.

Unless the bevel is properly set, where the two bevels meet completely in a straight edge and the entire edge is sharp, polishing that bevel does not reach the edge and it may take many, many laps with CO2 to create an edge. And if stropping was the cause, chances of success are slim.

So if the razor is lacking in shave quality, first inspect the edge to ensure there is an even edge. Look at the edge straight down with magnification and strong light. A sharp bevel will appear fuzzy, any shinny spots on the edge reflecting light is where the bevels are not meeting. HHT will only tell you that one hairs width spot where the razor touched a single hair is sharp, not the whole edge. There is a good You Tube video on this here.

Then check the bevels ensure they are even if they are, start with your 12K and paint your bevels with Sharpie ink and see if you are honing to the edge and get the bevels to meet, if not then you will have to go to a coarser stone. If the bevels are uneven or not meeting due to chipping, a complete honing is required.

In short first ensure the edge is completely sharp, then properly honed (even bevels). Keep in mind what we are after is a sharp and straight (comfortable) edge. In order to sharpen and polish the edge, we must polish the bevel. But polishing a bevel with a finish stone and or CO2, without an edge is pointless, as is blindly honing on a finish stone expecting to correct an unknown problem.

So to answer your last question is, it depends… on what the problem is.