Thread: Chromium oxide ?????

Hi everyone
I've always have been shaving straight of the hones (purple welsh slate) but recently I have ordered some chromium oxide for the first time, so I've applied it to a piece of leather I had left over after making strop. After about 20 passes I realised the chromium oxide really scratches my bevel, I have taken couple if pictures to show you guys what I mean bare in mind those are just close up made with smartphone (htc 8x)
Pictures show 2 razor I stropped on this CrOx one on leather and one on just plain printing paper. Edge looks much more scratched then after my purple hone but it shaves ok, my question is are those scratches from 1K maybe or is the CrOx I bought unusable? My honing progression is 1k/6k combo ice bear from King then Dragons Tongue and finish on the Purple with and lather. Just to let everyone know I bought this CrOx from merchantUK/taylors1000 seller on ebay.
20g Chromium Oxide Straight Razor strop Dressing CrO | eBay

Looking at the page the seller uses it as a polishing compound after 2500 grit wet dry on the blade?
Thus the picture with half poished (direct quote) and Fully Polished.
Quality stuff can be had but I am second guessing what this seller is offering.

I'm of no help here as I don't use anything on my strops after honing. I'm hoping that the Big Guns who have honed 1000's more razors than I have and do use coated strops will chime in.

With that said; I love the feel of an edge right off of a Naniwa12K.

So how’s the shave?

Lots of deep stria, perhaps your “Purple stone” is not finer than your “DT”
And both may not be finer than your 6K.

Don’t know that Chrome Ox, what matters is purity and grit size.

Or you’re not spending enough time at each progression, removing the previous stones stria.

thank for feedback, the shave is not to bad actually is not as comfortable as shaving of the stone. The dragons tongue I have definitely improves edge over 6k so I would call it about 7maybe 8k level and the purple hone I have is rather fine maybe 10 to 11k it leaves nice hazy but no scratched bevel, I just have rubbed the tang of the razor I'm currently working one and it scratches metal to the point I can see them with naked eye, ill to re hone one of the razor from pictures on my purple hone for comparison tomorrow.

Take a razor and hone it on 6K then mark the blade at the half way point with a sharpie on both sides. Now hone the toe half, with the next stone in your progression without any slurry, keeping the middle mark on the edge of the stone, the heel end hanging off the stone.

Now you have something to compare it to, look at the bevel at the marks and see if your DT leaves finer stria than you 6K.

You will not be able to determine what the grit range is, but you can tell if it is finer and you are going in the right direction.

Do the same with the DT and Purple stone.

What matters with a Natural stone is not just how smooth the bevel is, but what is the particle size and consistency. It can produce a very fine stria and a smooth bevel, but if just one grit plows a grove in your bevel, it may be useless.

In your case it would appear, that you are not removing the 1K stria with the 6K and each stria set with the each of the following progression.

Spend enough time on each stone to remove the previous stones stria. No matter the hone, you have to learn each stone and squeeze out the maximum performance from each one, beginning with the 1K.

Hone on you finishing stone without slurry and add slurry only after you have learned what your stones are capable of.

Slurry is a whole other art form and at this stage in you learning will just complicate your results.

Until you properly hone the bevels, it does not matter the brand or quality of the Chrome Oxide. It is just paste, not Magic Dust.

I like the use of light at that angle in your photos. They accentuate the stria and don't hide the defects.
~Richard

ok as promised I've honed one of the razors (the one which pictures are on top in original post) with my normal progression tried to replicate the conditions for picture

1000 grit king ice bear


6000 grit ice bear (should have spent little more time on that one perhaps)


Dragons Tongue (in picture the scratch pattern looks worse than 6k but believe me this is only because the bevel from DT is not as shiny helps ta capture the scratches)


Last picture the Purple hone LLYN MELYNLLYN I found it is called, usually I just shave of this bevel and shave is smooth and forgiving, actually taking the picture shows some scratches maybe from 1k than I never see with naked eye, ill take her back to 6k tomorrow


Now I have taken the other razor and stropped it on the "CrOx" but this time I stropped from toe to hill instead of hill to toe movement, what I can see is crosshatch pattern, this tells me the CrOx is not pure, the scratches are definitely from it as I never ever ever hone toe to hill.
Hope this warns people as not to buy this CrOx as the strop dressing like I did, at least I have some polishing compound.
Now the question is where can I get the pure stuff, I know Tony Miller from strop shop UK sells some stuff, is it the pure stuff though?
Any father advice on honing would be helpful too. Regards Rafal

The last set of photos is not as clear on the bevel as the first ones you took. Try to replicate that lighting conditions, those photos were amazing for a phone camera. Try to get the bevel closer to parallel to the lens.

Also when you photograph the bevels for comparison mark the razor with a dot of ink and record the same spot each time. You can use different colors or multiple dots if you are comparing multiple sections or sides. You cannot compare different parts of the blade, you must compare the same section of the bevel and edge.

Hone each progression in alternating angles for each stone so you can easily see if previous stria is removed.

For example hone the 1K straight 90 degrees to the edge, then the next stone at 45 degrees. Look to see if all the 90 degree stria is removed. Inking the bevel of the 1k will make it easier to see on the 6k stria, as it fills the deep stria and will easily show up on 6k stria if not removed. Colored ink is easier to see, as black ink can look like a shadow.

You really have to see in side by side comparison, to tell if you finish stones are finer than you 6K, or you are spinning your wheels.

Work systematically testing for one result at time, eliminating as many variables as possible. To say the Chrome Oxide is faulty when stropping a bevel with multiple levels of stria running in all directions from stones of unknown girt and partial size, is a false conclusion or at least very suspect.
Definitely not empirical, enough to malign a vendor.

Don’t discount your Chrome Ox until you get the honing down. But questionable purity Chrome Oxide will always be questionable. Contact the vendor and find out the purity or source.

Good, “Known Good” razor quality Chrome Ox is not that expensive.