Which would you say is a more important part of the process? I have a norton, and am still learning to hone on it. However, I intend to be doing this for a long time. In the near future I can only afford one, so which should I get?
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Which would you say is a more important part of the process? I have a norton, and am still learning to hone on it. However, I intend to be doing this for a long time. In the near future I can only afford one, so which should I get?
It's not a binary choice - there are lots of options, and pretty much all of them work well. Shaptons, barber hones, PSA sandpaper, etc.
I love my coticule, but I'd have to vote for the pasted strop.
The pasted strop is easier to learn, and you can experiment with different grits and abrasives. Initially you'll notice more of an improvement from the pasted strop vs. a coticule.
Good luck,
Josh
Having just recently accquired a pasted strop and also having prior time with Coticule and Escher, a pasted strop is the way to go in the short term.
It is far more forgiving of technique, cheaper and provides more encouragement for effort (and money) expended.
In the long term, as technique improves, a stone would be better. Why? Pasted strops don't stay effective forever. They need abrasive reapplication periodically.
I don't see it - it only takes a few minutes to repaste a paddle. Hones don't stay effective forever either. They need lapping periodically.Quote:
Originally Posted by Laager
There are many honing mediums out there and if you buy vintage razors eventually you will use everything you have. I'm not a pasted strop guy and though I have two I never use them. I'll take my Coticule any day but recently I had acquired a razor that no matter what I did and what I used I just couldn't get it honed up, it had very bad spine wear and uneven wear too. Out of desperation I pulled out my diamond pasted strops and they worked and the razor shaves great now. So for someone starting out I would still say get the hone first but thats my opinion. I'm stilll not a pasted strop guy.
I am a stones kind of man (queue 'sympathy for the devil', best rock and roll song ever ;) )
I use stones for everything, ranging from taking out nicks and chips to finishing after the Norton. But that is because I like working with stones on metal. I am even experimenting with using small stones to polish the blade instead of using dremel + polishing compound.
As with most things here, there are several ways to end up at the same place.
Paste isn't free.Quote:
Originally Posted by mparker762
It's cheaper than sandpaper or a lapping hone, even for a lifetime supply.
No worries. Tell me which company you own that manufactures the paste and supplies you for near nada.Quote:
Originally Posted by mparker762
A 10 cent sheet of paper vs $8 - $10 for paste? Never going to convince me of the creative economics you're using.
You don't even have to be creative with the accounting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Laager
Initial cost of using a pasted paddle:
$30 for paddle, $8 for tube of paste
Incremental cost of refreshing a paddle:
$0 - the tube is still going.
Initial cost of using a hone:
$80-$300 for hone
Incremental cost of lapping a hone:
$0.10/sheet of sandpaper, increasing over the years with inflation.
(alternatively)
$35 one-time cost for lapping hone.
It almost doesn't matter how expensive the paste is. It's only the first pasting that is expensive, after that they're free.
I'm sorry, but that's quite ridiculous.
A tube of paste doesn't last a lifetime. There's a finite amount in the tube.
There's a finite amount of years in a life too. The question is whether the paste runs out before your life does, and this is simply a question of use rates.
I have used maybe a millimeter of the chapstick tube of chrome oxide I got from handamerican last June, and have pasted several paddles with it as I've been experimenting with different paddle materials since then. In normal use, a paddle would need refreshing 1-2x per year. I don't think "lifetime" is an excessive approximation.
Hey Bruno, have you ever thought about what might happen if you got a cheap finishing hone and applied some diamond paste to the hone the way the pasted strop guys do it? What do you think?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno