The Next Level - metal polish on newspaper

Hi everyone.
I read here that someone is using Metal polish on newspaper to do a final polish on their blades.
They had a reply saying basicaly yes it can work!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:
So beeing a cheapskate, I tried it on a razor that gives me a shave, but, not a very close shave.
I must say that my home honed razors only give me an OK shave compared to my purchases and razors honed by Steve at invisibleedge.
I folded a side from The South Wales Evening Post (I doubt the rag has ever been put to such good use before, well except for emergency toilet roll duty) and put a pea sized squirt of Peeks metal polish on the 4x 12 piece of paper, placed it on my coffe table (yes I live dangerously) and stroped the razor 30 or so times upon the cheapskate ??K hone:roflmao
It did polish the edge, the edge now pops arm hairs when run up my arm, even high up the hair:eek: not right at the base of the hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
I'm nearly, almost, not far off catching up with Steve(invisible)..........well I can dream:w
Thanks to whoever mentioned the idea:tu
I'll tell you all if the shave is any good off it.
M

Please post the results when you can!

heck, when I started out I used to finish on a Brasso impregnated canvas strop. It worked great, and I keep meaning to bust it out again, but never do.

I also tried the newspaper and polish route and it does work great.

Hi there!

I folded a side from The South Wales Evening Post (I doubt the rag has ever been put to such good use before, well except for emergency toilet roll duty).........Yes it has, I've had my chips from the chippie, wrapped in it.,......! :D

Will try the idea out though!

Best wishes,

Mark...........

Hiya Mark, There is someone else in Swansea using a straight razor too?:eek:
Now I know who's been beating me to all the razors at the car boot sales;)

Yeah, this idea has circulated in the background of the forum for quite a while. It's not a very popular method, but it does work, and is extremely cheap/accessible.

Congrats on the sharp blade!

Thanks Russel. I know it's only a cheap trick to nudge my home honed blades in the general direction of an easy shave, but for free (I buy metal polish for resotations anyway) it's great.
I've got a pot of Dremmel polish, it looks like jewelers rouge, I don't know if it is jewellers rouge,but, is that stropable too?
M

Any abrasive paste/compound can be used as a strop paste/compound, the final edge quality just depends on how fine the grit particles are. CrO paste is about as fine as it gets (as far as commonly used abrasives go), jewelers rouge isn't too far behind.

Give it a shot and report back. The worst that can happen is you have to use another, finer, compound to finish the edge.

Cheers Russel.
Right, I shaved with the razor, it cut my beard with less resistance than all my home honed razors exept my Kropp, which it is about the same as now.
The closeness of the shave is slightly better than it was before the polish/paste.
I'm going to put the razor back onto the coticule for a couple of dozen ultra-light laps, then try a little dremmel rouge?? on some newspaper.
I think my next project is going to be a maple paddle with balsa wood one side and I'll see if I can find some nice leather for the reverse.
I'd love to get close to what Steve (invisible) has done to some of my edges.
M

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

The closeness of the shave is slightly better than it was before the polish/paste.
I'm going to put the razor back onto the coticule for a couple of dozen ultra-light laps, then try a little dremmel rouge?? on some newspaper.
I think my next project is going to be a maple paddle with balsa wood one side and I'll see if I can find some nice leather for the reverse.

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I've had similar results with Maas. If you plan on using metal polish to hone with any regularity, I suggest using cardstock paper instead of newsprint, it's more uniform and doesn't bunch-up.

Don't use metal polish on anything permanent like your DIY paddle, it gets clotty and gunky after a couple of uses.

littlesilverblade.
not me mate, i miss all the bargains - just pay full price and don't tell the wife.......?!!!!!!
are you in swansea too?

mark........

Hi Mark, Yes, I'm in Newton.
I have bought one or two things that are top-flight as it were, not custom job's but I do own the most beautifull razor ever made (in my opinion). It's a large oblique point wedge with ivory scales by a maker called John Sellers. He did the etching for Winchesters trade labels about 100 years ago.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...rror-wall.html
there it is.

Maybe we could have a Swansea Straightfete all two of us?
Marcus

I believe that I might have been that person lol... Well, here's how it came about for me. I didn't have any CO pastes so I decided I would try MAAS metal polisher on a piece of 3" wide balsa wood since it has mild abrasive properties. I tried it on newspaper but, I didn't like it because it tended to wrinkle for me... :shrug: I'm guessing that it had to do with the moisture of the paste, not to mention that I like to use water so it doesn't dry out and creates a slurry like my Norton. So, I made a small box so I could strop back and forth without having to worry about my hand hitting something (again, like a real hone). I ran 100 passes on this MAAS slurry and it gave me a CRAZY sharp edge that popped my hair like....... I'm not sure, but it popped it like crazy :y

Hope this helps,
Kevin

PS- If you want a picture of the box that I made just ask. It's nothing special or fancy, but it gets the job done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

Hi everyone.
I read here that someone is using Metal polish on newspaper to do a final polish on their blades.
They had a reply saying basicaly yes it can work!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:
So beeing a cheapskate, I tried it on a razor that gives me a shave, but, not a very close shave.
I must say that my home honed razors only give me an OK shave compared to my purchases and razors honed by Steve at invisibleedge.
I folded a side from The South Wales Evening Post (I doubt the rag has ever been put to such good use before, well except for emergency toilet roll duty) and put a pea sized squirt of Peeks metal polish on the 4x 12 piece of paper, placed it on my coffe table (yes I live dangerously) and stroped the razor 30 or so times upon the cheapskate ??K hone:roflmao
It did polish the edge, the edge now pops arm hairs when run up my arm, even high up the hair:eek: not right at the base of the hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
I'm nearly, almost, not far off catching up with Steve(invisible)..........well I can dream:w
Thanks to whoever mentioned the idea:tu
I'll tell you all if the shave is any good off it.
M

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Hi Kev, nice one. Could you put a picture of your contraption on this thread?
Have tried that red polishing compound Dremmel supply? I think it might be jewellers rouge, which is not far of as fine as CO paste/powder.
Marcus

First, let me say that I am very sorry for the delayed response. Unfournatly, my camera isn't working at the moment so I cannot get a decent pic. It's a very simple contraption so hope fully I can describe it.... It's a box, made from a material that doesn't absorb water, with a piece of wide flat balsa wood glued to the top. In my case I decided to use foam for the box material. After that just wet the wood and spread the MAAS around to make a slurry and strop the wood for 50-100 laps and test. It's very simple.

I, however, have not tried the red polishing compound because I wasn't sure what it was. It probably isn't as fine as MAAS, but it might work as an intermidiate step in between the 8k and the MAASS? If you decide to use it please post the results

Kevin

Hi Kev, I will. Some have suggested it could be jewellers rouge, and , therefore, even finer?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

I'm nearly, almost, not far off catching up with Steve(invisible)..........well I can dream:w

M

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Cor, LSBFW, pretty soon I'll go all mystic and say something like 'take the pebbles from my hand, glasshopper' (you're probably too young to remember that awful drivel!)

I did tell you when you started that there was no secret to it and the first 500 were the worst, didn't I?

Watermargin !?
I'm too fat to walk on rice-paper without leaving a mark, I'd probably eat it:o
I'm only a few years younger than you - I think?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

Hi Mark, Yes, I'm in Newton.
I have bought one or two things that are top-flight as it were, not custom job's but I do own the most beautifull razor ever made (in my opinion). It's a large oblique point wedge with ivory scales by a maker called John Sellers. He did the etching for Winchesters trade labels about 100 years ago.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...rror-wall.html
there it is.

Maybe we could have a Swansea Straightfete all two of us?
Marcus

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Where and when, let me know.....:D

mark....

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-flitz.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...rop-pinch.html
there is a few posts from the past about mass & flitz stropping. :hmmm:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nurse42312

.........Yes it has, I've had my chips from the chippie, wrapped in it.,......!

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Sorry being from the U.S I am not familier with that term, what are chips and chippies?
Photoguy67

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photoguy67

Sorry being from the U.S I am not familier with that term, what are chips and chippies?
Photoguy67

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It's (fried) fish and chips (french fries). They come wrapped in newspaper. It's about the only decent thing to eat in England. :roflmao

But, in Wales we have C0ckles(the computer thinks I'm trying to swear??), Bass, Sea Trout (Sewin), Laverbread (seaweed) and Rissoles (seasoned corned beef hash in bread crumbes sold in some parts of Wales and occasionaly England):D
We call Fries chips in the UK and Chips here are Crisps!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlesilverbladefromwale

Hi Kev, I will. Some have suggested it could be jewellers rouge, and , therefore, even finer?

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Have my doubts about Dremel rouge being that fine. I've used it to buff razors but the CrO gives a finer finish.

However, Grobet USA make a XXG Jewellers Rouge which I use after my CrO strop.
For me it's the Holy Grail. YMMV.

And now for the Monty Python jokes ! :D