Thread: Chrome Ox - The Paste or The Powder

Hey guys,

I see that chrome ox questions are fairly frequent in the honing section so I'll pose my question here, and hopefully it will clear this up for other newbs as well. Which version of chrome ox do you use?

The paste seems to be a lot easier to find on the market, and seems to be popular. I guess I'm talking more about the "real" paste sold by Lynn/Don at SRD than that useless crap from Lee Valley.

I think the powder has been discontinued, except for the quantities that Chrisl sells, but members rave about that as well.

Given the choice what would you choose?

BTW - I'll probably be making my own balsa paddle strop soon, so that will be the medium of choice for my chrome ox setup.

Thanks,
Ryan

Powder is the most common form of ChromeOx. I have the Hand American powder as well as the liquid, and I prefer the powder.

I haven't tried the stuff from Lynn and Don, but it does NOT appear to be like the Lee Valley stuff. Everyone raves about the edges off of Livi's, so I would assume that this stuff is top-notch just like the other stuff SRD has. If Lynn and Don didn't like it alot, I don't think they'd sell it.

I got the powder from ChrisL last week and it's a very good deal. Shipping was super fast and the instructions were really informative as well. A+ for mr. C

The powder, liquid (2 sizes) from HA is still available from Japaneseknifesharpening though I see that he's changed the site to this and the link will take you straight to the pertinent page. The bar type as sold by Lee Valley and various woodworking stores is not the same stuff, it's not pure chromium but rather a mix of that and probably aluminum oxide in a grease/wax type base. I have a huge bar of it here that I use for my woodworking tools and I've used it on my razors and it seems to work just fine but I do prefer the liquid for initial application and the dry powder for refreshing later. Though many say the coating lasts a long time, I find I prefer to refresh mine after every 4 or 5 razors as I find it cuts much quicker if I do.

Regards

Kaptain "Green like Kermit and sharp as a butter knife" Zero

You need so little that I would suggest buying the powder and make your own 'paste' with a drop or two of Lexol or Neatsfoot oil in a bottle cap. It takes very little to properly dress a strop.

Being in Europe, I ordered two jars of CrO powder from HandAmerican, while they still carried it, in order to make it worthwhile the shipping costs. I have enough of it to ensure my great-grand son and his off-spring a lifetime of happy pasting.
On occasion, I give some of my supply to a straight shaving friend.

I have never used something else, so I can't compare with other versions.

Bart.

Thanks guys, it's always good to get many perspectives as everyone has had different experiences using their product of choice. Has anyone tried the paste sold through SRD?

Just ordered the hand american powder from japaneseknifesharpening.com $18 with shipping and the order seemed to go trough all right, so you guys might want to try there.

I vote the CroOx in liquid form from japaneseknifesharpening.com - super easy to apply, the excess wipes off easily with a paper towel, and it washes off your surfaces or hands in seconds!

Originally Posted by huntmol

I vote the CroOx in liquid form from japaneseknifesharpening.com - super easy to apply, the excess wipes off easily with a paper towel, and it washes off your surfaces or hands in seconds!

?? how does this happen ?? CrOx is a very effective pigment. I'm wondering what you could suspend it in that would prevent it from staining things while still allowing it to do what it's intended for in this application.