Thread: hone then paste

most people use some kind of finishing paste after there last hone.

I can easily shave of my hones. I still find that paste can and does add smoothness and can squeeze that bit more keeness out of a razor in most cases. My question is what differance do you guys find paste makes and why you use paste or why you would rather not use paste.

I've been shaving straight of hone and then next time round of my choice of finishing paste and to me i find if your razor is well honed paste does put a realy fine edge on a razor that is not possible to gain from hone this is depending on razor . i'd just like to no peoples apinions on this thats all.

I'm not saying you carn't get arealy fine edge of hone.

I use the Dovo Red/Black pastes on a leather paddle strop. I'm not actually convinced they do a great deal. When I get a yellow coticule or fine finishing stone, I probably won't bother.

i tryed red dovo . I now use issards with exallant results followed with cr ox after my coticule or nortons. I always test shave of the hone i won't even think about using any paste untill i'm happy with the shave of hone i will then add my routine paste to see if i can squeeze more smoothness out of the edge.

I rarely use pastes. I either finish off of a Nakayama Kiita or my Shapton 30K. From there, a good stropping usually gets the most out of my edges. If I get a razor that's not quite "there" from someone else, I'll use ChromOx to bring it up to par...

I used to feel like using paste was 'cheating' but man that diamond spray on the SRD felt hanger works miracles. It can get a good edge scary sharp with 10 light round trips.

Originally Posted by richmondesi

I rarely use pastes. I either finish off of a Nakayama Kiita or my Shapton 30K. From there, a good stropping usually gets the most out of my edges. If I get a razor that's not quite "there" from someone else, I'll use ChromOx to bring it up to par...

When you finish with 30K Shapton do you find it is comparable to using a similar .50 micron paste? I guess, I mean to ask is the bevel a similar sharpness or more or less so. Also do you think the edge set on the 30K will hold up longer as a result of being set by honing as compared to "refined by stropping on a paste?"

Originally Posted by economica

When you finish with 30K Shapton do you find it is comparable to using a similar .50 micron paste? I guess, I mean to ask is the bevel a similar sharpness or more or less so. Also do you think the edge set on the 30K will hold up longer as a result of being set by honing as compared to "refined by stropping on a paste?"

When we start getting to these levels, we are really into the esoteric realm of the esoteric if that makes any sense. That's to say that there isn't much of a discernible difference IMO. I get really nice edges off of all 3, and the reason for the finishing stone has much more to do with my mood than anything else.

Having said that, I find that the Shapton 30K seems to be slightly sharper but a touch harsher than my Kiita which is slightly less sharp but really smooth. The Chrom Ox paste seems slightly less sharp than both, but still adequate.

Now we get into the what does sharp mean conversation... I guess I mean that the Kiita and Shapton feel more like hot knife through butter (wiping the whiskers away), but the ChromOx still is super sharp and shaves very very comfortably (cutting comfortably)... If there is any real difference (not just perceived), I'm thinking that I'll attribute it to the fact that stones don't allow for any rounding of the bevel... But like I said, more than anything we're talking about how I feel at the time I get finished with my 8K... If I'm feeling zen, I'll use the Kiita and connect with the tradition and warm fuzzies derived from using a natural stone. If I'm not, I'll use my 16K then 30K...

When someone else has already done the hard work, I use the paste. I think it has more to do with my dad than anything else. When a job was almost done, he wouldn't let anyone come help him at the end (if they hadn't been participating throughout the whole task) because he didn't like "glory hogs". When I hone a razor, there's a certain sense of satisfaction that I get from taking a dull razor and making it shave ready. I don't feel like I deserve that satisfaction (I can't own the edge) if all I do is hit it a couple of times on the finishing stone... So, I use the pastes because it just seems more fitting...

Yes, I know I'm weird, but that's OK

Originally Posted by richmondesi

I rarely use pastes. I either finish off of a Nakayama Kiita or my Shapton 30K. From there, a good stropping usually gets the most out of my edges. If I get a razor that's not quite "there" from someone else, I'll use ChromOx to bring it up to par...

Really helpful thanks, I was just wondering if there was some discrete difference between the pastes and stones (maybe pastes get you in the ballpark of sharpness but the 30K is better etc.), and I think you answered it pretty well: that the difference is more than likely going to be determined by a personal "feel" or experience/preference, I guess I will just have to try them for myself to see which is a better fit for me.

I've gotten to where I typically go straight to the leather from my 12K naniwa. If the shave isn't "smooth", I take the razor to the pasted strop & back to the leather...works for me. I'm very interested in the diamond paste, but my last relapse of RAD tapped out the play funds. I do have 7 SR's on the way...

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I used to feel like using paste was 'cheating' but man that diamond spray on the SRD felt hanger works miracles. It can get a good edge scary sharp with 10 light round trips.

Sometimes a good cheat is just what the doctor ordered
Do you use the .25 micron ?