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When is chromium oxide on a cloth strop not enough? I don't have any nicks on my blade or anything, but it's been more than a year since I got any of them honed and I know you're supposed to do it yearly. Are there any warning lights I should look for to tell me the green stuff isn't enough anymore?
When your razor stops responding to pastes, it is time for the stones. You'll notice that it will take additional pasted laps for a touchup to be effective, or perhaps the chrome doesn't do much at all. If your razor gets to that point you'll be surprised how much better the edge is off the hone. Usually it won't take much to get it back into shape, a few strokes on a barber hone or finisher should do the trick.
Yeah, it's probably time for me to invest in one of those. Is there a more cost effective option for my situation than the usually recommended Norton 4k/8k? I'm not trying to be a honemeister here, just a touch up every few months.
A barber hone or Chinese wetstone are probably your best economical bet - either can be had for less than $50 (usually).
GaiusValeriusPulcher,
I have a razor I bought from a member on another board and it was pulling a little for me, I made about 5 passes on the rough side of my barbers hone and about ten on the finish side, stropped it on my new SRD paddle strop about 40 passes and that seemed to put mine back in order I tested it today and it shaved well. Your razor might not need much more than a few strokes on a barbers hone and stropped.
Lance