Thread: Aloha from da Big Island

I'm not having trouble sharpening the razor. I just want to know how many strops on sued and ashtray ashes should it take before I can move to a finer grit.
One I max out the sharpness, I can cut back on stropping if I want to find that magic number. Right now I just want to sharpen/polish my blade as much as possible.
I think waterstones and diamond sprays cut micro-serrations that bite; but Arkansazs stones and ashes polish the blade sharper and smoother, and it bites less, even though it's sharper.

Originally Posted by aloysious

I'm not having trouble sharpening the razor. I just want to know how many strops on sued and ashtray ashes should it take before I can move to a finer grit.
One I max out the sharpness, I can cut back on stropping if I want to find that magic number. Right now I just want to sharpen/polish my blade as much as possible.
I think waterstones and diamond sprays cut micro-serrations that bite; but Arkansazs stones and ashes polish the blade sharper and smoother, and it bites less, even though it's sharper.

On the translucent stone I was able to dry shave with, across, and against the grain. The sued strop with ashes makes the shave even nicer. I just want to see how sharp I can get it.

I think that you have mostly answered for yourself. You can't over strop but starting low and increasing tells you when returns diminish. Good luck with it.

Now that I own four 8"x3" Arkansas stones, I don't want to carry them. A guy asked me, What do ya got in there? rocks?
I've read that glass and ashes work, and newspaper... can you recommend light and cheap stone replacements?

Now I understand why people collect razors.
I need one for stones, and one for comparing with stone replacements. LOL
But no way am I gonna collect a bunch! RLOL

Actually, I've been searching the internet for weeks on this subject; and might know more than some people here about it.
But I haven't found any way of comparing stone grits with tooth paste, ashes, pyrex, etc.
That's what I'm trying to find out.

The comparison gets a little messy. You can get the particle sizes (say 150 um for toothpaste), but that doesn't take into account how well it cuts into the metal, because 150 um silicon carbide will cut really, really fast and toothpaste hardly cuts at all.

I'd be a little worried about ashes. They can contain chemicals that corrode metal.

Lamp black is probably about the smallest particle size that is cheaply available and its particle size is around 0.050 um. It is also a classic final polish medium. There is some debate over whether it actually polishes (removing metal) or just fills the voids.

Lamp black? Is that the soot from a kerosene lamp?
And if I finish my ash stropping on a clean felt and leather strop, then apply mineral oil, will that protect the blade from corrosion?

If you would post your questions in the corresponding specific sections of the forum, you will get more appropriate and numerous answers.

lamp black is traditionally the soot from kerosene lanterns. It's a little finer crushed wood ashes.

I haven't ever used ashes, but I would expect a good cleaning and oiling to protect.

And Utopian is correct, try posting this in the honing section. I'm sure someone there has done all your tests before.