Thread: Does Strop Paste Dull a Razor Over Time?

I purchased a Dovo Ebony 5/8" about 1 year ago. My routine usually is to sharpen with a short pyramid on the stones every other week and do the green cox .5 (8-10 strokes) every week.

I decided recently to skip the stones and just continue to use the green paste. I was able to shave a month until the blade was not sharp. I went to do my short pyramid and the blade was still dull.

I did a long pyramid same thing. I did a few long pyramids and the blade was still dull. I went down to 1000 grit, and worked my way up to the long pyramid. The blade was better. I did another 1000 session and a few more pyramids and my blade was fine again. I think it is now alot sharper then it was.

Did using the paste too much dull the blade?

Or

Did the blade get more and more dull over time and it needed a refreshening on coarser stones?

Do blades need a serious sharpening every 12 months?

Well, first you should not have to hone your razors that often. The more you hone the more metal you take off. Second strops sharpen a little different and eventually that difference catches up with you and the razor has to go back to the hone. It's impossible to give timeframes. Some people use pasted strops for years before they need to go back to the hone but with the amount of honing on the strop you are doing it's quite possible it's time for a refresh on a hone.

This may have happened to me as well. I used diamond paste for a couple of months. After a while, the edge started feeling very uncomfortable, and the thumb test indicated that it had developed tiny 'nick-like' dents. Honing seems to be the only solution.

Originally Posted by scruffy

I did a long pyramid same thing. I did a few long pyramids and the blade was still dull. I went down to 1000 grit, and worked my way up to the long pyramid. The blade was better. I did another 1000 session and a few more pyramids and my blade was fine again.

What you are describing seem to be the oft-discussed "rounding" from pastes. IME this isn't caused by using the paste, it's caused by using a flexible surface to hold the paste. If the paste is on a hard surface then you should be able to use it for a very very long time and still be able to go to the hones and see an immediate impact.

Are you using a hanging strop or a paddle strop for your chrome oxide? If it's a paddle, is it leather-covered or just bare wood? My personal preference for this sort of hone is either a piece of bare wood (I use poplar) or linen on wood, and there is no rounding of the bevel no matter how many laps I do.

I concur that you are using your hones far too often. I have a 4-razor rotation. With this usage I do a pasted strop about every 5 weeks or so. It highly depends on your razor. You shouldn't have to do anything with your razor until it begins to tug and not give a comfortable shave. The pasted strop will help refresh the edge. Again, do it when needed. My cycle is based on the razors and is not strictly a set amount of time. You should only hit the hones when the pasted strop no longer resfreshes the edge properly. For me I hit the stones (Norton 4K/8K combo) about every 5-6 months.

*I'm a newb and I've never honed so I'm just reporting what I've read*

I read in the wiki that over time, using a pasted strop will create a rounded bevel because of using a flexible surface like a hanging strop. This means that when you go to a hone, the very edge is curved, so it won't contact the hone. So, in essence, you have to completely reset the bevel before it will actually get sharper from honing.

This is ultimately why I decided to skip pastes altogether and just get a barber hone for touch-ups, which I haven't yet used, but probably will in a couple weeks. I didn't want to add the extra variable of messing with the bevel geometry.

It sounds like mparker and the Mistress have it nailed.

Diamond paste is an aggressive cutting paste compared to Chrom Ox. I use the diamond paste only on my stainless steel straights and it doesn't take many passes to sharpen them up.

I know the diamond paste would bite into my carbon steel blades and take off more metal than necessary to sharpen them up. Given the diamond paste and it being on a hanging strop vs. a paddle strop, I am betting it did shorten the life of the blade, thus requiring some work on a stone honing to get it back into shape.

I was advised well to get a 4 sided paddle strop with Chrom Ox. .50/1.0/3.0 on three sides and 1.0 diamond paste on one side(reserved for stainless steel blades)

This tool has greatly extended the life of all my straight razors before requiring a stone honing.

Pabster

I, personally, have never had a problem with a rounded bevel.. What I do is Use CrOx (on a HANGING strop) for touchups, but only 2-3 times. IE: With a freshly honed blade (and all I have is a barber's hone, so I never do /real/ honing. ONLY touchup honing) With a freshly honed blade, I shave for a week or two, then do 5-10 laps on crox when it starts to pull....Another two weeks, and when it starts to tug, another 5-10 on crox... If I'm lazy after the next two weeks, I do another crox, but Usually I only use the Crox hanger twice, then I go back to the Barber's hone.. Keeps the edge from rounding IMO.

Also, I like to, when touchup honing, give it 10 laps on a barber's hone, 10 laps on pasted felt, then my linens and leathers rotation.... But I use paste regularly, and haven't had any problems...

I should probably get a pasted paddle though.. Just for safety's sake....

You are over honing. Your killing your blades. Here's what ya do. Get a Barber's hone. They are very fine and designed to be used prior shaving/stropping. You do 3 - 5 passes, That's it. I hardly ever have to hone, and I don't always use the Barber's hone every time either..it's still a stone, but much safer than hundreds of strokes on a Norton or the Pyramid system, that's too aggressive...
Blade preservation my freind.....