Thread: Looking for finer powder than chomium oxide in UK

Hi fellow razor heads.
I currently use chromium oxide (0.5 micron) on balsa wood for my final sharpening stage.
20-30 laps gets my razor to pass the hht but I want an even smoother shave.
I have seen black and yellow ready made pastes for sale on eBay.
Does anyone know what the chemical base used in these is and where it can be bought in the UK/EU?
I prefer to buy in powder form and mix my own paste up.

Many thanks !

IMHO Dovo red/black gives a smoother shave than the crox I've tried, especially the black. I know this is subjective.
This is a paste unfortunately.
Not sure what the black is but my guess is the red is Ferrous oxide. Someone chime in if they know for sure.

Joe

Look into Iron oxide, Cerium oxide, and CBN as finer grit abrasives. Of those CBN is probably the smoothest.
You can use mineral oil to make a thin mixture like paint. For a thicker past use Vaseline.
My choice has been to use finer finishing stones, instead of powders.
Jonathan

I use optical grade cerium oxide. It cam as a powder and I mixed it with light mineral oil and pt it on my strop, forever ago. I like the smoothness it imparts. It is the only abrasive I use on razors. It's pretty nice.

Is it ok to use neatsfoot oil instead of mineral oil to make paste for a leather strop? I have been doing this for my small loom strop just wondering.

I would expect that to work just fine. Neatsfoot is quite thick though and may be tough to get an easy to spread consistency. If it is what you have I see no harm in experimenting.

Kremer pigment has all the natural pigment powers you will need. If you search Kremer Chrome Oxide, there are several threads with the part numbers for Ferrous Oxide and others. Kremer pigments are very pure and have been use on razors for years. There is a Kremer in UK it is not expensive.

Any pure oil will work, it is just a carrier. What you put it on will make more of a difference. Try Chrome Oxide on a fabric strop for a smoother finish.

Do not use the Yellow or blue compound many of those compounds used for tool sharpening contain other abrasives larger and more aggressive for sharpening quickly, it will leave a chippy edge, not good for razors. Good for polishing, not for stropping.

CBN is the best paste in the nano grit range, down to .10 um that works very well for razors, both smooth and keen, second to diamond in hardness. Sub micron CBN needs to be sprayed for best application, a little, very little goes a long way, that goes for most paste too.

Again search CBN paste and many threads will come up with detailed information. Ken Schwartz Chef Knives to Go has the purest CBN available, and works great with razors on a felt, fabric or paper strop, it is a bit pricy but one bottle is more than 10 lifetimes supply.

go the Ferris oxide if you want finer than 0.3 microns also from Kremer

Thanks for all the replies !

I found regipol cerium oxide powder but its micron size is specified as 2.1.
I take it this won't improve on my chromium oxide finish (0.5 microns) ?

I also found these two:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1kg-alumin...3D220724494457

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1kg-Red-Ir.../220724494457?

Which should I get? The freaking micron values aren't specified. Ideally I want something between 0.1 and 0.3.
I currently use chromium oxide on balsa wood. Can I use these powders the same way?

CBN doesn't appear to be available in the UK.

Cheers

What you want to see before you buy is grit size AND purity. If it is not pure, it does not matter the grit size.

Kremer is much cheaper with known grit size and purity, and proven performer.

I would not buy either of these, there is a reason they do not post grit size or purity.

Good Cerium can be had from Gotgrit.com.