Thread: Finishing Pastes..0.5, 0.25 or Chromium?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Stop and dont apply anything yet...

These are Dovo pastes the Green is not the CrOx that most people are talking about in this thread..

Dovo pastes go

Green about 5-8 micron (I personally have used this one maybe once or twice when I first got it)

Red about 3-5 micron

Black about 1-3 micron


These are much different than the Diamond or the CrOx that is being discussed in this thread...

I have found Dovo pastes to work very, very, well with the older razors like the W&B etc.. that however is JMHO... I have never really used these for touch ups, but I imagine they would work just fine

gssixgun, I haven't applied any paste yet. The two-sided leather strop that came with the kit is quite narrow (just threw that part in as an FYI).

I've shaved once with my "pre-sharpened" razor. I consulted with the online reseller who sold it to me, and they said it was "shave-ready" which means I didn't have to do anything to it prior to shaving with it the first time.

Now I've shaved with it once, and I'm told I have to "strop it" before each time I shave with it, from here on in. To the best of your knowledge, is that correct?

If so, the leather strop that came with my kit...should I apply the pastes that came with it or just strop it without the paste?

I'm in a bit of a bind because I don't want to shave with it until I know how to properly prepare the razor before shaving, all the while my facial hairs continue to grow. LOL. It was a costly investment, and I want to make sure I'm treating it the way I should.

Any advice/help you can offer me would be greatly appreciated.

For now just strop on the plain leather before you shave, (normally there are two colors on a two sided paddle, the lighter color is usually the softer/slicker side) you DO NOT need to add pastes until the razor starts to drag/pull/skip...at that time you can decide which paste on what strop...

The amount of laps on the plain leather is always a matter of opinion, mine I say about 50 but adjust up or down to suit yerself..

For more info on stropping itself check the Wiki there are even videos there...

I just re-read yer last post too, it is common to use a hanging linen/leather strop for everyday stropping, and use the paddle for pasted touch ups later down the road.. This is not a rule but it is the popular way...

Please feel free to post more questions too, if you need more help.. DO NOT be shy we all help each other out here...

you need a plain strop to use before every shave, ideally a hanging strop but you could use your paddle strop with no paste.
Best thing to do is look in the wiki, full of information

Actually I found this thread through the wiki.

There is a lot to know about the world of straight razors. I appreciate all the help you guys have been giving me though. Thanks a bunch!

I'll strop my razor with no additives on it. I might even buy a wider strop too, for future sake because the one that came with my kit is kinda narrow.

Any suggestions for a good strop for a Dovo stainless steel razor?

Price???

I break them down into 3 types

Junk - e-bay crapola, zeepk etc:

Good - Less than $50, Rup filly strop, and the Illinois #827, come to mind, there are more...

Premium - More than $50, Tony Miller the guy that started this thread, and SRD have the best premium stuff I have used....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Price???

I break them down into 3 types

Junk - e-bay crapola, zeepk etc:

Good - Less than $50, Rup filly strop, and the Illinois #827, come to mind, there are more...

Premium - More than $50, Tony Miller the guy that started this thread, and SRD have the best premium stuff I have used....

Well, the strop that came in my sharpening kit is quite narrow and not very easy to strop with (at least, not yet).

I'm not too keen on the idea of a hanging strop because I'd like the flexibility of being able to strop it in any room (portability) plus I don't want to worry about whether or not I'm pulling the strop too much or not enough. After seeing Lynn do it, the first thing I thought was if I do that I'll somehow manage to screw it up which is why the paddle strop was the ideal choice for me. Portability plus I just have to stroke the blade against the leather surface.

For this reason, I've been looking at another paddle strop. Perhaps you can give me your thoughts on this (or anybody else with an informed opinion, for that matter) particular strop. It's the same name brand, "Thiers-Issard" and it's their ""Extra Wide "Double-Sided Sharpening Strop".

It's 3" wide, plus it's portable!

Any thoughts on this particular strop? Anybody?

EDIT : I've just been going through the Strop Review Wiki (somebody, I forget who, posted the link in this very thread earlier on) and I noticed that there weren't any paddle strop reviews. Or perhaps, I'm generalizing here...ummmm, there weren't any reviews for the particular brand I was considering : Thiers-Issard.
There could be reviews for paddle strops under different brand names but the specific paddle strop, from Thiers-Issard was not listed (at least I couldn't find it).

YMS1975,

I have used the TI Extra Wide paddle strop for about six months, with very good results & it has replaced my hanging strop for everyday use.

The leather surfaces have a 'pile' to them; I have found that pastes tended to clump the pile together, so I cleaned off the paste and just used the leather plain. Recently I have removed one of the leathers and replaced it with a piece of latigo, which I have pasted with CrOx.

Best regards

Russ

Originally Posted by PhatMan

YMS1975,

I have used the TI Extra Wide paddle strop for about six months, with very good results & it has replaced my hanging strop for everyday use.

The leather surfaces have a 'pile' to them; I have found that pastes tended to clump the pile together, so I cleaned off the paste and just used the leather plain. Recently I have removed one of the leathers and replaced it with a piece of latigo, which I have pasted with CrOx.

Best regards

Russ

So glad to see some input on the TI brand; in particular the "extra wide" paddle strop.

You mentioned "latigo" in your post. I've been surfing this website for the past 4 hours (no kidding) and the web in general, because I don't take my investments lightly and I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this whole stropping aspect of SR shaving. In my research, I've concluded that Tony Miller makes great strops (many claim, "the best") however, of course this is all subject to opinion.

Regardless, perhaps my take on simply buying a paddle strop for my convenience and/or because of my fear of the learning curve of a hanging strop is silly. I've decided to keep my options open. After all, it is a costly investment, and what I'm really after is a close shave.

Getting back to Tony Miller. After reading numerous posts on this site, one strop in particular caught my attention; click here.

Since I'm torn between the TI "extra wide" paddle strop and this one in the link, I'd like to know if you compared the two side by side, what would the advantages & disadvantages of these two be?

Sorry if I'm being too demanding. I'm just trying to get peoples opinions. The way I figure it, you guys have been doing this a lot longer than I have so you must know what you're talking about. After all, practice makes perfect.

I use dovo red and black pastes and green CO
and I use a Dovo leather and Linen strop

The red and black pastes are on a thick leather hanging strop (the red) and a very very soft leather hanging strop (the Black) I only use these on 1 razor I have as its blade seems to be made of very tough steel, the CO just wasnt cutting it (sic), I only ever use them when my blade wont respond to my regular leather and linen strop

The CO pasted strop is used only as a finishing strop after I hone my blades, I will go 10 or 20 laps and then go to linen for 30 or 40 then leather for 60 or so, I find this gives me a smooth shave and a very very sharp edge

For everyday use I use the linen and leather, 20 laps on the linen followed by 40 or so on the leather, I do this before every shave, I lather up and leave that on my face while I strop my razor, then use a HOT face cloth to clean the lather off my face, re-lather and shave away

So to sum up, red then black paste on older razors when I fell the need a little more than plain stropping alone
Green CO on razors to finish after I hone
I always strop with linen then leather after using paste (make sure ALL paste residue is cleaned off the blade before going to unpasted strops, I wipe with toilet paper and then wipe over with rubbing alcohol (IPA)
Strop before every shave with linen then leather
And after every shave I strop like 12 or so passes on the linen to make sure that the edge is dry and clean before I put the Razor away.

Thats how I do it, and it works for me, altho sometimes I use the Dovo black as a quick touch up, say 20 laps and then go onto the linen and leather
Hope this helps mate

As far as strops go I always use hanging, and for everyday use the Dovo linen and leather has never failed me, if I was looking to spend more or buy a wider strop I dont think you can go wrong with a tony miller, never used 1 myself but both Him and his strops are highly spoken off

Remember, keep it simple, learn have fun and enjoy
I do !

Tony mentioned it in his post but the thing I dislike about the cromium oxide is that it's so damn messy. Really a "workshop" type material or you will end up with green stuff all over your house. Not good for us apartment dwellers