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I received the flatbed, as I had posted on Yahoo, and I had a question about the pastes. I left a message for them, and lo and behold they returned the call promptly, verified that I had the right stuff, are sending me out a new label for the Green Chromium Oxide, as well as a few pieces of leather to try the pastes out on first - gratis!
Seems to me that people involved with straight razors are pretty straight shooters themselves! :) :)
Chaaaz - I love this new place!
There service to me was also quite good. I have not heard a bad word about them.
Keith over at HandAmerican is an absolutely great guy!
Yes he is, wish their were more like him. Try their steels if you are into knives as well as straights, just don't use the steel on your straight :roll:
Lee
OOPS that avatar is way too big! Sorry
Why is everyone double-posting?
Like I asked before, why is everyone double-posting?
It's a bug, I'll have it ironed out shortly..Quote:
Originally Posted by AceHarddrive
Thanks
David
TQH
Do you guys use the .5 Micron Diamond paste on rough or smooth leather, or on the canvas/linen? I am thinking if getting some and using it with a Dovo strop I use now to strop with, that is being replaced by my new Illinois 361.
Chaaaz
I think you use the diamond pastes on the natural (unconditioned) leather.
I used the Hand American flatbed tonite, with the green .5 micron paste on the natural leather side (non-conditioned). Spread it about with my fingers, working it into the leather, then wiped it off with a cloth, leaving a green film.
I took my best razor - the Perlmann 7/8 - and gave it 5 trips across the 8K Norton as a tune-up, then gave it 15 on the green paste, and 25 on the HA "Conditioned" leather side. Hit the Illinois 136 for 5 laps for good measure, then shaved.
Impressions:
The razor was sharper than ever - evidenced by some small nicks that I normally pass right over! The sharper edge caught those skin imperfections. Less pressure was needed.
Chin area was the easiest to shave ever!
With the Prorasso pre-shave cream, Ray's awesome classic Bay Rum cake soap and a good hot towel prep, I had one of the quickest, smoothest shaves I have had to date!
If it is because of the .5 paste, then it will be standard for me with all my razors! the new flatbed strop (they call it a flatbed hone, for some reason) is an amazing deal, and well worth the money ($30).
Bottom Line - the razor was noticeably sharper with the paste, even after being very sharp to start! Can't wait to see what it will do to my 'stubborn' razors, both SS and HC!
Chaaaz- happy with the paste and definitely the flatbed so far
Hey Chaaaz,
I just started using the .25 diamond paste this week and boy does it make a difference!
I go from the 12000 chinese stone to a .5 pasted strop then to the .25 diamond pasted strop.
Its a nice sequence.
About the only change I am going to try is going from the 12000 stone then to a 1.0 micron diamond pasted strop. It just seems to be to big of a jump to go from the 12000 to the .5 micron pasted strop.
I am going to try the 1.0 diamopnd paste and some flake graphite or rottenstone as an alternative. I will keep you guys posted on the results, eventually.
Randy,
My Amplex chart seems to have gotten lost in the files section so here is a quick rundown on micron to equivalent grit/mesh size for diamond pastes or compounds.
9 micron 1,800 grit
6 micron 3,000 grit
3 micron 8,000 grit
1 micron 14,000 grit
0.5 micron 60,000 grit
0.25 micron 100,000 grit
The first few match up closely to the hones many of us use. I am using pasted strops instead of hones and having much better luck myself. My sequence is 9 micron, 1 micron, .5 micron, TI white paste, leather/linen strop. I skip the 9 and 1 micron unless starting with a newly aquired dull razor. The .5 and TI paste is to bring back an edge after using it for a few weeks.
This has worked much better for me than hones/stones have. I did just pickup an older strop that used the red and black pastes so may give that a try too and see how it works.
Best,
Tony
Nice grit ranges.
What grit do you think the plain unconditioned leather has?
Good question. Just like a post a few days ago about the linen side, people will claim that being softer than the steel it cannot sharpen the edge. BUT, leather, linen, your Levis, etc.... will all shine up the edge of a piece of steel rubbed against them so they must have some effective honing ability.
Tony
Hello Tony,
I have now used the flake graphite on two razors and it does have a sharpening effect. I think it is close to a one micron size and it is slow but definite. Please note that I use the dry form of graphite, chrome oxide, rottenstone and .25 diamond in a powder form. The only one that I have added oil to is the diamond. The graphite and the rottenstone have both been used on a piece of vinyl with a fine texture. It works just fine as a substitute for leather when using the dry form of the abrasives. I have not tried it yet with a paste on vinyl but I would think that it would work ok and costs a lot less.
Food for thought,
Randy,
I was wondering about rottenstone and pumice too. I used them quite a bit for polishing out varnish finishes on woodworking projects.
Might have to make up a strop for that too.
I am finally feeling satisfaction now that I gave up on the stones and went with all pasted strops. Just "brought back" another old razor that was close but not quite there by starting on a 1 micron strop and progressing to finer and finer pastes. It gave me a a great shave this morning.
Tony
Chaaaz, I use a piece of plain unfinished leather, but I oil and condition the leather first, just as a would a regular strop. That way the paste stays more towards the surface where it will do the most good. I also mix the paste with a bit of neatsfoot oil to allow it to spread more easily on the leather. On Ray from Classic Shavings recomommendation, I never use the paste on a hanging strop but only on a paddle strop or flat leather glued or laying upon a hard surface.
Bob
Hello Tony,
I have used the rottenstone and it is very fine stuff. It is still to early for me to say anything with certainty but for the time being I use the rottenstone after the .5 micron abrasive.
I am not so sure where a fine pumice would fit in. It may be a 1-2-3 micron but would probably be worth trying out. Both the rottenstone and the pumice are probably breaking down into finer sizes as you use them. It is definitely not as fast as either the chrome oxide or the diamond.
So many choices, so little timeQuote:
Originally Posted by Tony Miller
:)
Just received a Flatbed Hone from Hand American. Absolute top quality, very reasonable price and excellent service. I've already polished up three razors and they are hair popping sharp. Will shave with one tomorrow morning.
I wouldn't hesitate to do business with these people again.
Jack
I just received my new hone and I am getting ready to try it. Keith is a really great guy. I ordered the larger hone but he called me and told me to save a few $ and get the smaller unit. Not many places would have done that. They will see more of my business for sure.
Gregg
ot home this afternoon from work and my green paste, the 0.5 chromium oxide, from handamerican had arrived. so, it was kinda overcast and i was wanting to go to a movie with the wife, but i was actually wanting to shave more so.
i have a strop on a board, so i loaded up half of it with the paste as per the website instructions. stropped like 50 times, then linen for like 10 and the regular leather strop (hanging) for like 20. the TI this morning had pulled a bit but not too bad. well, the shave was smooth. mind you, not as sharp as the feather, but as sharp as any straight i had used, well maybe not as sharp as lynn honed up my bismarck.
so, if i really want to try to mimic a feather, could i use another paste on the other half of the strop that i did not treat (the board strop). i could strop on the green paste and then wash off the razor, let it dry with a towel and air dry for like 10 minutes, and then hit a finer paste. i think chris suggested the TI paste but to use it on my linen strop after the green paste, and then his the regular strop.
delivered, a 4 oz bottle was like $16.30. this bottle will last me years. next time, id use maybe 6 to 10 small dots like the website shows and it would retreat the area that took like 15 to 20 dots this time. even then, using 20 dots, i bet i have over 300 applications? i dont know if you could hone up more than one razor at a time, but if not, gosh this stuff will last. if handamerican had a finer paste like this, id get that too. this stuff was easy to use, and clean up. sometimes, i felt like the edge was not hitting the strop so a little pressure was used, and you could hear more of a cutting sound. anyway, this really tightend up the razor.
i think howard said somewhere today that it is easy to keep a sharp blade sharp than to sharpen a blade. i dont think it would hurt for me to hit the green paste after 10 to 15 shaves.
tonight i also touched up with a feather straight. first shave entirely with a straight razor and no touch up with a DE that i would feel comfortable going to work or church with.
sam