Thread: Moving onward to the Red and Green pastes

Hi, All.

I've been using my straight razor for about a year, off and on, but still consider myself a newbie. The blade has reached the stage where I'd like to try out the red and green pastes instead of just the everyday pastes for my canvas and leather 2-sided strop. I know that I'll need to buy dedicated strops for abrasive pastes.

My question is about the regime for using abrasive paste. Do you use red periodically and when this doesn't work anymore, you move on to the green? After using the green would you do some passes with the red before finally using the daily strop? Finally, how many passes would you recommend for the abrasive pasted strops? Many thanks for your help!

I use the .5 micron CrO paste on Tony Miller's paddle strop. I put the blade on the pasted strop when it begins to tug instead cleanly cutting. After few trips to the CrO strop, the edge needs a more aggressive refresh so I use a light pyramid on the Norton's 4K/8K followed by the CrO strop. I don't have a set time or number of shaves. Each of my 5 razors has it's own unique "personality" so those times and shaves vary.

What is the best source for the CrO paste for a Canadian these days?

Some clarification on pastes...

Dovo Strop Pastes
Green = Aggressive 5-8 microns
Red = Medium 3-5 microns
Black = Fine 1-3 microns

CrO Green Paste
Very fine .5 microns
PM ChrisL he has some available for sale in small sample bags with a fantastic instruction sheet on it's use....
Also SRD might have the spray... check their website

Try this link for the chrome oxide

http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningst...lts.asp?Cat=27

Thanks for the info! Just a quick clarification. Do you use a similar number of passes for the abrasive pastes? Say 30 laps?

10 -30 laps, in that range. More is not better.