Thread: Grrrr Frustrated

We here in the uk don't seem all that well geared up for Str razors.Oh yeah we have shops selling them and we have the invisible edge but trying to source materials is a nightmare.Such as diamond paste,dovo red,green,black,yellow white a plenty but i want o.5/1.0 micron diamond pastes can i find them? can i eck!!!
Where as you guys over the water got them a plenty......bugger...bugger ....bugger.Looks like i'll have to order from over there. it's driving me to

The germans also buy them in austria.
www.baiers.at or eBay-Shop Opale-QueenofGems
eBayShop is on holidays until next week though.

I'm in Europe and have never had any problem buying from the States. What Olivia said too.

There ya go problem solved:-) Good going Olivia!

Found this in uk..We do a 0.25 micron at £12.95 then we go to 1 micron anybody any thoughts on these diamond pastes.Would they do the job is 0.25 to fine and 1.0 to coarse???

The diamond pastes are not make exclusively for straight razors. I'm sure there are machine shops over there as well as mold shops and Tool and Die shops. Check with your local machine and tool supply companies. You may be surprised at what you will find. Think out of the straight razor box. Good luck!

edit: This is Joed. I didn't notice that CarrieM was logged on.

I have a 4 sided Tony Miller strop and have three sides with diamond paste. I use 1 micron,.5 micron and .25 micron. On some razors it works better than CroOx. I left the last side plain for stroping before mving over to the hanging strop.

From what I understand this is the breakdown for microns.

1 micron = 16k
.5 micron = 30k
.25 micron = 60k

Ray

Yep, I`m finding exactly the same problem! Trumpers in London sell a great line of soaps, creams, skin food etc... And they have some lovely strops and new DOVO (and others) razors. But if you want to get a more diverse range of options you might have to order from the US I've found.

Case in point, I found a place in the UK (which I wont name) which sells Naniwa hones and to buy the 5/8/12k set was nearly £170. Order it from SRD and its just over £130 at current FX rates, even with shipping! Great job Lynn and Don!

Because so much of this kit is specialist (and as you say, there isnt really a straight razor market in the UK) any companies that sell it charge quite a mark up so its usually cheaper to just go direct to the US suppliers and buy it from them.

Its a pain I must admit! I went to Portobello Road markets the other week and had a look down an extra street of antique shops and guess how many straight razors I found? One. Thats right, one. And they wanted... wait for it... £275 for it! And it was spotted with rust, a no name brand and was nowhere near shave ready. So I just politely said "Thanks for letting me look", went outside and laughed out loud for about 15 minutes. £275 for a rusty razor? You're having a laugh! How much would they have charged for a strop? £1,700? Pah I say!

Anyways, moral of the story? eBay is your friend. And buy from the US as well, its probably going to be cheaper!