Thread: TI strop pastes, "user manual"

Originally Posted by Kees

I just got a mail from David Loft saying the white paste can be used daily (last line of the manual, it is the same as the 260 paste).

I am sure I am no the right person to doubt about this, being an absolute newbie, but if this paste has a 10,000 grit, is it not too aggressive to use it everyday?

I have checked with David Loft and this is his reply:

Kees, yes this is the same as the 260 paste that I was talking about. We say that it is about 10000 grit size but as I said it is not a very agressive paste because of its other components. In our sharpening instructions we give the option of using it daily, as many do, followed by unpasted strop or using it occasionally followed by unpasted strop, or as some prefer, not using it at all and just using the unpasted strop.

Originally Posted by Mandrake

I am sure I am no the right person to doubt about this, being an absolute newbie, but if this paste has a 10,000 grit, is it not too aggressive to use it everyday?

It would be better to state the particle size in microns. Grit-ratings are very ambiguous. But even particle size doesn't tell the full story. The shape of the particles can make a big contribution to the abrasive properties. Also the hardness is a very important factor. I suspect that the TI white paste (260) is not that much harder than the steel on TI's razors, considering that they recommend it for daily use.

Thank you Kees for sharing, please extent my gratitude to David Loft. I'm not much into the use of pastes, but the text makes a lot of sense to me, and I don't doubt it is backed up by TI's deep understanding about how their razors can be turned into perfect shavers. Honing TI's, I always noticed they take a special place and approach in the world of razors. When given the proper attention, they hold an exceptional shave, imho. When someone at TI breaks the silence about sharpening their razors, they sure have my full attention.

Hartelijke groetjes,
Bart.

Originally Posted by Kees

I have checked with David Loft and this is his reply:

Many thanks Kees, is good to have "direct line" with the brand, as this can be very confusing, it should be stated more clearly in a brochure or similar when buying the paste....

@Mandrake,

That is one of the reasons TI agreed to have this preliminary users' instructions posted here. They want feed back. If they read that many experienced straight shavers have a different opinion on the correct use of the pastes, or find the instructions not clear enough TI will use this information and alter the instructions.

Originally Posted by Kees

@Mandrake,

That is one of the reasons TI agreed to have this preliminary users' instructions posted here. They want feed back. If they read that many experienced straight shavers have a different opinion on the correct use of the pastes, or find the instructions not clear enough TI will use this information and alter the instructions.

Very good initiative, good for TI!

Originally Posted by Kees

@Mandrake,

That is one of the reasons TI agreed to have this preliminary users' instructions posted here. They want feed back. If they read that many experienced straight shavers have a different opinion on the correct use of the pastes, or find the instructions not clear enough TI will use this information and alter the instructions.

I think TI instead of just marketing these pastes should actually test them on several hundred razors and all their various blade types and provide the actually findings vs. their marketing guy simply giving the description of the new pastes that they see as competitive. No offense David.

Pastes on their own can be very subjective to begin with. I like a combination of 2 micron followed by .5 micron when a razor is close. I like chromium oxide and .5 diamond spray for finishing. I find both these very consistent for me. I have only around a 50-50 success rate on .25 media. Other people use a variety of pastes and films. Some use none.

The white paste available now has never been consistent and gets black quickly from use needing to be cleaned or refreshed. It does work nicely with some razors and not others. I tested it for months and found it to be 50-50 proposition for success.

Have fun,

Lynn

For anyone interested. Water based diamond pastes are easily available for short money here www.mcmaster.com :

Thanks Kees for that post! I am a diamond man all the way.

Glen. You asked if someone has use this technique from start to finish? Well for me no, not really all of it, just part of it. Once a bevel was established on a hone I kept a razor alive of over a year using 3.0,1.0,0.5,0.25 um diamond paste, on a 4 sided paddle strop. Eventually the edge would only give me about 4 shaves till it needed to be hit with the pastes from 1.0 up again. I since have moved on to hones with a 0.5,0.25um pastes and 0.1 um finish.

Until very recently I shaved off 0.25 diamond finished with 5 laps of 0.5 Chromium and like the shaves. I now use 0.1 diamond film to finish and have not found it to be to sharp, just smoother. I am beginning to be of the school of thought that "keeness does not improve above 4K" and that you are just polishing the edge after that. I will defer to your experience but it is getting to be a standard for me that after about a couple of months of actual shaves on very different razors this is the best technique to use on the majority of the razors that I have. I am getting some incredibly smooth shaves on patches of beard that I have had nothing but trouble with going ATG since starting almost 2 years ago.

Take care,
Richard


Take Care,
Richard

I like TI pate i found on my silver wing it realy added smoothness to my edge