Thread: Paste Material Selection

I just received a 4 sided strop razor from Tony (thanks again) and now need to get ahold of sime pastes. I'm a grad student and have access to a polishing compounds of varying micron scales and materials. I can get diamond pastes at 9, 6, 3 micron and silica powder compounds at the highly touted 1, 0.5 and 0.25 micron levels. What I would like to know is whether anyone has used silica on there strops instead of just diamond pastes.

Q

I use Veritas, but it is an identical(?) product composed also primarily of chromium oxide in green stick form. It looks exactly the same. I use it on unfinished leather which is very soft, like sued. It works well for me, but it might work equally well on something smoother. It benefits from a dusting before each stropping and a firm hand at the stropping. It can get gummy if it gets hot so try to keep it cool.

Thanks for the info. Also, in my previous post I misspoke. It's alumina powder that I have access to and it's a razor AND a strop. Bit of a typing folly.

Q

The alumina grits will work but they are slower cutting. So what it amounts to is if you have the patience to use them?

Originally Posted by randydance062449

The alumina grits will work but they are slower cutting. So what it amounts to is if you have the patience to use them?

How much slower than the diamond compounds would you say? 2x, 3x?

My guess, and its only that, is 3X or more. This is based on my experience with the different hones. Diamond is the fastest and alumina the slowest. However, this gives you more control over the rate of change and helps avoid a wire edge.

By the way, I would really like some of the 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 alumina for my own use. If you want to sell me some it would be appreciated.

Send me a PM if you can.