Thread: Paste for finishing

Ok I had a quick question about finishing a razor on pasted strops. I will be finishing on either a coticule or chinese natural stone, and then I have a 4 sided strop I made out of balsa and cowhide. After finishing up on the coticule, would it be overkill to then strop on a 6 micron, then 3 then 1 then .5?? and of course finishing on plain leather. Should I pass on the 6 micron paste if it is just been honed? Thanks in advance

Woah! 3 micron is equal to my DMT 8000 mesh diamond plate! Going back to the 3 or 6 micron would be really counter productive. The 1 micron is equal to a Shapton 16k which I use after my Chinese 12k with good results. I say go Coti, 12k then the 1 micron and .5. But, feel free to experiment! The diamond cuts so quickly that you might not need the Chinese 12k, and I like to strop on B&W newspaper after my diamond pastes. Seems to smooth them out a bit!

Originally Posted by JonnyO

Woah! 3 micron is equal to my DMT 8000 mesh diamond plate! Going back to the 3 or 6 micron would be really counter productive. The 1 micron is equal to a Shapton 16k which I use after my Chinese 12k with good results. I say go Coti, 12k then the 1 micron and .5. But, feel free to experiment! The diamond cuts so quickly that you might not need the Chinese 12k, and I like to strop on B&W newspaper after my diamond pastes. Seems to smooth them out a bit!

Good advice.

If the OP has not applied the 3 and 6 micron grit hold off
and start with 0.25, 0.5 and 1. It is easy to move up in
size but the other way is way hard.

As JonnyO said diamond cuts quickly so you may find that you
need a lot less than you expect. Also since you have a
Coti read about the slurry, diluted slurry, water steps. A
Coti can be astounding in the way it changes character.

It is possible to go for years with: water on Coti, canvas, leather.