Green Oxide...

I recently purchase Chromium Oxide pasted pigment from the paint store. The marking on the 250ml bottle is "2060 Oxide Chrome Vert Green Oxide". I think the manufacturer is "Richards Colorants" of France.

After testing this pigment of my pasted strop, there wasn't much difference in the HH test. The shaving test for me was scratchy and tacky. I thought the edge was made even duller. But upon closer scrutiny, the shave was actually closer.

I tend to avoid the pasted strop for now since I prefer the feel of the edge straight out of the hone/strop.

Has anyone tried using this pigment on their strop???

You really have to control this obsession with the HHT. It will serve you little useful purpose, at least for now.
The TNT & TPT are great tools as you learn to hone, & the shave provides you with all you need to know with regards to whether your edges are up to standard.

I am not familiar with that CrO. I would want to know that the quality is high enough & that the grit is consistent before I used it though.

Banditpogi,

+1 on Bens' observations.

There seems to be a rash of obsession about the HHT recently.

Let the shave be the test !!! you will know a 1/4 inch into the shaving stroke if the edge is good to go or not :)

Have fun !

regards

Russ

I fully agree with Ben here. Dont worry about the HHT, its the shave that counts! The HHT is a way of probing an edge to see how it has developed but its only any good when youve calibrated it for your hair.

To give my usual "HHT=abmiguous" example, my Boker Edelweisse was honed by Lynn so I knew the edge was good when I got it. It passed the HHT for me about 75% of the time, for my dad all the time and a mate of mine couldnt get it to work at all. One razor, three results, but the shave was immense.

I also agree about the CrOx. Stuff from hardware stores might be fine. But it also might be mixed with other abrasives or abrasives of an uneven size which could make your edge worse, not better.

Yes, I use Cr2O3 and Fe2O3 as a pigment. I use a local pigment source named Kremer Pigmente Germany.
But you have to be ultra anal about the quality of the pigment.
As we all know chromium oxide can have several different "grits",
and not everybode is as picky as we are when it comes to inhomogeneties.

Kremer Pigmente is a producer of top notch painting supply for high level artists.
They did REM research on all their pigments to verify the particle size,
because small particles equal high opacity.
Kremer verified their chromium at 0.3µm with almost 90% (I believe) to be smaller than 0.5 or something like that and round shape.

Not every chromium oxide is usable for our purpose.
If you use powdered pigment, suspend them either in Ethanol or Strop-dressing Oil (wichever you use).
That´s ultra easy to apply and readily available.
Apply only small amounts (the leather should be shining through) and work it in with a glass bottle.

When working with sub micron powder beware of inhalation.
This stuff will get into your lungs and you don´t want that.
Because hardly anybody has the correct filters available
work at fresh air and watch your nose!