Thread: Question about CrOx and touch ups.

Im going to give you my experience on the subject as I was in your shoes not too long ago. If you were to add the 12 Naniwa to your honing progression I believe it will surely improve the sharpness of the blade after the 8k. If you can afford it I would recommend its use. If not I will suggest that you really focus on getting the most out of your 8k do your strokes light pressure keep checking your progress get a jewelers loupe try tree topping arm hair etc. keep at it really light controlled x strokes add a little dish soap, glycerine or lather even to your water continue feather light and check your progress. when you think the 8 K has all its got to give go to a really high quality Chromium Oxide paste or crayon and finish it up. I use the crayon from SRD it is good stuff I have used other Crox that stunk like the stuff that they sell online for chisel sharpening its not pure mixed grits etc. I also have had no luck using hard felt for some reason. Best results for me was a good linen or cotton strop pasted with good quality Crox crayon for this I usually hold the strop real taught strop lightly don't bear down if you used a nice flat bench strop this might work even better. nice even controlled strokes. Now you will have to find out how many strokes will be enough to get it nice try 10,20 whatever it takes to get it real smooth. Folks here will say im crazy but I have done as many as 100 careful strokes on a crox strop with no ill effects not necessary to be sure but doable. Just have to break it down test as you go and you will come up with something that works nice for you im sure. Good luck

yeah you're definitely right. the gokumyo 20k at 27,000 Yen it is almost impossible to beat. unless you wanted to buy a paving slab size piece of cuticule…. that might do it

Thank you rf sound advice. more practice! will def try the lighter 8k strokes with a bit of lather before shelling out for the nani.

cool

wouldn't really know how good my crox is though??? even with a loupe

" Folks here will say im crazy but I have done as many as 100 careful strokes on a crox strop with no ill effects not necessary to be sure but doable."

glad to hear it. i can't say i've had much of a problem over honing either. thanks

When I started honing what I thought was a good hone job at first was mediocre at best. But I'm OCD and will actually have withdrawals if I don't get to hone a razor for a while. Thanks to my straight razor acquisition disorder I have had plenty of blades to hone and now I am finding that I can make most razors shave smoothly.

I do 40 circles on 1000K Nani then 30 X strokes both with pressure then 40 circles with and 40 circles without on a 3K Nani followed by 8 light x strokes. 10 x strokes with little to no pressure on an 8 k at which time the razor shaves hair. Then 10 x strokes weight of blade only on Nani 12K and then the blade pops hairs mid shaft like crazy.

I have shaved with them at that point and they shave well but after 10-12 strokes on CROx on my web strop followed by 20 strokes on web and 60 on buffalo leather SRD strop the blade changes from good to BBS smooth.

I think the 12 is definitely worth the money but I have also experimented with a 8 light pressure strokes followed by 8 weight of the blade strokes on the 8K followed by CROx and the above stripping routine with almost as good of results.

Basically the biggest factor is practice, practice, practice until you can literally get a feel for the steel. At that point you will even "feel" how different razors of made of different steels hone differently.
To me honing a razor to a smooth shaving edge is almost as rewarding as shaving with it and I can hone many razors a day I can only shave once!

Jonjo, what brand is your 8K stone and is your Chrome Oxide, shave quality Chrome Oxide?

Hardware store Chrome Ox is not pure Chrome Ox and will not leave a shavable edge.

Some pics of your razor and strop would help.

thanks …
here's all my stuff and the 3k 8k combo is wusthof

What is the brand of Chrome Oxide and what is the other White strop pasted with.

Hard to tell from the photo but the bevel does not look like an 8K bevel, looks much rougher.

What did you lap them with?

not sure of the brand, i got a 25g bag from ebay (uk). the other paddle strop is a hemp webbing with dovo red paste. I've since made another paddle with dove black on leather. the only lapping (the 3/8k combo) i did was done with 400 grit w+d sand paper on a ceramic floor tile. the other stone btw is known as a dragons tongue…it seems to act like the 8k but much slower…it has a very glassy surface though when wet.