Thread: Strop treatments - How far should we take it PT 2.

Euclid very interesting! A progression of paste and sprays. I like how you mist water on the CBN for maximum performance. Im somewhat surprised at the numbers of laps on CBN, from personal experience my numbers of laps are much lower but i mainly use CBN to refresh.
The only drawback i see is the CBN investment is intense.

I occasionally use 0.125 CBN on a paddle for about 20 - 30 laps - this follows honing on a shapton 30k glass stone. Ken's site says that the grit equivalent of this type of CBN is in the region of 128,000, so I have left out the 64k step. I don't think that matters too much, though - FWIW I don't think anything over 16k matters too much! - at these elevated numbers the 'steps' are miniscule and I find a 16k hone and an unpasted strop is more than comfortable enough for me.

I agree with Euclid about the misting making it more efficient from using the paddle before waiting for the misting of CBN to fully dry. I have read about other people using their strops as normal when treated with CBN - going at it for 60 laps or so without any harm, but I have not tried this.

Regards,
Neil

I've found 0.125 CBN to make the edge to harsh for my taste, tho it can get so sharp it's hard to keep it on the outside of the skin.
On my kamisoris I go pure Japanese, sharpen on jnats and strop on my palm, if I want a little smoother edge I take some slurry on my palm and strop on that, works great!

After 8, 10 or 12K it really is about smoothness rather than sharpness. Here the razor/steel makes a difference. Ken does throw out some high CBN numbers based on grit size, but that does not mean the same as grit size for sharpness. We think of sharpness, where the edge sharpness is reflective of the grit of the stone.

In other words, a 4 or 8K hone leaves a 4 or 8k edge of sharpness and even that varies based on other factors, (different manufacturing process, binders for friability and users ability). Stropping/Polishing an edge is a bit different. Stropping on a 120K CBN strop does not produce a 120K edge of sharpness. My experience is that building an edge progressively, does make a difference.

Much the same as in polishing on a buffer or sanding wood or paint finishes. You can skip grits of greaseless or sandpaper in progression, but you will spend more time at the higher grit… and somehow the results are just not the same. For some reason on steel, paint and wood the finish is just not as bright, visually.

In the end, it is that elusive combination, your technique/ability, your razor’s edge and your face.

The little extra time spent on a progression, pays off in a smooth comfortable edge for me. And it seems once done, that edge quality can be maintained for quite some time with minimum effort, at least a year or better… longer than my patients to discover.