Thread: When does honing end and paste stropping begin?

Originally Posted by Ryan82

The paste-only approach seems to be more popular in Europe, especially Germany IIRC. There aren't many members here at all that follow that procedure, most are rock hounds

Guess I am the oddball on this forum. I do almost all paste except for setting the bevel.

Here is a post I did on pasted strops.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ugh-guide.html

Originally Posted by Castel33

Guess I am the oddball on this forum. I do almost all paste except for setting the bevel.

Here is a post I did on pasted strops.

You left out the link.

Sorry here it is:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ugh-guide.html

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Hi All,

So I am researching and I have a questions regarding the Thiers Issard Bio-diamond paste system (6, 3, 1, .25) and how it fits in with hones.

If someone had say Shapton GS 1K, 4K, 8K, 16K and then started in on the pastes how much overlap could there be? Does the 6 micron paste replace some of those hones?
How would that work with other hones like Norton or Naniwa?

I am just borrowing a friends straight right now, so before I invest I want to be sure I get the right sort of setup.

Thanks and cheers!

Pasted leather on wood is an economical way to maintain one man's razor. Pasted leather
tends to clog with swarf and be less effective when a lot of razors are involved. Thus honemasters
tend to avoid it...

The modern hones Shapton, Norton or Naniwa work magic by comparison but cost more.
With hones you need something to keep them flat for which a large DMT works.
The Norton 4K/8K combo can be followed by the Naniwa 12K for a fine shave
or just stick with all Naniwa hones.

A stack of Shapton hones... well they just work.... a Shapton 16K finish is darn close to a Naniwa 12K.

Shapton hones have a grit displayed. If the same grit size was pushed down into leather
it would cut as if it was a finer grit. You will find paste on hard backed leather to often be less
aggressive than a hone of equal grit.

The TI diamond paste system starts out with an aggressive 6micron and ends with a rather
nice polish at 0.25micron... I would put 6 micron at close to a Norton 4K. It will not reset a
bevel but will tidy up an edge dull from normal shaving.

My first "Feather sharp" result was with abrasive film on glass 15 micron, 5 micron, 0.3 micron
Film is funny and lets you take these big jumps from a 1K equivalent at 15 micron to a 6k like 5 Micron
to a spooky sharp 0.3 micron edge..

So yes you have overlap if you start with a Norton 4k/8K work horse and finish with the 3,1,0.25 paste.

What does your friend use to hone with?

Wow. I didn't expect that many replies that soon!
First of all, thank you for your comments, I will try and and answer everything asked - reverse order.

niftyshaving: My friend has a 4k/8k norton combo, a paddle strop with a couple pastes, not exactly sure, but I think the sort available from whippeddog.com -red and green?

Castel33: Thanks for pointing out the guide! I have some reading to do!

JimmyHAD: My goal is to have a foundation of stones/pastes/etc so I can maintain a razor on my own. Given the comments seen here I would lean towards some rocks, now.

pixelfixed/nun2sharp: Good to know!

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

If you had a 16k stone you wouldnt need pastes. IMO

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

best advice yet.

sharptonn: I will go and introduce myself after this post, thanks!

Ryan82: Good to know actual practices. I like opinions, and what you guys are really using.

holli4pirating: I have seen the chromox paste for finishing, and I might have to look into that.

bill3152: Well I am beginning to see that there are indeed many ways to skin/hone a cat!

Datsots: It doesn't surprise me that bevel setting is best left to a stone. Even though the TI setup sounds good, in the end it is just a paste.

Thanks again for the information. I will be checking back, of course. Cheers!

I guess I'm bias from trying edges that used paste to substitute for proper stone work. When guys write about wanting to take up honing, I tell them about smooth comfortable shave from an 8k level. If I understand correctly, the honorable Randydance was the first to speak of the 8k edge as a gateway to any further work. (Thank You!)

I'd almost say that its time for the pastes when you don't need them to get a good shave from the stones. With proper stone work, they can add/tweak the feel to a particular attribute you like. I had pronounced a whole bunch of hard steel heavy grinds as 'silent shavers'. I prefer feedback - like we get from Robert W.'s SRP special. I found a bunch of heavy grinds started giving feedback after only 16-20 INCHES of stropping on .5 diamond on hard felt. When the stone work is done adequately, the rest is gravy - try as many finishes as you can. I've enjoyed CBN as much as any, unless its a silent, heavy grind mentioned above.