Thread: Is it a good idea to use paste on leater?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yes, different paste can deliver varying results.

Basically paste polish for comfort and more aggressive grit shapes for added keenness.

Both remove microscopic amounts of metal and a combination can be used to fine tune an edge to your face, and beard type.
A pasted strop and proper technique can keep a razor shaving for a long, long time. It is an abrasive strop and inferior technique can strip an edge in one stroke.

Typically Chromium Oxide is used as a smoothing paste and also can add keenness. Not so much for repair, but more for maintenance, used weekly or at the first hint of flagging.

Diamond and CBN are typical aggressive paste used to enhance or refresh a flagging edge.

There are many paste and blends of polish and cutting grits, Chromium Oxide is by far the most popular and generally the first paste to begin with. Just make sure you purchase quality Chrome Oxide, for straight razor use.

Chrome Oxide is about .5um about 30K in grit size, pastes can go as fine as .10um about 160k grit and a lot in between.

Am I looking for Chromium Oxide 3 for straights? It's the one I've come across for straights.

P.S: Could I use a 12k grit stone to replace the purpose of a paste?

It is not the grit size that matters as much as the purity of the grit and the size.

Much of the Chrome Oxide that is sold is for polishing and contains other abrasives to cut faster. Some do not even contain Chrome Oxide or so little that they call it Green Polish. .5um is the acceptable grit size, some claim to go to .3. What you want is the polishing/smoothing ability of Chrome Oxide, not so much the keenness. Other pastes do keenness better.

I can only recommend paste that I have used and that are recommended for Razor use, SRD stick and spray, Hand America liquid and spray and Kremer Pigments 44200 Chrome Oxide.

It is not expensive and a purchase is more than a lifetime supply, so buy quality. And as I stated prior, once applied it can never be completely removed.

A 12k stone is 12k, .5um Chrome Oxide is about 30k.

Many of us use Chrome Oxide after finish honing on a 12k or higher.

Chrome Oxide will visibly polish a 12k edge to a very comfortable edge.

If you buy a 12k stone, buy a quality synthetic, not a Natural stone of Claimed 12k grit.

I'm about to purchase some oxide, how can I make sure it has not been mixed with anything else, or is suitable for straight razors?

Thinking of getting this, and mixing it with baby oil. You know what I mean.

Chromium oxide

Don’t know the brand, they do not list particle size or purity for the Chrome Oxide yet they do for others.
Ask and see if they know if not buy from known Razor suppliers, it is about the same price.

A small amount of power and drop or two of mineral oil baby oil works, make a thin paste and use your finger to draw 3 in X's give 2 coats and let dry.

Thiers state this:

Important—the chromium oxide paste must fill the pores in your strop; you don’t want it to coat the surface. Before first use, with your fingers, rub in a generous amount of paste to completely cover the surface and fill all voids. Then, with a paper towel, wipe all the excess paste off the surface.

http://www.thiers-issard.co.uk/Sharp...onsDiamond.pdf

I can't seem to find a reliable source for oxide in the UK, think I might just go with diamond.

Diamond is completely different from Chromium Oxide, most use Chrome Oxide after Diamond to calm/ smooth a diamond edge.

I thought there was a Kremer shop in the UK?

Here you go in London.

Here

I prefer the white paste/titanium oxide powder on strops check it out as well.