Thread: I need help identifying my polishing compounds.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

It’s not.

Good Chrome Oxide is not expensive 10-12 buck for a life time supply.

I found Hand America paste which is straight CrO, advertised at 0.5micron right on the bottle with a great reputation to back it up. I am afraid this has led to one (hopefully) final question...

My finest stone is a hard arkansas estimated at 11micron grit, but this grit sounds too far from 0.5micron to jump the gap. So if one of my pastes weighs in at (average) 2-5microns, can I use that paste to refine the edge before finishing it with the good CrO, or do I need to get a stone/high quality paste to bridge this gap as well?

Thanks for all of your help. It cost me $17 just for the leather to make these strops, and I don't have enough to try again. You have saved me so much grief already.

The Arkansas stone can't be rated by grit as it is natural and if prepped properly will give a much finer finish than grit rated. A properly prepped stone could give an approximate 12k edge (1 micron ). Remember that this is approximately and will vary stone to stone. You will be fine to go to crox after the Arkansas. And the Hand America crox is good stuff

At 11um you are about 1k which is way too coarse to shave on. It is fine for knives but you really need a middle polisher in the 3-4K range and a finisher in the 8k range.

You can use some paste like a stone in progression, like Diamond and CBN, but it is not normally used that way.

Part of the problem is you have to be able to strop well to effectively use paste in progression and these paste are pricy, about 40-50 dollars per bottle. And you would need at least 2 progressions.

Your best bet is a 3/8 or 4/8k combo stone, then good Chrome Oxide.

If you are talking about your Hard Ark at 11um, any natural stone does not have a grit rating, as they are naturally made and have random grits.

Many have used an Ark progression for over a hundred years, with just an soft and Translucent or Black Surgical Ark with great results.

It can be slow and will take some time to learn.

There is much written on this forum and other on honing razors with Arks.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

At 11um you are about 1k which is way too coarse to shave on. It is fine for knives but you really need a middle polisher in the 3-4K range and a finisher in the 8k range.

You can use some paste like a stone in progression, like Diamond and CBN, but it is not normally used that way.

Part of the problem is you have to be able to strop well to effectively use paste in progression and these paste are pricy, about 40-50 dollars per bottle. And you would need at least 2 progressions.

Your best bet is a 3/8 or 4/8k combo stone, then good Chrome Oxide.

If you are talking about your Hard Ark at 11um, any natural stone does not have a grit rating, as they are naturally made and have random grits.

Many have used an Ark progression for over a hundred years, with just an soft and Translucent or Black Surgical Ark with great results.

It can be slow and will take some time to learn.

There is much written on this forum and other on honing razors with Arks.

I understand about the arkansas stones being random, but some sources agree on an average value for each type. I have always assumed that the different types produce at least somewhat consistent partical size.

My finest arkansas stone is a hard arkansas (white), not hard black (a.k.a. surgical black) or translucent. The estimated particle size is 11um, but I feel like it's closer to 3000 grit in effect.

In any case, I am just wondering if the potentially inconsistent compounds that I already have are trustworthy as a bridge to work up to a high quality chromium. I am unsure if these compounds might leave an edge too rough for the chromium to correct.

I only have one razor and one strop, so I would rather not screw either up by testing it and cost myself the price of another strop or a professional sharpening or both. I figure it would be best to just gather community opinion, which seems to be "toss the compounds, get a finer stone".

The pastes you have can have larger particles than you would expect and i don't think that you will find anyone reccomend using them. For the price of a decent paste to bridge the gap you could buy a stone which would be a much better option and more versatile. Get a 8k and then crox would be fine