Thread: I can't eat this crayon!!

With the order to SRD of my two strops I also ordered a CROx "crayon" I imagined it to be waxy/greasy like cloth wheel buffing compound but to my surprise it went on very dry and dusty?? Also the Hard Pressed Felt strop was very "dusty" while testing it out? I'm considering dissolving the crayon in maybe alcohol (so the strop wont mold like water may do.) and using a spray bottle like SRD sells. I am on the right track here?

My experience with hard felt is also the same, everything I put on it, sprays or crayon has yielded dust during stropping, it works fine if you can put up with it. The Crox crayon from SRD is of very fine quality and I use it often. I prefer to use it on either cotton / linen directly or I will thin it with either a little neatsfoot oil or mineral oil and use it on leather this way. Probably will work fine on balsa as well. I get excellent stropping results with this method and no dust. Sorry I cant help you with using alcohol as a thinner but give it a shot and let us know. Hope this helps.

So the Crayon goes on dry too? I may just dissolve it.

my experience with a felt strop is that its dustiness goes away after it's broken in.

Yep my felt was dusty to say for a awhile but once broken it it is solid now the loose felt has been rubbed off
Remember that you only need a couple of crosses of crayon on your strop to be successful

I've made crayons and Chrox & Ferrox in oil but not alcohol
cant see why it wouldn't work if you were keen
but not necessary realy as the SRD crayons are very reputable and should work as is
all applications will leave residue on your blade when used for a while until they settle in properly

I had the same issue with some Dunkle’s Blue and Yellow stone honing compound, I was testing years ago. I cut off a small chunk and ground it fine, in a small dollar store mortar and pestle I keep in the shop for such things, a piece of paper on a hard surface and a hammer head would do the same.

I mixed in a few drops of neatsfoot to make a paste and applied with my finger. Let dry overnight and it worked well. You don’t need much.

I have never pasted thick felt, only used sprays, Diamond & CBN on SRD felt, though it should work fine.

I bought a sick of chrome oxide from SRD years ago and mine is more waxy and works like a crayon, maybe they changed the formula. Use Chrome Oxide sparingly, I find 3 in X’s about ½ in wide, (Finger width) give good results.

For the record the blue and yellow stropping compounds are too aggressive for razors, probably has some Aluminum Oxide in it, good for tools and knives where you want a polished bevel with a toothy edge though.

Mine were dusty when new, also.

It took some work to even get a green streak from mine. Not complaining, just wondered if it needed to be applied or "worked in" differently. Thanks everyone this place is great!

Why not try Puma Pasta? Comes as a nice wax bar.

As mentioned above several times, I'm thinking that the pressed wool is the culprit. It sheds just from the razor being pulled across it.

With the tackiness of the crayon, it just pulls or breaks the loose fibers off or out instead of smearing onto a stable surface. It eventually stabilizes. Give it some stropping with a few razors, etc., etc.

Try the crox stick on an old tee shirt, white handkerchief, or anything with a tight cotton weave, etc. and see if it doesn't smear on that surface. And by smear, I mean pretty much just like a wax crayon. If it does then you just need to work it more on the wool. It doesn't take a lot of crox to be effective, so don't go overboard!

I put a few x's and then smear them across the surface with my finger.



Regards,

Howard