Thread: CROx paste of Diamond Spray

You should send in your Ralf Aust and shave with the Henckels if its shaving better. Since you bought it from SRD you get a free honing. When you get your RA back use it until it doesnt feel as sharp and stropping wont quite bring it back to where it was when you got it back from honing, then give it a few passes on your modular. I imagine your edge will last much longer that way. Just dont allow it to get to where it"s pulling.

At the month mark my shaving and stropping got way better. Even as good as i felt i was doing there is always room to get better. As long as I remember pressure, angle, lather my shaves are pretty good, and the edges last much longer.

After the second 5 laps on the CROx the blade seems smoother, but not as smooth as the Henckels.

Question: I have a new RA I just received from SRD and compared the two blades. I used a 10X Hastings loupe and a 30X handheld microscope. With the 30X there are differences in the appearance of the edge. The newer and unused blade is dark and reflects very little light, mostly only on the very end of the edge. The RA I have been using is the same on the very edge, but is spotty throughout the rest of the blade or it is dark in some places and shiny in other. I also have my Dad's King SR, which I have only used twice since having in pro-honed. The blade looks the same as my used SR, but it shaves very smoothly. So, I guess the question is: if the edge is darker or almost black in color under the 30X, does that indicate a level of sharpness?

Thanks for your answers.

What angle are you looking at the edge?

I lay the hand held microscope on the blade itself and extend it off the end a little to look at the edge. It looks like all the other pictures I have seen of the edge. Is there a certain angle I should be looking at it?

Looking at the edge perpendicular to the bevel, will tell you nothing about keenness, only if the edge is straight or chipped. It does not tell you if the bevels are meeting and the edge is sharp or fully set.

Look straight down on the edge with magnification, (30X) is plenty and strong light. If you see any reflection, the bevels are not meeting.

Here is a video

demonstrating the process.

Thanks to Euclid440 for the video to determine if the bevel is set; very interesting. I have a 30X lighted triplet loupe on the way. I bit the bullet and ordered a Naniwa 12K, which I received a couple of days ago. I made 10 passes on it today with the RA, stropped and shaved. Wow, what a difference; it was almost as it was when I received it from SRD. I could have lived with a one pass shave, but tried for the BBS. Didn't quite get there today, but it was pretty smooth. Thanks to everyone for all the help. I have learned quite a lot in the discussion and the videos that were recommended. Hopefully, there are others that will learn from it too.