Thread: Self-Honing Strop

Great post! I also love the "electrically-operated screwdriver article." Ya can't call yerself a man without one of them there electricity screwdrivers nowadays!

so crocus is the same as? It seems they recommend a paddle strop over a hanging strop?

Originally Posted by Shoki

so crocus is the same as? It seems they recommend a paddle strop over a hanging strop?

No idea what Crocus is either but the strop thing yea. From what I can gather it is harder to roll the edge with a paddle like you easily can with a strop, no give no roll I guess.
At least that is what I am taking from it.

Originally Posted by TSasser

No idea what Crocus is either but the strop thing yea. From what I can gather it is harder to roll the edge with a paddle like you easily can with a strop, no give no roll I guess.
At least that is what I am taking from it.

You can still roll the edge if you dont keep the razor flat. I still prefer a hanging strop.

Crocus cloth is a sanding cloth. I think it might be the same as some of the chromium powders?

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

You can still roll the edge if you dont keep the razor flat. I still prefer a hanging strop.

True enough. I have a Hanging Strop only but am interested in a paddle or something similar to that.

Originally Posted by Shoki

Crocus cloth is a sanding cloth. I think it might be the same as some of the chromium powders?

That makes sense. The claim is to sharpen as well as polish.

Originally Posted by Shoki

so crocus is the same as?

It is a very fine form of powdered iron oxide, like jewellers rouge but suitable for polishing iron (the difference is that jewellers rouge is heated to a lower temperature during formation, so it is suitable for soft metals like gold, whereas crocus was heated to a higher temperature, giving a darker powder that was more suited to harder metals like iron).

Regards,
Neil

So crocus would be finer than crox?

Interesting article. My observation is this; it easier for a clumsy guy like me to bump the edge using a fixed wood strop, especially when I am building speed. 80+ passes on a fixed platform is a lot of work this way.

The answer obviously is to gain more skill and don't bump the edge, but I dunno. When the edge bumps its a disaster.

As compared to the hanging. Which, by the way I do find hard to keep perfectly taut.

Interesting article indeed. I did a search for crocus but it seems it is hard to come by. Luckily, CrOx is readily available. I imagine crocus went out of style when technology allowed better solutions. Thinking I might try to make one, some day. Nice to have future projects planned