Thread: Strop Pastes (yes another one)

Ok here goes. I've been honing for about a month now, and have had some pretty good results so far. Started out with a Butcher Brothers and have since honed an Otto Fromm Redhead. I start on a King 1000 and move up to a Norton 4k/8k. I've been getting some ok shaves off the Norton 8k side. I've just been using a cheap leather/linen combo strop. I have one side of the linen treated with Dovo red paste and the other side with Dovo black paste. and have been using first the Red and then the Black after leaving the Norton. My question is this, Would I see any difference or should I say improvement with trying out some Chromium Oxide paste? if so, what would be the Best grit to use, and is it ok to use them with a Hanging linen strop? I have some Balsa, and can make a hone out of it if I need to, but was wondering if I could get better results from using the hanging linen strop, and if the Chromium Oxide paste would be better than the Dovo pastes I'm using now? Thanks in advance for your help guys/gals.

I've never used the Dovo pastes so I can't say whether chrom-ox is better but I can say that it is darn good. I like to keep my daily strop (linen/leather) paste free and use flat bed leather or balsa for the chrom-ox or the diamond paste. I have a felt hanger that is real effective with diamond spray too. Chrom-ox on a piece of leather is very good for improving an edge. The 'grit' size I've seen for razors is 5 microns IIRC. I believe SRD had it as a powder, paste, spray or crayon. Here is a tutorial by Josh Earl of pasting a strop.

recurvist22,

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to try some CrOx

As you have the balsa wood, you could knock up a strop very quickly, and treat that with CrOx and see if you like it more or less than your Dovo Red/Black pasted strop.

I use CrOx or diamond for most of my razors, but for the old softer steeled razors like some of my Sheffields, the Dovo Red & Black do a very good job

I prefer to use abrasive pastes on solid or semi solid surfaces, but that is just me; a lot of people get along just fine pasting a hanging strop

Good luck !

Have fun !

regards

Russ

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The 'grit' size I've seen for razors is 5 microns IIRC.

Just to be clear, that should be .5 microns, (half a micron) which is in the same neighborhood as a 30,000 grit shapton glass hone in terms of abrasive size, as opposed to 5 micron, which would be a good bevel setter...

You should see an improvement, generally, in CrOx. Just keep in mind that using it also has a learning curve associated with it. I'm not a big fan of low grit paste such as the Dovo Green and Red, but I suppose they have their place.

The Dovo pastes are very mild cutters, and they work very well with a mild steel like the W&B...

The CrOx has a bit more bite to it, and is probably the most universal of all the pastes...

IME

Originally Posted by recurvist22

1) My question is this, Would I see any difference or should I say improvement with trying out some Chromium Oxide paste? 2) if so, what would be the Best grit to use, and is it ok to use them with a Hanging linen strop? 3) I have some Balsa, and can make a hone out of it if I need to, but was wondering if I could get better results from using the hanging linen strop, and 4) if the Chromium Oxide paste would be better than the Dovo pastes I'm using now? Thanks in advance for your help guys/gals.

#1) You will see improvement. Follow the advice of a little goes a long way. don't overdo it.

#2) I suggest .5 to get you started. There are finer grits, but I suggest the .5. IMO its easier to find and to use because of the uniformity of the particle size
and purity.

#3) I personally prefer a hanging linen strop. Besides, I cant think of a more noble use for denim remnants.

#4) Going to Dovo red is just like staying on the Norton 8k. The are both an 8k abrasive. I would leave the Norton 8k and proceed to an old leather strop that has a light bit of Dovo Black (12K). Give it about 50 light strokes there, and then try about 10 - 15 strokes on the Crox.

Enjoy

YMMV.