Stropping question

[Thebigspendur]

I think too many people get caught up in a quest to get the sharpest possible edge. There are many exotic compounds out there that will make an edge so sharp you could probably cleave a dropping hair with it but the edge will be so fragil as to be useless. To me it is a compromise between a degree of sharpness so as to get a great shave and the edge lasting for some minimum number of shaves before refreshing. Of course thats where a good quality razor comes in also. A better quality tool will take a finer edge and last longer also.

If I run a few passes on a .25 diamond pasted strop I can get a degree of sharpness beyond what I can get on a coticule, not that the razor doesn't cut great off the coticule because it does. However I'm not foolish enough to try and chase that ultimate degree of sharpness.

 

[Steerpike]

Agreed. You can get a really nice edge just off a barber hone, no need for crazy fine polishing- you aren't trying to get it so sharp the hairs just leap off your face at the mere sight of it are you?

The idea is to get those microserrations neat and tidy, to get a comfortable shave without the need for frequent honing. Twice as much stropping after the hone really helps with this I assure you. Takes a bit longer, but it's a small price to pay. I was thinking that it might be worth doing 60 strokes on the unpasted strop after honing, but before using a pasted strop, if that is the finish you wanted. That way the teeth are all in line before it goes on the pasted strop, so it will just polish them without shortening them- that way you will get more shaves from it before you need to hone again. I always strop before honing, for the same reason. Makes it a lot easier, and you remove less metal.

Thanks for the info on Dovo paste grits- have you used them? What grit are the Dovo paste sticks? Anybody know?

 

[Tony Miller]

Steerspike,
Interesting observation with the stropping before honing. I do wonder about honing the mis-aligned microserrations and had often thought about whether straightening them first, by stropping was a wiser move.

As for the Dovo pastes...I tried one of each on a four sided paddle, green from a tube, red from the cake, black from the cake and TI white paste....sort of an "old timer" selection instead of the newer diamond compounds. They were okay but have a really waxy feel I did not like. I can't say I got great results either, put the paddle away and have not used it since.

I still prefer diamond or chromuim oxide. I do find that in humid environments the carrier for Amplex diamond pastes is hydroscopic and picks up the moisture in the air making it a bit sticky at times and therefore a litte hard to use. I played around with Crystoline diamond sprays that work well but it is very hard to tell just how much is enought as it goes on invisably. Re-appication though is a breeze. Just spray on a bit more.

Tony

 

[Steerpike]

The old fashioned sticks of paste are indeed waxy- oiling the strop immediately before application helps a lot- then they spread evenly and absorb a bit more. Leave it a couple days, for the oil to go deeper into the leather, and the surface hardens up. This makes a very nice surface to strop on, and holds the abrasive just great.
Thanks for the notes on other pastes.

As to stropping, I always strop before I hone- it takes very little time, and can't do any harm. In fact, if my theorising is correct, it does good, and I do find that I can go a long time before honing, and need very few strokes on the hone to reset the edge. I reccomend it. I'd also suggest stropping before using an abrasive pasted strop, in order to preserve as much of the edge as possible, and not wear down the teeth unnecassarily when they are misaligned.

 

[Steerpike]

I have never heard that pastes were originally only supposed to be used on straight grind blades and I would be very interested to hear what the writer's source for this information was. It does not make any sense to me why paste (or any sharpening media for that matter) would work well for one type of grind and not for another. What I do know for sure is that today people use all the different types of pastes (diamond, chromium oxide, etc.) on every type of grind and size of razor, and in my experience the pastes have worked equally well on all of them.

I tend to use only the hones to put an edge on my razors- I can achieve a really sharp edge on a hone, and it lasts longer than that I get off a pasted strop. It's very easy to get a sharp edge on a pasted strop, so in the past, that's what I usually ended up doing, after honing, as I couldn't get the edge I wanted on the hone.

However, in reference to the wedge razors mentioned above, I rarely get them just right off a hone. I'm not sure why, it annoys me a lot. I can work away on a hone for ages, but not get it how I want it. But eventually I give in, and pull out the paddle, give it a few strokes on the Hamon No. 2, and they take on an excellent edge. Whats more, my wedge razors hold the edge at least as long as the fully ground blades sharpened only on the hone. I'm not sure why this is, but it seems to support Boones idea about pastes and wedge grinds- has anybody else had this experience with wedges?