Question about crox

**linguist** · 06-19-2012, 02:04 AM

My friend sent me one pound of cr3o2. but i know neither the purity of it nor how to use it. i applied it on a strop and made 80 laps. it seemed it dulled the edge. then i put some crox on wet marble and done 15 laps. it couldn't pass HHT until i stropped on linen and plain leather and had a good smooth shave.
How can i test the purity of crox or do you think it works this way?

**Slash McCoy** · 06-19-2012, 05:49 AM

Get a 12" long piece of 3" wide balsa, 3/4" or 1" thick. Apply your CrOx to one side. Reserve the other side for 1u or .25u diamond. If it is not smooth and flat, make it so before pasting. Do that by glueing a sheet of 320 grit paper to a 12 x 12 polished marble tile, or a heavy piece of glass, using LocTite spray adhesive. Lay the balsa on the paper and work it corner to corner, alternating diagonal corner pairs. You can lightly (the pencil will dig in to the soft balsa if you use a heavy hand) draw a grid pattern on the balsa, and sand until it is completely gone. Then paste it with the CrOx.

Your pasted strop appears to have a pebble finish. Not good, IMHO. You want smooth leather, or else flesh side (suede side) out, sanded smooth. Find a piece 2-3/4" or 3" wide and glue it to a smooth, flat board using the LocTite spray adhesive, and trim/sand the edges flush and smooth, and you have a bench strop. Generally, a rigid bench strop is better for use with abrasives than a hanging strop.

**Kentos** · 06-19-2012, 08:09 PM

I am not sure about running a razor on marble but,

If the razor dulls off of crox than something is wrong. Regardless of the purity of the crox, it shouldn't DULL anything. I would agree the substrate upon which the powder is applied is at fault, assuming your technique is sound.

**GreatScott** · 06-22-2012, 04:53 AM

Couple things jumped out at me...

first, regardless of the surface it's applied on, I think a significant number of CrOx users use <20 laps. 80 seems excessive either way. Get your edge back however you choose, then once you need it, try 5 laps CrOx and test, then 10 and test, ad nauseum.

Second... a pound?? Seriously? You could touch up every straight in this forum for the next year and probably not put much of a dent in that.

**ladykate** · 06-22-2012, 09:52 AM

All that was said before - I agree.

I have used pottery supply CrO2 and it was quite good. That normally comes in one pound tubs. You can also use it for polishing brass if you are a reloader. Put a couple of teaspoons in the polisher media.

However, I noticed that you have a LOT of it on the strop. While it shouldn't dull your razor, you don't need that much. Wipe it down a bit - you will be glad you did - much less messy. Also, CrO2 is a poison so don't lick it. ;-} Seriously, keep it away from dogs, kids, etc.

Doing a mesh analysis for something this fine requires a microscope with a counting grid. If you know someone in your local school/college you might be able to get them to count it for you and come up with an approximation. In any case, it should work if it isn't a strange brew of some sort. It looks ok in the pictures.

edit: forgot again... if your razor was dull and you stropped it on the CrO2 and then stropped it as normal and it is now sharp... it might be working. HHT can be a very relative measure.