Pastes vs finer grit hones

[Slash McCoy]

Edge failing mid shave ,could possibly indicate a foil edge. A few pull strokes after regular stropping on the balsa seems to prevent that. It could also point to poor steel, poor HT, poor or blown temper, or extremely acute bevel angle unless the razor was just fine in the past.

 

[eKretz]

Yep, exactly... I think some of the guys that suffer this problem are overdoing it and getting right to the verge of a wire edge and it causes the edge to fail quickly. I think it's way easier to do this (get a weak edge I mean) on a hanging strop also. This is of course assuming that the razor is up to snuff.

 

[Gamma]

Personally, I don't see how it can hurt a good edge. Or rather I should say, I don't see how it can do anything but improve an already good edge.

Every abrasive has it's own signature on the edge. Some users like the feel of one over another, some don't care, some have not developed the ability to discern differences, and so on. But, still - some like some types of edges over others.

So, if you take a freshly honed Coti edge that you like, and then you run it over a croxed whatever, you have now put the crox fingerprint on what was once (but is no longer) you beloved Coti edge. You may like that result, but someone else may not. I am in that second group.

Me - I don't like crox of any fine-ness at all; def not my thing. I won't die if I use it (zero chance of a shaving disaster) but I don't want to use it ever so I don't. I have used it post 'learning to be proficient' extensively; I've done a lot of side-by-side comparisons with other abrasives actually - but that's another story.

I most definitely consider using crox on a edge I just honed to be something that 'kills' my edge. Maybe it still cuts, it probably doesn't cut better and chances are that it doesn't cut as well. That's for me, someone else might have different experiences.
The irritation factor is always a main consideration, crox edges always irritate me.

But I usually recommend at least trying it because you never know who's going to like what.

 

[Razorfaust]

Pastes for me is what started it all in my journey. Until you learn some kind of stone set up or whatever you chose to hone with, pastes may just keep you going until that happens. I find substrate to be very important, balsa, linen, cotton, felt leather hell even cardboard can change things sometimes dramatically. I never had much luck with felt and diamond sprays. I just remembered kicking up a lot of diamond dust and getting keen but harsh irritating shaves. As Gamma mentioned Crox also irritates me around my mouth area when I use it so I followed up with some Iron oxide paste and that helped. The set up for pastes I eventually favored was, a small Herold leather loom strop, pasted with artist pigment grade powder Crox and Feox on opposite sides, blended with a little neatsfoot oil. most important to distribute the paste thinly and as evenly as you can. Pasty bumps can ruin things for you. In the end I rarely use this any more as I get a fine result from my hones. The paste solution works and is economical and people have been shaving off pastes probably as long as straights have been around. What can I say? It's an option but not mine any longer.

 

[buca3152]

Which seems to be on par for the course. Most guys "outgrow" them as they learn to max their stones out. I think i agree with about everything in this thread as ive been there at some point. Again, nothing wrong with any of them. Its always ymmv with everything in this hobby and most things in general. I see the value of them replacing stones. I also see value with clean linen strops that can keep an edge going a long time. The "clean" strop is pasted though as Ive heard there is some.silicone in the fibers of some fabrics. So do i use a "pasted strop" the answer is yes and no. Lol. But i have found the natural cloth to be far less abrasive and more agreeable to my skin. Is it cheating? No idea as I dont consider paste to be either. But i guess theres always going to be some form of criticism of any medium.

 

[seattleshaver]

How about a few more clarifications for those in the know? How can using crox irritation one around the mouth? Are you saying that the paste reside on the blade does that or that the polish pattern does that?

Since it's agreed that people were using pastes for many years in times past how is that consistent with pastes not improving the edge and maybe hurting the edge?

 

[Razorfaust]

The simple answer is that area of my face is the part that reacts( sensitivity) My face in general doesn't have sensitivity issues and can handle a lot of different types of soaps and edges without issue. But the around the corners of my mouth will get inflamed from certain types of edges. Crox although not present on the blade itself can give some irritation to those areas. Some of this may be user error but have found that augmenting the edge with Feox changed the edge in such a way to reduce this effect. I don't get this from any other of my finishing stones like Naniwa 12 or Gok 20 or Thuri. Just Crox. Its just my experience. Doesn't mean it will happen to you or anyone else. My face, my problem YMMV as usual.

 

[Kentos]

CBN sprays on hanging leather imparts a wonderfully sharp and smooth edge after finishing on a Jnat and tomo slurry. For all I know this merely is knocking off a wire edge and polishing up the bevel vs. actually further refining the bevel per se.

CBN on balsa not so much, CBN on hard felt is really rough.

10 laps is about all it needs, and YMMV goes without saying.