What strop paste to use?

[Steelspike]

Hi all,
I have been using my cut throat straight out of the box for a few weeks now and it has become quite too blunt to use. Obviously it needs stropping, but I am at a loss as to what type of paste to use. I have a 2 piece strop, one piece is 3mm brown full grain leather, the other piece seems to be a 2mm soft black fabric backed(artificial?) leather. What grade of paste would people recommend to use on which piece of my strop?
Regards,
Andi

 

[ouch]

When you say "it needs stropping", I'm sure you realize it needs stropping every time you use it. I believe you mean it needs touching up, or even a complete honing.

When you're new, it's easy to dull the edge quickly, and difficult to assess the work it requires to restore keenness.

Do you use cotton/linen as well as leather to strop? A common paste is CrOx, readily available, inexpensive, and a 0.5 micron grit. However, if your edge is too far gone, it may need some work on stones.

 

[RF1963]

If you're planning to use pastes you'll need a second strop. One to use daily, one to load with pastes. This link http://www.thiers-issard.co.uk/SharpeninginstructionsDiamond.pdf will give you the details on how to use the TI Diamond Pastes. There are other systems but this is the one I use to refresh my blades every 3 weeks and can recommend.

Having just reread your post I note you used it straight out of the box. Did it come to you as "shave ready". If it came to you in factory condition it was sharp but nowhere near sharp enough. Razors out of the factory need to be refined by someone using a number of stones to bring them to shave ready. The labour involved makes this exercise uneconomical for the factory to do. If it wasn't made shave ready I suggest you send it to Steve at http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/index.html . I note you're in the UK and Steve is a valuable resource for all straight shaving matters and he is the UK distributor for the TI system.

 

[Legion]

I use a balsa bench strop with .5 micron chromium Oxide for touch ups and as a final polish after a 12k when honing.