Help with honing and compound progression.

[Stapelfeld]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to pick your brain and hopefully learn something from you guys. I will go over my grit progression when honing my blade and ask my question at the end.

To set a bevel I use a 1500 shapton.

If not setting a bevel it goes like this:

Shapton 5,000 - Shapton 8,000 - Naniwa Gouken 12,000 to finish.

Now for my question:

The Naniwa Gouken would theoretically give my straight razor a micron finish of about 1.0 but after I use my Naniwa I strop my blade on clean leather but I wonder if I can use my green compound on the leather and if this would help but the green compound I have I believe is about a 3.0 micron finish. In this case is it better to finish on raw leather or is touching it up on the green compound ok and if so what benefits does it have?

Thank you very much.

 

[Mr Bedlington]

You could use diamond emulsion 0.5 which is about 50,000 grit rating or 0.2.5 if you so wished which is about 100,000 + grit rating. don't use much just one or two squirts A fine mist spray is more than enough over leather, and leave it to dry before stropping, it dries extremely quickly if you use very little.

 

[Stapelfeld]

You could use diamond emulsion 0.5 which is about 50,000 grit rating or 0.2.5 if you so wished which is about 100,000 + grit rating. don't use much just one or two squirts A fine mist spray is more than enough over leather, and leave it to dry before stropping, it dries extremely quickly if you use very little.

I do have a 0.50 diamond emulsion that I could use but I was wondering if using green compound is beneficial or if it actually ruins the edge left by the naniwa 12k… what do you think?

 

[Mr Bedlington]

I do have a 0.50 diamond emulsion that I could use but I was wondering if using green compound is beneficial or if it actually ruins the edge left by the naniwa 12k… what do you think?

I don't use compounds on my razors or strops, I do use it on my paddle strop for my knives if I did I would choose the diamond 0.2.5 over the Chromium Oxide as it does offer more refinement and it's cleaner less mess and works better.

 

[life2short1971]

I don’t think it will harm it. I use the Naniwa NK-2291 12k as my finisher and then I use a denim strop I made from an old pair of pants with the black paste that comes in a small bar wrapped in blue foil starting with 20-30 passes and a shave test which I usually do another 20 or so passes and I’m happy. I do clean the blade very well before stropping on leather after the paste. On leather I do about 30-40 every shave.

Oh and one little tip is to put the black paste and red one also in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before use and you’ll be glad you did.

 

[*stefan*]

I don’t think it will harm it. I use the Naniwa NK-2291 12k as my finisher and then I use a denim strop I made from an old pair of pants with the black paste that comes in a small bar wrapped in blue foil starting with 20-30 passes and a shave test which I usually do another 20 or so passes and I’m happy. I do clean the blade very well before stropping on leather after the paste. On leather I do about 30-40 every shave.

Oh and one little tip is to put the black paste and red one also in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before use and you’ll be glad you did.

Is it the Solingen black paste?

The red works fine with denim strop for me.
The black is finer? I tested the black on leather but couldn't detect any difference to the edge after.

 

[*stefan*]

I do have a 0.50 diamond emulsion that I could use but I was wondering if using green compound is beneficial or if it actually ruins the edge left by the naniwa 12k… what do you think?

My experience with pasted leather is 0.2 micron diamond paste works better than 0.5 micron that works better than 1 micron.

Think (your) 3 micron works better on a denim or linen strop.
And would be suitable after 8000# stone or even 5000# stone.
And after the 3m pasted denim/linen use diamond pasted leather or a finisher.

What you read out of this is don't take a specific progression/media for granted but test some variants and see what may work for you.

 

[life2short1971]

Is it the Solingen black paste?

The red works fine with denim strop for me.
The black is finer? I tested the black on leather but couldn't detect any difference to the edge after.


View attachment 1707135

I can’t use diamond. I’ve never been able to.
Yes the black is finer what are you using it on? I use denim and I do around 40 passes in total but I start with twenty and shave. If I’m not happy I stop the shave just long enough to 20 more then I clean the blade well and add 30-40 passes on my leather strop and relather my face and finish my shave.

 

[*stefan*]

Nice looking denim strop. Have you made it? If yes how did you fold and stit
ch?
I only used the black paste on leatber

 

[life2short1971]

Nice looking denim strop. Have you made it? If yes how did you fold and stit
ch?
I only used the black paste on leatber

Yes I made it from a pant leg of a pair Levis that do not have the spandex stretchy stuff in them and fabric glue that comes in a sheet. There is no stitching,the fabric glue keeps the ends from fraying on e side and the other side is folded which is the side I strop on.
I just put a strip of the fabric glue down and folded the denim over and it bonded together with heat from the iron.
I’ve tried various materials for the red and black pastes and denim is my preferred surface currently.

 

[Frank Shaves]

When I started my journey (almost three years ago), I needed to use 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron diamond paste on balsa to get a satisfactory edge. I am now able to achieve a satisfactory edge using a Naniwa Gouken 12k and no longer use diamond paste. That said, I have heard good things about this TI paste and that it bumps up a 12k and Coticule edge:

If I were to use the TI paste, I would probably buy an inexpensive leather bench strop like this or try the paste on a piece of balsa or denim:

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

It depends on what you are after in a pasted strop. Diamonds and CBN will add keenness and a bit of comfort but can be aggressive.

Which Green paste do you have? Pure Chrome Oxide is .50um and about 20-30k, will add a bit keenness and comfort to a 12k edge.

The easiest way to test is to paste the inside of a cardboard cereal box, and strop on the edge of a bench.

Or go to a fabric store and buy 2-inch nylon or cotton strapping, about $2-5 a yard and some 2 in D rings from Tandy or Ace hardware, make some strops. You can “glue” the end over the D ring with iron on fusing tape, (fabric store).

When applying paste, less is more. ½ inch X 3 inch X’s is plenty of paste.

Paste is very subjective, a lot depends on how the razor is honed, your stropping skill and what your skin can handle.

 

[DrStrange]

It depends on what you are after in a pasted strop. Diamonds and CBN will add keenness and a bit of comfort but can be aggressive.

Which Green paste do you have? Pure Chrome Oxide is .50um and about 20-30k, will add a bit keenness and comfort to a 12k edge.

The easiest way to test is to paste the inside of a cardboard cereal box, and strop on the edge of a bench.

Or go to a fabric store and buy 2-inch nylon or cotton strapping, about $2-5 a yard and some 2 in D rings from Tandy or Ace hardware, make some strops. You can “glue” the end over the D ring with iron on fusing tape, (fabric store).

When applying paste, less is more. ½ inch X 3 inch X’s is plenty of paste.

Paste is very subjective, a lot depends on how the razor is honed, your stropping skill and what your skin can handle.

Chromium oxide comes in whichever particle size they want to sell it.

The stuff I use is 0.3 microns.

Chromium Oxide Paste

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Chromium Oxide Paste 0.3 Micron for Leather Strop Sharpening Straight Razors - Etsy

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[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yes, and Chinese stones are 16-20k.

You can buy 99% pure Chrome Oxide for a fraction of the cost.

 

[DrStrange]

Yes, and Chinese stones are 16-20k.

You can buy 99% pure Chrome Oxide for a fraction of the cost.

Even by the kilogram, 0.3 micron crox is easy to find.

Page 2:

Predominant particle size (µm) approx. 0.3

https://shop.kremerpigments.com/elements/resources/products/files/44200e.pdf

 

[JPO]

I would first see how well the edge perfomes after the 12k, linen and leather. To add something extra I would do maybe 10 to 15 laps on denim or some type of fabric loaded with crox if that us what you have.
I would start with a hard backed strop, not a hanging strop. You just need some light short strokes.

 

[life2short1971]

I just picked up what was called an ultra fine Arkansas and the edges it provides are quite comfortable as a finisher after an 8k synthetic and I’m quite happy without needing a pasted strop afterwords. Just contact me if and when your ready to try an edge.