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i did something and it worked but it shouldent have

i did something i didnt think was possible i sharpened all three of my razors far more sharp than i have ever gotten them before using green rouge on a canvas strop even my near wedge i mean no tugging or pulling the hair just pops off with no pressure but the weight of the blades. i know that honing is important. but forwhatever reason this worked. i tried the first razor and ive never gotten this close or smooth of a shave from any other system. even better than a de blade!!!! and my near edge wasnt cutting at all before the canvas with green rouge? thoughts?
 
I'm assuming you are talking about CrOx? CrOx on canvas was how I refreshed my straight for several years before it needed honing. (Note: I was only using it to edge my beard and shave my neck at the time.) It's effective. A "method" edge is significantly sharper but a CrOx pasted strop will keep you in business for a while.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
CrO works well for a while. Eventually your edge will get rounded and need a bevel refresh to bring it back. This rounding process is ever-so slight and is often not noticed until the bevel is refreshed.

Once CrO is applied to a strop (cloth or leather) it is effectively there forever. If you ever need a clean strop, you will need a new one.

I'm a diamond pasted balsa strop user. I prefer a fresh edge with every shave. That reminds me, time for my morning SR shave.
 
i did something i didnt think was possible i sharpened all three of my razors far more sharp than i have ever gotten them before using green rouge on a canvas strop even my near wedge i mean no tugging or pulling the hair just pops off with no pressure but the weight of the blades. i know that honing is important. but forwhatever reason this worked. i tried the first razor and ive never gotten this close or smooth of a shave from any other system. even better than a de blade!!!! and my near edge wasnt cutting at all before the canvas with green rouge? thoughts?

"green rouge" is an oxymoron,
but I liked your post anyway.
 
The usage of CrO and FeO for sharpening / maintaining straight razors has a long tradition in Europe. Why do you think it should not work?

I recommend reading the series "pasted strop" at science of sharp. He is using diamond paste on a hanging strop, but the same basic principles apply to CrO. The positive effects on the edge (reduce edge width & burr removal) are the same.

 
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The usage of CrO and FeO for sharpening / maintaining straight razors has a long tradition in Europe. Why do you think it should not work?

I recommend reading the series "pasted strop" at science of sharp. He is using diamond paste on a hanging strop, but the same basic principles apply to CrO. The positive effects on the edge (reduce edge width & burr removal) are the same.

ive always been told you had to use stones
 

Legion

Staff member
ive always been told you had to use stones
When I was learning I would finish with CrOx after my finishing hone just to bump the sharpness up a step.

Eventually I guess my honing improved to a point that I didn't need it any more, and I found I preferred the feel of the shave off the stone, but CrOx is an easy way to get sharp.
 
Isn't "rouge" another term for paste? I like to use Solingen red paste and black paste on toothy vegetable-tanned leather to touch up the edge as needed from time to time. Overuse tends to lead to a harsh edge.
 

Legion

Staff member
Isn't "rouge" another term for paste? I like to use Solingen red paste and black paste on toothy vegetable-tanned leather to touch up the edge as needed from time to time. Overuse tends to lead to a harsh edge.
Rouge is french for red. It is used in a honing context for "jewellers rouge" compound, which has red iron oxide in it.

I guess that would make CrOx compound Verte? I dunno.
 
The usage of CrO and FeO for sharpening / maintaining straight razors has a long tradition in Europe. Why do you think it should not work?

I recommend reading the series "pasted strop" at science of sharp. He is using diamond paste on a hanging strop, but the same basic principles apply to CrO. The positive effects on the edge (reduce edge width & burr removal) are the same.

One observation he made was that the type of substrate used was important. Paste on fabric or balsa gave better results then leather.
 
One observation he made was that the type of substrate used was important. Paste on fabric or balsa gave better results then leather.
If I remember correctly he gets the best results from a progression using a coarser abrasive on fabric first and finishing on a 0.1 diamond spray on leather.
 
If I remember correctly he gets the best results from a progression using a coarser abrasive on fabric first and finishing on a 0.1 diamond spray on leather.
With his method he uses edge trailing strokes on his stones/dmt plates to create a wire edge. Then he strops the the razor with a metal polish compound on denim to remove the wire edge. In this phase he claims that the abrasive particle size is not that important. You now have a convex bevel, which you strop on leather loaded with finer diamond compound to create your final edge. I have not tried this method. He claims that you can strop the razor almost indefinitely without creating a wire edge this way.
In my opinion, if you only focus on the apex of your edge you are basically creating a meat cleaver edge. The apex radius is small enough, but will not cut beard as well as a thinner concave bevel. That is a different discussion. This is the problem i have with feather pro blades. They like my skin better then my beard.
A pasted edge will shave just fine, but will be more harsh on your skin then a thinner bevel with a little more forgiving apex radius. There is no way around this. To compensate for the added thickness you create from using balsa or other pasted substrates, you need a smaller apex radius to be able the cut the beard with the same force.

My biggest improvement in shaving comfort and efficiency came when i realized that the geometry of the bevel is just as important as the apex radius. You give up something in the pursuit of something else.
 
Rouge is french for red. It is used in a honing context for "jewellers rouge" compound, which has red iron oxide in it.

I guess that would make CrOx compound Verte? I dunno.
The Solingen pastes run green, red, and black in ascending fineness. I suppose that would be chromium oxide, red ferric oxide, and black ferric oxide, with the matrix of suspension perhaps affecting things as well. I have seen someone use a block paste described as "jeweler's rouge" that was entirely white, so I wonder what was being used there. Aluminum oxide?

From Le nouveau petit Littré (2009 ed.): [Rouge à polir] substance dont on se sert pour polir les metaux, les pierres dures, les glaces, etc. Yes, "rouge" originally referred to a substance like red ochre, but with continued use, my sense is that it has subsequently been used to refer to a sharpening paste more generally, independent of the color.
 
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