Pasted paddle strop

[Mike'sWorld]

I use this before almost every shave. It's a piece of whippeddog's leather scrap with his hanging hardware, backed by wood from a local crafts store and pasted with crox. It's about 4 inches wide and 18 inches long. It was very cheap to put together, basically just pocket change. I think the key to using something like this is not to wait until your razor needs it, to use it as maintenance only. It's the single biggest thing I've done to improve the quality of my blade edges. By the way, it looks like the crox is caked on in the pic, but it's only the thinnest of layers.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Nice field of green; Hans Hofmann would be proud. Otherwise, thanks for the post; I've been thinking about stropping regularly on crox of late.

 

[Neurotopia]

Personally I find CrOx too harsh. Maybe I'm just delicate

 

[Kentos]

Out of curiosity how many laps do you gents take on the green monster?

 

[Alum of Potash]

Out of curiosity how many laps do you gents take on the green monster?

Good question for the OP here. I am not stropping on crox on a daily (or regular) basis, just thinking about it, so my response risks to be OT. For a touch-up, how does 8 laps sound? Lacking a proper finishing hone, I have been using green Puma no. 3 "extrafein" paste, which I think is analogous to crox, on a small loom strop to bridge the gap from hones ranging from ~5-6k (Mueller nat., 6k Japanese art. water stone) to final stropping and shaving. Here, I try 40 laps on the paste, then 60 on leather, and then shave. First shave being raw, I then strop another 20 laps on the paste and then move to 40 laps linen and 60 laps leather before shaving. Second shave usually does the trick, and I don't use the paste any more, apart from the occasional 8-lap touch-up. Beyond this, it's around 30 laps on T-I alox-diamond followed by 8 laps crox which yields a pretty nice, "factory-style" edge IMO.

 

[Mike'sWorld]

Out of curiosity how many laps do you gents take on the green monster?

For me, not many, perhaps less than a dozen because I'm only using it as maintenance, it only takes a minute more than my regular pre shave stropping routine. After the crox, a quick rinse to remove the abrasive paste and to prevent contamination with my regular strops, then 20 on linen and 40 on leather. Sounds complicated but the whole thing takes only a minute or two.

 

[Kentos]

For me, not many, perhaps less than a dozen because I'm only using it as maintenance, it only takes a minute more than my regular pre shave stropping routine. After the crox, a quick rinse to remove the abrasive paste and to prevent contamination with my regular strops, then 20 on linen and 40 on leather. Sounds complicated but the whole thing takes only a minute or two.

I like complicated!

I used to strop daily 40 laps on .025 poly diamond on TM steerhide. It maintained the edge at super sharp levels for several weeks, after which the uneventfulness was bored me and I ventured into Kamisori and Jnats.

I thought of stropping daily on a larger micron spray, but wondered about premature rounding of the bevel. How long do you go between hone touchups?

I have since settled on .1 and .05 for weekly touchups, and going back to rocks once a month to 6 weeks.

 

[Alum of Potash]

I like complicated!

I used to strop daily 40 laps on .025 poly diamond on TM steerhide. It maintained the edge at super sharp levels for several weeks, after which the uneventfulness was bored me and I ventured into Kamisori and Jnats.

I thought of stropping daily on a larger micron spray, but wondered about premature rounding of the bevel. How long do you go between hone touchups?

I have since settled on .1 and .05 for weekly touchups, and going back to rocks once a month to 6 weeks.

How many razors were you using in your rotation here? Am I mistaken to think that it was just one?

 

[Kentos]

It was one GD razor. I think I went a few more weeks but stopped.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ce-Horsehide-and-Paragon-Steerhide?highlight=

 

[Alum of Potash]

Thanks, I'll study this a bit.

 

[Mike'sWorld]

I have perhaps a 10 to 20 straight razors in my rotation (and adding daily!), plus shaving with single and double edge razors, so it's infrequent that I use a hone to touch up. As in almost never. I have been straight razor shaving for two years now and the razors I started with are still going strong. I use a Spyderco UF for touch up honing and just bought an ebay giveaway vintage barber's hone as a more aggressive hone in case I need it. Whippeddog does all my initial honing.

 

[Kentos]

Ah...never? .

 

[Legion]

Out of curiosity how many laps do you gents take on the green monster?

About twenty on an 8" strop

 

[Mike'sWorld]

Ah...never? .

Basically.
As much as I love straight razors and everything associated with them, honing has always been just a chore for me. I've never successfully honed a pocket knife of kitchen knife before, so I've always tried to find ways not to hone my razors. I think I'm learning and gradually getting more comfortable with it, but will never enjoy honing.

 

[tomjr]

honing a piece of steel is on of life's true pleasures.

 

[Seraphim]

Out of curiosity how many laps do you gents take on the green monster?

In Boston it's called the Green Monstah

 

[nortac]

I usually strop 30 on CrOx/balsa then 30 on FeOx/balsa and 60 on leather for maintenance.

 

[Kentos]

Reason why I asked was I came to a personal conclusion that if more than 10-15 laps were needed to improve an edge, more time could have been used on the stones. In my case 5 laps on .1 and 5 laps on .05 are the difference.
One YouTube guy was doing a 100 laps on crox. While there is no right or wrong, I think he could have used more time bevel setting.

I know many eschew paste with the opinion you shouldn't need abrasives if you max out your edge on the stone. My theory is no stone has a particle size down to .1 and .05 micron, so I might die before achieving the same on a stone.

Do I really need such a keen blade? Yup! But of course YMMV

 

[Clovis Man]

I usually strop 30 on CrOx/balsa then 30 on FeOx/balsa and 60 on leather for maintenance.

Daily?

 

[Alum of Potash]

I usually strop 30 on CrOx/balsa then 30 on FeOx/balsa and 60 on leather for maintenance.

Isn't ferric oxide paste coarser than chromium oxide?