Which last paste?

[jonnyt]

So my set-up is pretty complete for my purposes of keeping a couple of razors shave ready for months or years inbetween sending them to hone meisters, I'm using a paddle with Dovo Red on one side and Black on the other and I'm looking to get either Crox or a 0.5 micron diamond paste to add to my Latigo Tony Miller practice strop for the final polishing surface.

My question is should I go for crox or the diamond paste? And which side should I apply it to, the smooth front or the rougher back of the practice strop? I'm thinking that the front may be more suitable but it might be an idea to put 0.5 on the back so that in the future if I want to try 0.25 diamond paste, the smooth front side will be free. I'm not going to touch my main strop with any pastes.

 

[mparker762]

The dovo red/black combination is sufficient, if less sexy than diamond or chrome oxide. I've gotten some of my best shaves off of the dovo black paste.

 

[r0ckrat]

Doesn't the TM Practice strop come impregnated with a paste of some sort on the back already? Or am I thinking of another brand.

 

[leighton]

Doesn't the TM Practice strop come impregnated with a paste of some sort on the back already? Or am I thinking of another brand.

Thats the Filly strop.

I like the way crox works on leather.

 

[jonnyt]

The dovo red/black combination is sufficient, if less sexy than diamond or chrome oxide. I've gotten some of my best shaves off of the dovo black paste.

As I understand, the black paste is 1 - 2 microns, ie 6000 to 8000 grit equivalent. You don't think the blade would benefit from polishing on something a little finer?

I like the way crox works on leather.

So you'd recommend crox over diamond paste for the practice strop? Will it be best on the rough back or smooth front?

 

[mparker762]

As I understand, the black paste is 1 - 2 microns, ie 6000 to 8000 grit equivalent. You don't think the blade would benefit from polishing on something a little finer?


So you'd recommend crox over diamond paste for the practice strop? Will it be best on the rough back or smooth front?

If by "something finer" you mean something like diamond or chrome oxide or such, then you'll need to go to something along the lines of 0.25 or 0.1 micron diamond to get a sharper finish.

Micron size isn't a very significant number by itself - it's really only useful when comparing otherwise identical abrasives, like 1 micron diamond to 0.5 micron diamond. The reason is that the micron size is a measure of the abrasive particle size but what we're interested in is the size of the scratch that the particle leaves in the steel, and this is dependent on the hardness of the particle, the shape of the particle, the exposure of the particle on the surface of the hone, etc. For example 0.5 micron chrome oxide produces a finer edge than 0.5 micron diamond even though they're nominally the same particle size, which is the big reason it is usually recommended over the diamond in that range. As for the dovo black paste it may be ~1 micron, but it's 1 micron graphite not 1 micron diamond, and it polishes much more finely than 1 micron diamond.

Extreme examples of this phenomenon are the belgian coticule which is generally agreed to produce an edge that is much better than an 8k norton, yet the garnets in a coticule are in the area of 8-18 microns across whereas the norton uses ~3 micron particles, or the Charnley Forest which has particles in the 1000-1200 grit range, and which some feel produces an edge comparable to the high-end japanese natural hones with particles in the 20,000 grit range. In the case of both the coticule and Charnley Forest their abrasive particles are roundish instead of sharp and jagged, so the particles don't remove as much metal as you'd think from looking at their size. And all the various arkansas hones from the coarse fast white to the fine slow translucent all contain the same size abrasive particles, the thing that determines how fine the hone is, is how densely these particles are packed together - paradoxically the finest hones have the most abrasives, but they're packed extremely tightly so no individual abrasive particle has very much exposure to the blade.

The biggest downside of the dovo black paste is that it just isn't as sexy as something exotic like diamond or chrome oxide or aluminum oxide (sapphire). That, and it's a bit messy though chrome oxide is pretty bad in that department as well.

 

[GsSixgun]

The CrOx is probably the most used around the forums but like Mr Parker said the Dovo works rather well too...

Some of this depends of the razor too,

Here are some generalities by no means a definite guide...

Sheffield steel = Dovo or CrOx

Spanish steel = CrOx

German steel = Diamond or CrOx

American Steel = Diamond

Swedish steel = Diamond or CrOx

Again this is by no means a rock solid guide but it is a way to start

Also the new sexy paste/powder is Cerium Oxide and it seems to be universal so far....

Much of this is personal preference too BTW....

 

[mparker762]

Also the new sexy paste/powder is Cerium Oxide and it seems to be universal so far....

Mine hasn't worked terribly well on anything, but it's possible that mine is too coarse. The store I bought it from didn't make any micron claims, but then I haven't seen Cerium Oxide for sale anywhere with actual micron dimensions. But I haven't really kept up with SRP lately so maybe they've figured out which flavor of it is the good stuff.