Thread: high grit then paste

I have to say when I first heard about felt I was quite excited. And then bummed when I learned I couldn't get any from HandAmerican. Now that I know where to get some I am happy again. I just think felt is a very cool material. Not the craft store stuff but more like beaver felt of a cowboy hat.

Jimmy what I hear in a process like yours, and such things are said a lot here/ xxx didn't work, back to the hones then yyy and snap it was sharp... is more time sharpening.

[quote=kevint;297701Jimmy what I hear in a process like yours, and such things are said a lot here/ xxx didn't work, back to the hones then yyy and snap it was sharp... is more time sharpening.[/quote]
That may have been it. Probably a combination of all of it.

hee hee. yes it must be a combination of all of it 'cause that's what happened.

Originally Posted by kevint

what was the edge dimension you achieved?

fwiw .0001 inch is about 2.5 micron. I think you left out a zero

Oh I am quite sure I don't know what the actual number is
I never professed to be that smart guy that actually figured it out...

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

FWIW, I had used the paddle strop with 0.5 paste spread on it for the ATS 34 and it didn't get it. Of course I did go back to the hones with it but when I gave it 20 laps on that new felt strop Lynn put out with the 0.5 diamond spray it was like a different razor.

This was the first time I had used a hanging strop with paste. So it may be the strop, or it may be the spray as opposed to the paste or a combination of the two?

One way or the other it worked like a charm. The spray,needless to say,goes on a lot more evenly then the paste did. That also may have something to do with it. I followed the instructions and just gave it a light coating. I let it dry overnight too.

I have one of those SRD Felt strops too Jimmy and am very happy with the results...
When Lynn and I were at the NC meet up I used his HA bench felt strop with the spray and was very impressed with the way it worked... So when I found out he and Don were getting the hanging one in I was right there waiting Personally I like using all my pastes with a hanging strop but I always hesitate to post that, because a pasted hanger in the wrong hands can be the fastest edge destoyer you have ever seen...

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Originally Posted by kevint

Jimmy what I hear in a process like yours, and such things are said a lot here/ xxx didn't work, back to the hones then yyy and snap it was sharp... is more time sharpening.

That may have been it. Probably a combination of all of it.

A strop with pastes is able to shape a convexity to the bevel. That really is a very powerful option to quickly reach sharpness. A flat hone, on the contrary, needs to remove a layer of steel off the entire bevel, to approach keenness. Wide bevels on hard steel in combination with very low pressure, can make that process on the hones very slow.
Your problem razor was a wedge. I bet it has a wide bevel, and possibly also wide spine wear. I understand that you rely on magnification to evaluate the state of the bevel. Unfortunately, you can't see the width of the apex with a microscope. Convexity: yes. Double bevels: yes. Microchips: yes. Bevel planes meeting each other at a keen line: NO.

That makes me speculate that your success lies in the convexing of the edge. Which is fine of course. Your whiskers won't tell the difference. I have reasons to believe that too much away-from-the-edge honing (stropping) leads to a less durable edge. But what is too much?

In the end, it does not matter. I would never rule out pastes for the sake of merely ruling them out.

Bart.

I don't know the science of it. I'm trying to learn the art. I go through the motions and if it comes out sharp I am happy and if not I try again until it does. I won't rule pastes out but as I have said before I want to get to the point where I can get a razor as sharp as it can get on a hone alone. If I ever get that good at it I probably won't mind using the pastes. I won't feel like I am using them to make up for a lack in my honing ability but rather to add to the quality of the edge. Only a hone freak like me would understand where I'm coming from but that is where I'm at with it.

Boy would I be surprised if just a hanging leather strop upped my keenness.

A paddle I think is more hone like so one must guide the edge to get coverage. A hanger or even a loom I guess allows the razor to shape the strop for coverage.

I would never dismiss paste for spite I'm sure I like them.

Having at least 3 different finish stones right on the tip of my checkbook pen I thought i should get you guys talking. (talking help me think

If you strop on a hard material like wood, you don't get that convex edge effect. A hone-finished blade and a strop-finished blade gives a different shave feeling.

Originally Posted by cotdt

If you strop on a hard material like wood, you don't get that convex edge effect. A hone-finished blade and a strop-finished blade gives a different shave feeling.

Whatever you finish the blade on gives a different feeling, whether that's a Shapton 16K, a Chosera 10K, a Norton 8K, a coticule, a leather strop with CrO, a felt strop with diamond spray. They all feel different. Even the hone that precedes the finisher may shine though the final results.

Let's dive in deep. Here's my theory:

Convexity or not, stropping draws out a bur. This is not a bad thing as such. It is also called a fin, and it is the purpose of plain leather stropping to restore the fin. Fins are drawn out of the steel by a process that Verhoeven calls "plastic deformation", and the steel lacks the original hardness. Therefor the need to realign the fin prior to each shave. The more keenness you lack after the hones, the more you will rely on pasted stropping to make up for that. The fin will be larger. Large fins are weaker. On a pasted hanging strop, convexing comes into play. This might keep the fin a bit shorter for the same keenness.

On a well honed blade, very little pasted stropping is needed, to add a little extra to the edge. Maybe the fin even benefits from it.

That's my premise right now.
Shoot at will.

Bart.

I just don't believe there is a "recipe"-ALL blades are different. So what if you need to go to paste? Who cares? Is the razor SHARP?

If it is sharp and you ENJOY the shave-