There's 2 ways to get a 30K edge. You can either spend $300+ dollars each on a few synthetic stones, or you can do what I did and spend $5.95+ shipping and get this .5 chromium oxide paste and apply it to a strop. There's also various forms of this media in sprays, sticks and crayons. For years I heard that this was harsh and after shaving off a friend's Arkansas oil stone edge followed by a .5 chrox pasted strop, I realized that was a false statement and ordered some:
These little sample scoops that came with my WTF sample kit came in handy. You apply a nice even thin coat. Remember that a little bit goes a long way and that you don't need much:
This is how it should look after you have spread it evenly along the strop and here's a little tip. Take a spray bottle and lightly spray a little bit of water while spreading the paste along the fabric side of your strop. It will keep the paste from drying out and make it easier to spread. Don't use water if you are applying it to leather. That specific tip is for fabric strops only :
Next I took a cotton terry cloth and wiped the strop down to spread it a little bit more and to even out the coating of the paste. As you can see it's a messy deal but it cleans up easy with soap and water:
Here's how it looks after wiping it down and making sure that it's even along the strop:
^ Now I have to let this dry for a minimum of 24 hours before using it. And since I just got some new DE blades in, it will get 48 hours of total drying time and I will wipe it down again in 24 hours to remove the excess that might be left behind. I personally don't think it will take that long considering that it's still pretty warm here and as you can see in the photo, it's already drying pretty quickly. I'm also looking at the diamond sprays and another strop over at Straight Razor Designs. I seen a really nice fabric strop over there that I want to use other pastes and sprays on.
