The Secret To Creating The Perfect Straight Razor

Well it is a bit insane – but I say that in a good way! And of course the 0.025 micron is twice as fine! Sharpening insanity is a specialty around here.

I know Clay is a very busy guy, but he has some nanocloth for the WE and is going to do some testing with compounds as fine as the 0.025 and as coarse as he wants to go (I have CBN up to 80 microns 🙂 , so I’m anxious to know how this project works out. If anything, I’m becoming more impressed with how much difference it is making at coarser grits. Finer grits – well it’s a no brainer at this point 🙂

Clay is working on an order but if you just can’t wait, just send me a message and I’ll get you going in the mean time.

I’m also going to go to BLADE in Atlanta so hopefully I’ll see some of you guys at the show in the WE booth!

Leo, the nanocloth itself has as close to no effect at all – so when you put the compound on it the effect is a PURE compound effect – no effect from the nanocloth so no scratches from the substrate like you see with balsa or leather, with the exception to date being the kangaroo leather. At this point the race is between the nanocloth and the ‘roo – both (IMO) giving exceptionl results.

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Ken

Here’s a second video he did demonstrating a new technique using a lght moistening spray. Not sure if this helps or not, but it certainly looks promising. I’m impressed with how it also gets out some of those residual deep scratches in addition to refining the finish.

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Ken

Hi Ken, you already told me about poly diamond sprays versus mono diamond sprays: poly has more cutting surfaces which results in a faster cutting rate. Can you tell me how CBN fits in there?

I tend to use CBN most often of the three. The finest I can get CBN is tenth Micron, so past there I use Poly. I do carry poly in tenth and finer (0.050 and 0.025) but also coarser grits up to 4 microns. For straight razor usage, CBN tends to feel smoother, yet when going past quarter microns, especially 0.1 and beyond poly is quite comfortable too. Some of my customers prefer poly over CBN and will pay the additional cost of Poly – easily the most expensive of the 4 choices.

I find that there really isn’t any steel I’ve come across that CBN won’t cut. There is the theoretical consideration that CBN doesn’t interfere with the carbon content of steel that diamond does, but this really only applies at higher temperature. CBN is second only to diamond in hardness. Although more expensive than mono diamond, I find it very effective for all knife steels, with the poly giving a bit more of a toothy edge.

So the combination of affordability and good results over a wide range of grits make CBN my first choice. I do carry monocrystalline diamond in 0.025, 0.050 0.1 for those that prefer mono, but don’t carry coarser mono since good quality mono is already available in these sizes.

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Ken