Cotton wheel polishing compound

[Bearzilla911]

Hello knife people. I’m just looking for a recommendation on what polishing compound to get for a 6 inch cotton wheel for a bench grinder. I have an old bar of green polishing compound but it doesn’t seem to go on that well. It’s also 25 years old, but I don’t know if that makes a difference as it feels the way it did when I got it. I use that on a standard belt for stropping. Just wondering what you guys use on your cotton wheels. This would be for standard stainless steel polishing, primarily for knives or ax heads.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Your grinder is probably 3450RPM. These throw off polish pretty easily. Green chrome is generally the accepted polish for stainless steel.
Try starting your grinder-getting it up to full speed, then turn it off and apply the compound to the wheel as it's slowing down. You may have to do this several times.

 

[Bearzilla911]

You are absolutely correct on the speed. I will definitely try that on the slow down. Great idea. Thanks!