failing with the strop

williamsld8

williamsld8

Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
226
so I purchased some leather with green stropping compound to finish my edges after the dmt extra fine treatment. Now I'm stuck on smething. I can't get that mirror finish. Do I ned to go to the extra extra fine first? Or is the jump from extra fine to the coumpound quite alright? And am I mistaken in my understanding of being able to attain a mirror finish with green compound? Because I was under the impression that that's all you need to finish with.
 
williamsld8 said:
so I purchased some leather with green stropping compound to finish my edges after the dmt extra fine treatment. Now I'm stuck on smething. I can't get that mirror finish. Do I ned to go to the extra extra fine first? Or is the jump from extra fine to the coumpound quite alright? And am I mistaken in my understanding of being able to attain a mirror finish with green compound? Because I was under the impression that that's all you need to finish with.
Click to expand...

You're thinking in the right direction. You would benefit in using a finer stone (such as the EEF diamond, or a Fine/EF ceramic) before going to the strop. Your finest stone should start to produce at least a 'near mirror' finish (should be able to see your reflection). Then, a strop with green compound (or diamond paste/spray) would further shine it up. Beyond that, stropping on bare leather will take it a bit further.
 
yup, you missed a step.

Just like you can not Spackle a 3 inch wide crack in the wall with joint compound, you should not attempt to polish a 9 micron scratch pattern with 0.5 micron compound.

I use at least one step in between there (3 micron)...and even that takes a long time to really get a good mirror polish.
 
And to clarify...you COULD polish out 9 micron scratches with 0.5 micron compound, but it will take a VERY VERY long time to do a reasonable job with it.

I use the analogy of filling an Olympic swimming pool with a 1 gallon bucket...it can be done, but it takes a very long time.
 
so adding that step between, and then using plain leather after,i should be able to see myself reflecting off the blade?
 
williamsld8 said:
so adding that step between, and then using plain leather after,i should be able to see myself reflecting off the blade?
Click to expand...

IF you're patient, and take your time with the finishing stones (EF and EEF), it shouldn't be difficult to get there. It also helps greatly to gradually lighten your pressure, especially with the finishing stones (Fine/EF/EEF) to begin to produce that mirror finish (or nearly so). The idea is to completely remove the coarser scratch patterns from the previous stone, BEFORE moving on to the next stone. By the time you get to the EEF, you should be using VERY LIGHT pressure to gently polish any remaining scratches away. If you take the time to do that, the mirror finish should begin to 'shine', so to speak. Follow that with the green compound on leather. Then, if you wish, finish with bare leather stropping.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top