Picked up a bar of "eazypower" brand jewlers rouge today. I figured it would be somewhat easy to apply to either a rag for polishing or leather for stropping... was I wrong! This stuff is more or less like dry clay. Whats the trick to applying it to a strop? Should I wet it? Just rub it on with elbow grease? Also, can I use it with a cotton rag to buff with?
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Jewlers Rouge
- Thread starter Buck268
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If you're really dedicated you might be able to do that 
but it'll take you FOREVER most people use that with a buffing wheel that spins at a couple thousand rpm's. If you really want to try it though, heat the leather/rag first and then put it on
:edit to add: wow...somehow I missed the stropping part, I've just used a heat gun for that
but it'll take you FOREVER most people use that with a buffing wheel that spins at a couple thousand rpm's. If you really want to try it though, heat the leather/rag first and then put it on:edit to add: wow...somehow I missed the stropping part, I've just used a heat gun for that
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My polish comes kinda like a crayon so I just rub it onto my strop. I've heard that some people use some kind of oil to help apply it but I'm not sure how the process is though.
annr
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See Leonard Lee's book, box on p.46. To recap: He explains that compounds dry out over time. He goes on to describe how professional polishers, (the ones I know use jewler's rouge so this may apply) prep the felt wheel with "diluted animal glue or fish glue" or to prepare the felt (in another fashion) and dress it with hard fat or mineral oil.
Yeah, they had a bunch of polishing/cutting compounds at the hardware store, but I've heard of people stropping with jewelers rouge so I figured I'd give it a try. Might pick up a bar of the stainless steel polishing compound and see how that does. Seems to me the rouge does the same thing as my Mothers metal polish, just slower and less effectively.
I like to try different compounds too, although I'm only stropping and not polishing my blades for appearance. Here's a site with a bunch of different compounds. I've even heard of some folks using lapping compounds.
Mostly I use the green crayon-like chromium dioxide stuff and the Flexcut gold, which is a mix of aluminum and titanium oxides. The Flexcut is a bit more aggressive. I use them to polish my carving knives' edges to a mirror finish so I can push them through the wood fibers. You don't want to "saw" through the fibers because it separates them and leaves a fuzzy finish.
Mostly I use the green crayon-like chromium dioxide stuff and the Flexcut gold, which is a mix of aluminum and titanium oxides. The Flexcut is a bit more aggressive. I use them to polish my carving knives' edges to a mirror finish so I can push them through the wood fibers. You don't want to "saw" through the fibers because it separates them and leaves a fuzzy finish.
For edge refining I find lapping films or pastes/slurries the way to go. These should work equally well for polishing as it was what they are intended for.
US Products sells Borazon (Cubic Boron Nitride - CBN), diamond, and even Linde B at 0.03µ micron (though I haven't tried it... yet) I haven't noticed any major differences in the oil-soap or water soluble products. Which they have but isn't mentioned on their site. Diamond at 0.25µ on leather or paper refines HARD edges well. US Products does have more available than shown on their web site. I've used only the Borazon and Diamond in the high concentration pastes.
Chromium Oxide at 0.5µ seems to be pretty standard for final sharpening on leather hones/strops and is available in a large number of places. PSA Films, powder, paste, slurry, or polishing bars are all available. Lee Valley Tools green bar is the big waxy crayon type. A bar of that will last years.
US Products sells Borazon (Cubic Boron Nitride - CBN), diamond, and even Linde B at 0.03µ micron (though I haven't tried it... yet) I haven't noticed any major differences in the oil-soap or water soluble products. Which they have but isn't mentioned on their site. Diamond at 0.25µ on leather or paper refines HARD edges well. US Products does have more available than shown on their web site. I've used only the Borazon and Diamond in the high concentration pastes.
Chromium Oxide at 0.5µ seems to be pretty standard for final sharpening on leather hones/strops and is available in a large number of places. PSA Films, powder, paste, slurry, or polishing bars are all available. Lee Valley Tools green bar is the big waxy crayon type. A bar of that will last years.