New to stropping, what compound to start with??

bodydamage

bodydamage

Joined
Jan 10, 2007
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Last night as work, I spent some quality time with the back of a legal pad and WOW, what an edge.. I followed it up with the belt, but really didnt notice much of a difference.. What compound should I start with on the belt?? Most of you guys buy your compound at Woodcraft right??
 
Some may argue that the quality is not the best, but I've had excellent results using two compounds from Harbor Freight Tools.
The black compound is fairly coarse: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96779,
while the green is very fine: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96778

Load each side of a belt or strop with these, black on one side, green on the other. Squirt a little Zippo lighter fluid on the leather and rub the compound stick on it to get a uniform load. The lighter fluid will evaporate, leaving the strop loaded. When you need to reload, just Zippo the leather, scrub the old compound off with a wad of paper towels and re-rub with the compound sticks. :)

The black will remove honing scratches from your ceramic rods, stones, etc, and the green will final polish the edge.
 
So where should I go from there?? Cardboard loaded with coarse compound?? Or a coarser stone for the Gatco.??
 
flashlife said:
Some may argue that the quality is not the best, but I've had excellent results using two compounds from Harbor Freight Tools.
The black compound is fairly coarse: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96779,
while the green is very fine: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96778

The black will remove honing scratches from your ceramic rods, stones, etc, and the green will final polish the edge.
Click to expand...

i noticed that they have a white compound also. ever use that? is that even finer for polishing?
 
Jeff H. said:
i noticed that they have a white compound also. ever use that? is that even finer for polishing?
Click to expand...

I haven't used Harbor Freight's white compound, just the black and green.
It's difficult to find the real grit sizes, since they list them by useage, rather than grit. The in-store price is $4.99 ea, while the website price is $3.99...
somebody should buy all six of them and report back. :)
 
flashlife said:
I haven't used Harbor Freight's white compound, just the black and green.
It's difficult to find the real grit sizes, since they list them by useage, rather than grit. The in-store price is $4.99 ea, while the website price is $3.99...
somebody should buy all six of them and report back. :)
Click to expand...

thank you for the response. i'll definitely try them out!
 
bodydamage said:
Last night as work, I spent some quality time with the back of a legal pad and WOW, what an edge.. I followed it up with the belt, but really didnt notice much of a difference.. What compound should I start with on the belt?? Most of you guys buy your compound at Woodcraft right??
Click to expand...

Only you need Green Rouge or chromium oxide. All other polishing compounds eather too coarse in terms of abrasive size or too soft - like many jewelir compounds can not affect stainless steel (like Red - iron oxide).

You may also use diamond powders, but I learned that Green Rouge is just enough - hard enough to polish ZDP189 as well as vanadium rich steels like CPM S90V and fine enough - 0.5 microns.

Chromium oxide is used to polish lenses in optics.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I went to sears and bought red, green and white buffing compound. They are located by the grinders. I then use the carboard backing from old note books or note pads and rub the stuff on. Green and white work the best for me. Also I use 2 spring clips to hold the carboard to a small board so that it does not move around. It works OK for me. The compound bars cost about $2 each.
 
boris01 said:
I went to sears and bought red, green and white buffing compound. ...Green and white work the best for me. ...
Click to expand...

Boris,
How to the Sears green and white compounds compare in grit size, cutting ability, etc to green chrome oxide?
 
We ned to be reading the MSDS on this stuff to determine whats in it (CrO, AlO, etc).. I read a vrey good article yesterday explaining that Chromium Oxide from one company could contain 40% while the same stuff from another company could contain up to 90% CrO. I think that green compound pretty much equals Chromium Oxide, the question is, how much and at waht micron size? I believe we are looking for 0.5 micron or 12,000 grit.

On a side note, I have a list that lists Chromium Oxide polishing compound and "green chrome rouge" as two different things. It rates the Chromium Oxide polishing compound at .5 micron and 12,000 grit and the "green chrome rouge" as 3 micron or 2000 grit. Can anyone clear this up?
 
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