Porter Cable polishing compound

D

Deer Turd

Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
13
Anybody familiar with this stuff? Trying to make a leather strop and was hoping Lowe's had the Chromium Oxide that I've seen referenced here.

Porter Cable was the only compound they had. They have PCPC4 - Light Polishing Compound and PCPC5 - High Gloss Gold/Silver polishing compound but I can't find anything about particle size on the packaging or online.

Went to Home Depot too and they didn't have anything...

Thanks.
 
Deer Turd said:
Anybody familiar with this stuff? Trying to make a leather strop and was hoping Lowe's had the Chromium Oxide that I've seen referenced here.

Porter Cable was the only compound they had. They have PCPC4 - Light Polishing Compound and PCPC5 - High Gloss Gold/Silver polishing compound but I can't find anything about particle size on the packaging or online.

Went to Home Depot too and they didn't have anything...

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'd bet the 'High Gloss Gold/Silver' compound (PCPC5) probably won't be aggressive enough on steel. Any compound made specifically for gold/silver is usually an abrasive that's soft enough to polish these metals without damaging or stripping them. If it's soft enough to be 'safe' for them, it won't be hard enough to have much effect on steel. The reverse is true also. If you see a compound labelled for polishing hardened steel, it's probably not safe to use it on softer metals like gold/silver, without stripping a lot of it away, especially if it's on gold/silver-plated items.

Not so sure about the other one (PCPC4). Only description I see for it says it's 'safe for use on all metals'. If so, it may not be that aggressive either.
 
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Agreed. I use the green for final polishing of my micarta scales and for putting a final polish on my edges with a strop.

TedP
 
I get mine at Sears. I use the red and then the white.

I have some green and blue but the red and white work so I do not us the others.

Good luck.
 
I use the PCPC5 (Green) compound and it seems to work fine. The way I read the application guide on the side is that for hard metals, 1(Black) is for heavy duty removal, 2(Blue) is for regular work, 4 (white) is for light removal, and 5(Green) is for high gloss. Since to me the strop is the final polish step, the Green compound is the way to go.

Sometimes the compound builds up on my strop so I remove the buildup with an old piece of 120 grit sand paper which loads up quickly and thus removes the compound buildup.
 
Got me wondering and I called them and ask what the grit size was in microns for all 5. The rep I spoke with looked at a lot of referances he had. He had the MSDS for the polish, but no mention of the particle size. He took my name and e-mail and said he would have to forward my question up. Will see if I get an answer back.

I asked for the grit size in microns for all 5 polishing pastes. Well see if I get an answer back.

http://www.portercable.com/Products/AccessoriesCategoryOverview.aspx?catpath=4273.4607.5095.5098
 
O.K. I called Porte-Cable and asked. The customer service rep was only able able to get the material and not the grit size. Based on that the Green #5 is using chromium Oxide so the grit is most likely less than 1 micron. May be in the 0.3 micron range.
Have no idea on the rest. Someone may have some thoughts on the other ingredients.

Series Color Abrasive Type Abrasive % Binder Type Binder %

1 Black C 87 Stearic Acid / Olefin 13

2 Grey SA 87 Stearic Acid / Olefin 13

3 Brown A 87 Stearic Acid / Olefin 13

4 White WA 87 Stearic Acid / Olefin 13

5 Green WA & Cr2O3 87 Stearic Acid / Olefin 13
 
Did some digging around on google and found:

A - Brown Aluminium Oxide
WA - White Aluminium Oxide
SA - Semi-Friable Aluminium Oxide
C - Black Silicon Carbide

The Stearic Acid must be part of the binder.

At least I think this answers the question of "What are the abrasives". Does not answere the question of the grit size.
 
Old thread... But I have been using the green porter cable stuff to finish or touch up with good results just wondering if anyone ever did find out grit size?
 
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