Stropping Compounds

[Trout Hound]

I tried a search and didn't find everything I was looking for. I would love to know more about the various stropping compounds/pastes/sprays etc. that are available. I've always just kind of used green chrome ox. because Leonard Lee says so, and it works great. I'm just curious about all the other stuff, like what is each one good for, how is it used, etc.

Thanks!!!

 

[Skimo]

Green is good, they're all for stropping, all used the same etc. Not much mystery there. There are several threads in this section that cover every aspect of sharpening from regrinding to stropping down to .25 mic .

 

[Jamesh Bond]

This should about cover any realistic needs . . .

http://www.stropman.com/Stropping-compounds-Compound-Choice.htm

But the rabbit hole goes way deeper.

 

[Trout Hound]

This should about cover any realistic needs . . .

http://www.stropman.com/Stropping-compounds-Compound-Choice.htm

But the rabbit hole goes way deeper.

Great link. Thanks.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Compounds come in a bewildering array of abrasives and binders, but basically they all break down to an abrasive suspended in a binder or vehicle that can be applied to a substrate of some sort. In the case of diamonds that might only be water. Most use some form of stearate - veg or animal based industrial tallow.

While this is a generalization, most fall into this range:
Black - Aluminum oxide - 20-30 micron
Yellow - " - 3 micron
White - " - .5-1 micron
Green - Chromium Oxide - .5 micron


Red uses ferrous oxide and really is not intended for hardened steel. Used on a strop it might increase the burnishing effect but steel removal will be light or non-existent.

Diamond or Cbn I do not believe have any standardized color scheme and many appear to use no color binder/vehicle anyway - read the label!

Add to the above, many compounds used for woodwork/general purpose seem to intentionally favor multiple grit sizes. Flexcut Gold uses a range of 4 micron down to .5. The green compound sold by Lee Valley under their name uses a similar distribution. I likewise make use of this principle in the compound included with my Washboard sharpening blocks. Notable difference is I use silicon carbide for the abrasive and the binder is tweaked to adhere better to paper instead of leather.

The major differences that I have seen from one material to the other are often the formulation of the binder, and not the distribution or type of abrasive. Most of the ones I have looked at under high magnification maintain very tight particle size grouping and very similar from one brand to another. The binders are all formulated differently though, and play a big role in how effective a given compound might be for a given use. The backing will also play a huge role, the exact same compound can produce a variety of finishes/edge effects based on how hard or soft the backing is, how much mobility the abrasive has, and how much force is applied.

Most makers use Aluminum Oxide and this will work well right up to the higher Vanadium content steels, at which point diamond or CbN will be needed either in a compound or on a lapping film.

 

[Trout Hound]

Great info. Thanks!!!

 

[Wowbagger]

I have found the yellow to be far and away the most effective. When I was fooling around with stropping and all the other funny sharpening stuff on the market. Then diamond paste on flat maple wood. Then I started sharpening with a jig on a progression of stones finishing on an 8000 stone and when I get particularly frisky, or anal, I go to 15000.

I have not gone back to stropping. Stropping is for babies.
kidding, kidding
but I recommend the jig.

For a real eye opener check out shaving (straight razor) stropping. That info will blow your mind.
e.g. :

• bare leather called horse butt and one or two others that are even better and on the smooth side not the rough (no compound)
• I am not making this up ; human skin is the best leather strop. Yah . . . you can buy it.
• the next step after leather is to strop, after the leather, on a jasper stone. It pulls the final micro wire edge off like magic.