[Dennis Taylor]

I have a larger strop and aluminium oxide which I use for my woodburning tips...can I use it also for my carving tools?....the oxide is a powder, and the strop is much larger than the strop in the beginners kit from Rick, just seems larger is better to me, easier to handle....I am not sure of the cube in the kit, white chuck of something!...also someone gave me a Dunkle knife and a tube of powder (probably aluminim oxide also) can the compounds be mixed is maybe my question...if I use one is it bad to switch to another compound on the same strop...I have only used the oxide on the larger strop for my burning tips....

lots of ?????...and tks in advance for the input...Dennis

[Mitchell]

Dennis, sometimes you can do a search and find answers before starting a new thread......I'm not trying to avoid giving an answer, just trying to keep the number of repeat threads down.

Look at the bottom of the page and see "Similar Threads".....a good thread title (which you have) should provide links to similar topics.

I don't think it would be a problem to switch from one to the other. Most of the compounds will work just fine - it really comes down to personal preference. Try them both and use what works best for you. As Rick would say - "there is only one sharp and varying degrees of dull"..... or something like that. Speaking of Rick - go to his web site and read his article on sharpening (again if you have before). It will answer your question on the other thread about bevels.

[Kenny_S]

Even spit works!

[AlArchie]

The size of your strop shouldn't make any difference at all.......size is usaually a matter of comfort in use and convenience in storage.

As far as mixing the compounds, go right ahead. There are so many compounds out there touted as "the best" that it's virtually impossible to figure this out. You will eventually find one, or a combination of several that suit your style. Fer instance, I've found that plain old red jewelers' rouge with a little al-ox powder sprinkled on works great. Others find the white bar or green bar or yellow stick best.

Al

[Nancy_G]

Learn something new every day !!

Dennis - I've never stropped my burning tips and it sounds like a fabulous idea. When my tips get all gunked up I wipe them on a super fine emery board (for finger nails) and, of course, it's hard on them.
I am very grateful to be taught something -- even if it's something I should of thought of myself ~blush~

[Thomp]

mixing grit,

in industrial machiene shop we had surface preperation standards to achieve any one of the standards we started with the roughest emery - grit and stepped down through the finer grit until we achieved the surface needed for the project..
the finer the surface the less friction produced when parts have to slide over each other, the higher the poslish the less ability to rust and corriosion

on rough steel, from a mill or grinder or casting you cant start out with 300 grit emery and expect to get done in one day where if you make the steps it can be achieved within an hour..

on a cutting edege this equates to smoother frictionless surface and a sharper cutting edege.

if you mix grits the rougher grit will rough up any work you have done with the finer grit.

i use wet dry emery on a sheet of glass, then powerhone with red rouge and leave at that it produces a mirror surface and a great cutting edege.

Strop length, much over 8 inches is wasted, but razor strops in barbar shops were long as 2 feet.....

[AlArchie]

Thomas is right on target with the grit size

Here's chart on grit size that shows numerical comparison with both micron and inch nominal conversions.
http://www.reade.com/Sieve/grit_conversion.html

Sorry, the chart won't load, but here's the link.

Here's also what I've been able to find as far a abrasive particle size for the usual stropping compounds. Variations depend on the manufacture's specs, but they are all within a reasonable range of sizes.

Red Jewelers Rouge 3 to 5 micron size
generally the finest size available for stropping, although there is some blue green compound that is supposed to be a little finer.

Tripoli Compoud (brown) 5 to 8 microns

White Compound 9 to 15 microns

Green 14 microns

Emory (black) I can't find a good list on this stuff, but would think it comes in varying grits starting around 20 micron and up.

Generically all these compounds are called Jewelers' Rouge, and then further defined by color. In actuality only the red stuff is "ROUGE" (French for RED) and the others are polishing compounds

A micron is one millionth of a meter, so even the coarsest polishes are quite satisfactory for stropping, but the finer rouge will put the finest finish on the blade. It also needs more work because of the finer particle size. If you mix the compounds, you have effectively gone to the larger size grit you have added, but even if you go to the coarsest size, you will still get a satisfactory stropping.

14 to 15 micron white and green compounds are some of the favorites among carvers. I don't know what the yellow stuff is, but most likely falls into the 5-10 micron range.

Al

[Just Carving]

Being a "Shadetree Toolmaker", I have a question. Red jewelers rouge was mentioned, and I remembered having a red colored crocus cloth. Not knowing what the grit was, I never really used it much when making my carving tools. I do used the scary sharp method of bringing my tools up to a finished edge, i.e. start at 220 grit and work up to 2000 grit for an almost mirror finish. Then I strop using the white compound. So far, my tools have done a good job of carving, with an occasional resharpening to flatten the bevel a bit so the tool carves "better".

I read somewhere that crocus cloth and WD40 can be used to achieve polishing at 20 microns. But with the crocus cloth being red in color, I am wondering whether honing with crocus cloth would give the same results as stroping with the red jewelers rouge.

So, my question is could using crocus cloth with WD40 be of any value in my process, or would I be going "backwards", i.e. coarser by using the crocus cloth?

After looking at the link that Al posted, I just had another question pop into my head--dangerous place you know! Am I going "backwards" by using the white stropping compound after using 2000 grit paper to "sharpen" my tools?

[AlArchie]

Bob, I've got a question for you before taking a flyer, at your question.

Are you happy with the results after stropping with the white compound?

Now, using the 2000 grit paper to sharpen is still rolling up a burr, and your stropping with the white compound will remove that and give you a good polished edge. If you are happy with it, why mess with success?

Or try the red stuff and see if it improves the edge for you. I know a lot of carvers here locally that use varying compounds and they all seem satisfied, but do comment when I put an edge on their blades for them.

Try polishing a piece of sheet brass with red rouge, brown tripoli and the white compound and you can see the differernce in the final finish. Use a cotton or felt wheel and start with the red, working up to the white or black.

The finest finish should be with the red, but even with the white, you will find a nice mirror finish. Then it's up to you to make a choice......personally I don't think it makes a noticable difference in the knife edge. But I still like the jewelers' rouge!

Al

[Just Carving]

Hi Al

I am very happy with what I've done with my tools so far! After grinding the general shape of the blade/tool, I start with 220 grit, then go to 400, 600, 800, 1000, then 2000 grit paper. Then I finish by stropping with the leather strop and the white compound. If anything, I guess I was just curious if there was a use for the crocus cloth in the process, i.e. substituting the crocus cloth say for 800 grit paper--just to use it up, more than anything. It's been sitting there for a while now.

I probably will stick with what I have been doing so far. As the saying goes, If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Thanks for your insight.