Stropping thoughts

Why is yellowstone called yellowstone? It don't look yellow to me.

If you used it, strop it, it's already dull. It's only sharp if you haven't used it yet.

I'd been using hardware buffing compound and thought it was great. Then I used some of the yellow stuff Flexcut sells and thought it was greater. Then I got some yellowstone from Little Shavers and forgot the other stuff exists.

Have tried lots of different materials for making strops and what seems to work best for me is the rough side of an old leather glove glued to a piece of maple. The glove is about the right thickness and the maple gives a good solid support. Tried cedar, pine, basswood and mahogany; none of which worked real well.

Made a strop out of a deer hide that I had tanned and it was terrible, too soft and too thick.

What an exciting past time, building strops, sheesh.

Well, back to whittling on my fisherman.

[Captain_Bandaid]

Eddie, if they called it 'Pinkstone' us macho carvers wouldn't buy it.

[FK]

I have the same experience with Herb Dunkle's Yellowstone, tried many other compounds and this is my favorite.

I spoke at length with Herb several years ago at his table, the strop must be new, dry leather for the Yellowstone, do not use an old strop with some other material preloaded.

The second factor is to use very thin leather, Herb sells strops with a very thin 1/32' pigskin covering. This will ensure the edge remains flat, a thick leather strop will flex under the sharp edge and cause it to roll or change angle and thicken the edge after time.

Herb also cautioned to make your stroke with the knife and STOP, then lift the knife straight up from the strop. Many carvers will flip the knife at the end, like a barber sharpening his razor, this will round the bevel and make the knife less efficient.

Why is it pink? I never received a complete answer, apparently the first manufactured run was more yellow and the process was improved and the newer binder is pink.

It works very well, whatever the color.

Regards,
FK

[FK]

I have the same experience with Herb Dunkle's Yellowstone, tried many other compounds and this is my favorite.

I spoke at length with Herb several years ago at his table, the strop must be new, dry leather for the Yellowstone, do not use an old strop with some other material preloaded.

The second factor is to use very thin leather, Herb sells strops with a very thin 1/32' pigskin covering. This will ensure the edge remains flat, a thick leather strop will flex under the sharp edge and cause it to roll or change angle and thicken the edge after time.

Herb also cautioned to make your stroke with the knife and STOP, then lift the knife straight up from the strop. Many carvers will flip the knife at the end, like a barber sharpening his razor, this will round the bevel and make the knife less efficient.

Why is it pink? I never received a complete answer, apparently the first manufactured run was more yellow and the process was improved and the newer binder is pink.

It works very well, whatever the color.

Regards,
FK

[Bandaid]

I've heard about yellowstone stropping compound but have never used it. Can someone tell me if it's coarser or finer than jewelers rouge?

[FK]

Yellowstone will give a mirror finish on hardend steel. It is a very fine Aluminum Oxide powder, it cuts agressively when freshly applied yet gives a very fine finish. If you are intending to give it a test,,,,,you must use a new leather strop. Do not apply Yellowstone to an older strop with existing compound. Tandy Leather has low cost scrap leather pieces that can be glued to a board for very inexpensive strops.

Jewlers Rouge is designed for soft metals like silver, gold and brass. It will work however, it takes a much longer time to polish out an edge.

Regards,
FK

Actually, 'jewelers rouge' is a common name for any of several abrasive/wax compounds used to polish metals. The blue, green, and grey compounds are more aggressive and are used for iron, steel, and stainless, while the red, white, and yellow are slower cutting and are usually used for softer metals.

Good whittlin, Cliff

[Bandaid]

Thx for the reply guys...I'll check with the local outlets to see if they handle yellowstone and give it a try.

[FK]

Cliff,
Thanks for the posting, I had the impression that Jewler's Rouge is the pink or red colored compound for final mirror polish on soft or precious metals. A search did find many other compounds listed under jewler's rouge.

A detailed list of compounds can be found on this site:

http://www.swmetal.com/compounds.htm...0b5fe80b8690c7


Regards,
FK