DIY compounds

[pathwinder14]

Does anyone here know how to make a stropping compound? I want to get into making my own. I presume it would be either clay or wax as a binder and then whatever substrate I want to include for polishing/stropping. That's just a guess though.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Most manufacturers use Stearin (Strearic acid) a type of industrial tallow commonly used for candle making. It can be made soft or hard and blended with your abrasive. I am not sure how to go about thinning it out but the info cannot be tough to come by on a candlemaker's forum. Tweaking it can be a patience-testing undertaking.

The stuff I supply with my sharpening block uses wax as a component, but is also specifically for paper - wax, either paraffin or beeswax does not work the best over leather by itself. Actually doesn't work the best over paper without adding some other binder, in my case I add some pine rosin.

The easiest improvised compound is going to be mud from a silicon carbide stone or waterstone, smeared liberally over leather or paper. By the time you get the abrasive and binder materials, its difficult to justify the cost of making your own unless you aren't happy with any of the commercial stuff you've used or have a specific application in mind.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

A while back, I'd applied some dry green powder compound to a leather belt; the compound is of the type commonly found for rock-polishing & lapidary uses. Initially, I'd just rubbed the dry compound onto the leather with my fingertips (w/disposable gloves). Then, after the fact, I rubbed in some mineral oil-based hand lotion (Eucerin or generic store-brand equivalent) over the dry compound to basically keep it from stirring up a cloud of green dust every time I stropped. As it turned out, that has continued to serve well. The hand lotion did a very good job in binding the compound to the leather (& the leather seems to respond well also), and I've never needed to refresh it (the lotion). That leather belt has turned out to be my favorite strop for green compound, used with steels like 1095, CV and 420HC.

It may not necessarily be a complicated thing to make compound this way; it's something worth trying. Grittier (coarser) compounds may need something heavier to bind, like wax/paraffin; but a finer compound like green or white rouge seems to work well when applied this way.


David