In sorting out some old gear I've come across this half-sphere of what I now believe to be some sort of beeswax abrasive compound. I've tried to research online but the only references I can find relate to the belt strops for straight razors. Does anyone have and knowledge or experience of this wax and it's uses?
Abrasive wax compound for polishing
- Thread starter William K
- Start date
-
Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
The wax is the "carrier" for the abrasive. Finely divided, sometimes sub micron diameter particles, the so-called polishing process leaves the surface so finely scratched thatit can't be seen with the unaided human eye.
Often the color is a give-away as to composition:
green = chromium oxide (as in artists' paints)
white = aluminum oxide
reds, yellows through to black = oxides of copper and iron
Some manufacturers will dope up a block of white aluminum oxide with purple or blue or bright orange as tags for particle sizes.
Me? I hone all of my wood carving tools with a mix of chromium oxide and aluminum oxide on hard surfaces, the wax carrier smells nice but
I can't put a name to that odor.
Often the color is a give-away as to composition:
green = chromium oxide (as in artists' paints)
white = aluminum oxide
reds, yellows through to black = oxides of copper and iron
Some manufacturers will dope up a block of white aluminum oxide with purple or blue or bright orange as tags for particle sizes.
Me? I hone all of my wood carving tools with a mix of chromium oxide and aluminum oxide on hard surfaces, the wax carrier smells nice but
I can't put a name to that odor.
I've had it identified as Jeweller's Rouge. It seems that it's fine particles of iron oxide in wax. Apparently it doesn't "cut" so it make it perfect for folks and their thin bladed straight razors. It's fascinating I'd love to get a variety of blades under a microscope!
A 10X magnifier will disappoint you = iron oxide does cut = the particle sizes are so small that the scratches (cut) are so fine, you can't see them with
your bare-naked eyeballs (me neither!) If the CrOx is 1-2 microns, most of the iron copper and aluminum oxides are 0.25 - 1 micron average diameter.
The implication is that there are some/a few particles larger and smaller than the size most common.
Try to find a copy of "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" 1995/Taunton Press by Leonard Lee (the grand old man of Lee Valley Tools).
Ch 4 is Abrasives with many pages of scanning electron micrographs of steel edges cut with various abrasives.
LL goes on to say that red rouge is meant for the fine polishing of soft metals such as brass, not hard steels.
Hard to say exactly what you have found = no reason not to try it!
your bare-naked eyeballs (me neither!) If the CrOx is 1-2 microns, most of the iron copper and aluminum oxides are 0.25 - 1 micron average diameter.
The implication is that there are some/a few particles larger and smaller than the size most common.
Try to find a copy of "The Complete Guide to Sharpening" 1995/Taunton Press by Leonard Lee (the grand old man of Lee Valley Tools).
Ch 4 is Abrasives with many pages of scanning electron micrographs of steel edges cut with various abrasives.
LL goes on to say that red rouge is meant for the fine polishing of soft metals such as brass, not hard steels.
Hard to say exactly what you have found = no reason not to try it!
This paper by John Verhoeven, a materials scientist has everything you need to know about blades including lots of microscope pictures:
http://www.mrsoso.nl/bushcraft/knifeshexps.pdf
Robson is quite correct in that all of the abrasive compounds will scratch or abrade steel and that can be clearly seen with a lens of even 10X. With a microscope and taking magnifications much higher, the scratches become far more evident. The main difference in the compounds are how jagged the particles are, since more jagged ones will do more scratching.
I've had a preference for 0.5 micron green buffing compound for many years. It's incredibly effective and crayoning a very light layer onto paper or cardboard leaves you with little doubt of its effectiveness since a few strops of a knife will turn the green to black as removed metal is left on the paper/cardboard. Nevertheless a person isn't going to wear away a blade due to the extreme fineness of the abrasive. I once used a single razor blade for over six months, stropping between uses and re-honing every 20 uses. And like Lee and Verhoeven I can take a razor blade and make it much sharper than anything made in the last few decades - and keep it that sharp for six months of heavy duty. I'm certain that it would have worked for many years, but I had other stuff to experiment on. So forget the wear concern. The only factory blades which were as sharp as the one I repeatedly sharpened were Durham Duplex blades from the start of the last century. The big problem is testing, since once a blade will slice free hanging toilet paper, there is no way of testing for further improvement without building a laser testing rig.
With knives and other carving tools for wood, the finer the polish you put on the edge, the less saw like it looks under a microscope, and so the longer the edge lasts. I rarely sharpen my Moras, just strop them for a few minutes after a day's use, so they will last longer before being worn away than conventionally sharpened blades. This applies to slicing cleavers and even axes, too, in my experience. In contrast knives for meat cutting and butchery work best coarsely honed since the larger "teeth" left on the edge work better on meat. So those suffer sharpening wear faster due to the coarse abrasives being used more frequently as the larger "teeth" break off.
Similar threads
