A while ago QDanT sent me a packet of mud! It was a sample of the slurry he collected while diamond sawing the Maughton Scar whetstones he collected.
The challenge was to do something useful with it, and I had suggested trying to replicate a polishing compound.
I dried the sample in a paper bag and then weighed it. It was 70g, so I guessed the recipe and used 35g of beeswax. I used beeswax because I figured that the finished product would benefit from the slightly lower melting point compared to paraffin wax. (OK that last bit is a lie; I used beeswax because I had some and because I like the smell!) The wax was melted in a pot and the powder added slowly. It made a total mess of anything it got on - like waxy mud! So don't use the best saucepan or even your favourite wax pot as it may end up in the bin.
The result was these delightful cup cakes. (things like this happen when wifey gets involved!)
The final consistency was very similar to compounds I have, but if anything it could use a little more wax.
The next challenge was to try and test the stuff in a fair comparison with a commercial product. I didn't want to ruin a new polishing mop if it turned out to be rubbish so I picked a couple of new polishing wheels for the Dremel. One for the Maughton Scar compound and for the other I selected a white blizzard compound. Then I found a old rusty steel straight edge. I cleaned off the rust with wet'n'dry and went up to 600 grit before starting to polish. Here's the result:
The section between 9 and 10 was done with the Maughton Scar compound and the section between 3 and 4 with the blizzard compound. My conclusion is that the stuff really works. The photo isn't clear enough to show the difference but the blizzard did do a better job but not by miles. I have tried this briefly on a strop as well and it does the job there as well, if a little fierce.
Thanks to Dan for the raw materials and inspiration. Sorry there weren't more photos.
Z
The challenge was to do something useful with it, and I had suggested trying to replicate a polishing compound.
I dried the sample in a paper bag and then weighed it. It was 70g, so I guessed the recipe and used 35g of beeswax. I used beeswax because I figured that the finished product would benefit from the slightly lower melting point compared to paraffin wax. (OK that last bit is a lie; I used beeswax because I had some and because I like the smell!) The wax was melted in a pot and the powder added slowly. It made a total mess of anything it got on - like waxy mud! So don't use the best saucepan or even your favourite wax pot as it may end up in the bin.
The result was these delightful cup cakes. (things like this happen when wifey gets involved!)
The final consistency was very similar to compounds I have, but if anything it could use a little more wax.
The next challenge was to try and test the stuff in a fair comparison with a commercial product. I didn't want to ruin a new polishing mop if it turned out to be rubbish so I picked a couple of new polishing wheels for the Dremel. One for the Maughton Scar compound and for the other I selected a white blizzard compound. Then I found a old rusty steel straight edge. I cleaned off the rust with wet'n'dry and went up to 600 grit before starting to polish. Here's the result:
The section between 9 and 10 was done with the Maughton Scar compound and the section between 3 and 4 with the blizzard compound. My conclusion is that the stuff really works. The photo isn't clear enough to show the difference but the blizzard did do a better job but not by miles. I have tried this briefly on a strop as well and it does the job there as well, if a little fierce.
Thanks to Dan for the raw materials and inspiration. Sorry there weren't more photos.
Z
