It is not my habit to answer my own questions (or maybe it is… I used to be an academic 😉 ), but I did some research on the internet this weekend.
A few things I found out that were new to me:
- Many stropping compounds don’t have a label, so you have no clue what is in there. But even if the stuff is labeled, that is no guarantee the stuff conforms to the specifications. See Tom’s post above and the link to the blog post he gave.
- I found a nice article treating most common stropping compounds. It also mentions some less common stropping methods with some background information, like why you would want to strop on a newspaper.
- The article doesn’t treat CBN (Cubic Boron Nitride), which is a non-diamond compound sold by Wicked Edge. But here you can find everything you always wanted to know about CBN.
- I forgot where I read it, but a nice method to make your own stropping compounds is to collect the slurry from your whetstones, put it on some paper and let it dry. The micron size of the particles in the compound should be equal to or less than that of the grit size of the stone.
- I read about people cleaning their WEPS using a vacuum cleaner. Maybe they could collect the iron particles from the cleaner bag. This would be somewhat abrasive itself already, but it’d be even nicer to let it rust. I am not a chemist and have no idea what you would end up with (there appear to be different types of iron oxide alone and their micron sizes may vary a lot), but iron oxide is a common abrasive 😆 .
I have a related question: during my search for stropping compounds I was offered 3M Diapad diamond stropping paste with micron sizes from 15 down to 0.25. Google confirms this stuff actually exists, but that is about all information I could find. Apparently this stuff is normally only used in industrial applications.
3M does make some good polishing products and Diapad is their brand name for hand pads/sanding blocks. Does anyone have more information on this compound?
