FLITZ POLISH Does anyone know the “grit size” ?

[R. Jeffrey Coates]

I have read that people use FLITZ POLISH as a stropping compound.

As a polish it has a use on my workbench . . . . . Is it a stropping compound?

I mean is it fine enough? Does anyone have any experience? It sure makes the rims on my car shine! And it works well on fiberglass and paint.

Thanks for any input.

[cbwx34]

I must have tried this at some point, ’cause I have some Flitz polish in my drawer of sharpening stuff, although I don’t remember…. :S

A quick internet search showed lots apparently have. A couple of posts of interest I found… one said he contacted the company and was told the abrasive was AO at 3-3.5 microns. A couple of posts in a straight razor forum said they found the abrasive seemed to break down rather quickly… one post said the finish after a bit of use compared to a .5m paste he had.

Another polish compound I recall some using was a Meguiar’s polish that smelled like cinnamon (Meguiar’s Hot Rim polish according to the ‘net)… never tried it myself.

[R. Jeffrey Coates]

Thanks. I have an old piece of leather. I might mount it and try it with the FLITZ. I have some old knives that are carbon steel. They were junkers that were someones throw-aways at a garage sale. I think I’ll try to strop the entire blade side to clean it up then onto the WEPS for an edge and back on the FLITZ STROP.

Thanks again.

[Tom Whittington]

It’s probably worth a try. I use a lot of Flitz for small parts polishing in the shop and it does a very nice job for those times I don’t want to hit the buffing wheel or have a teeny tiny part to get at. If I had some spare WEPS strops I would be tempted to try it and see. Sometimes not having extra equipment laying around is a good thing, I’d get too distracted experimenting!

I can definitely confirm it breaks down fast, however. I tend to use a felt bob on either a small dremel stylus or the foredom motor depending on where I’m working. It’s a very, very light polish if you let it soak into felt, whereas the normal dry polish compound I use on the felt wheels/bobs gets the job done relatively quickly. Flitz seems to work MUCH better while still wet, but of course soaking it into a felt bob and spinning it up makes a mess 🙂

[CliffCurry]

Above results are on par with my own testing I did earlier tonight on the flat side of a blade sanded to 3000 grit with wet/dry. I was trying to get the fine scratches left after hitting it on a 6in buffing wheel with medium grade compound(SCR I think)….Searching for that elusive mirror polished blade.

I used a dremmel with the tiny buffing wheels for my testing with flitz and the 5u diamond paste(tan). The flitz took out some of the finer scratches, broke down quickly, but left a nice overall shine. The 5u paste seemed to be working but heavier scratches remained, same as with the Flitz, only difference seemed to be no higher gloss shine after I cleaned the blade with rubbing alcohol.

Also agreeing with ApexGS regarding the wet Flitz. Messy but works better, suspect something chemically is going on with it by the smell. I have applied it to a strop for buffing the bevel but once dry…the magic is gone. lol

I hope to photograph whats going on at the blade with different polishes to really determine progression for scratch removal once I get some magnification.

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