I’d be more than happy to shoot a quick crash course video and post it here on the thread. If you think that’ll help clarify a few things?[/quote]
Sounds good to me man.[/quote]
Ok cool! I’ll try getting around to it this evening after work.[/quote]
Loving the vid man[/quote]
I apologize for slipping. Jerk move on my part. I’ll admit that…
SouthBySouthWest, the largest, music, film and I interactive festival on the planetx ends its 11 day steak tomorrow here in Austin, TX… Being a local resident definitely takes it’s toll this time of year, especially when you work in such an iconic part of the city.
Regardless, I told you I would and I haven’t. But I have not forgotten about you.
I’d be more than happy to shoot a quick crash course video and post it here on the thread. If you think that’ll help clarify a few things?[/quote]
Sounds good to me man.[/quote]
Ok cool! I’ll try getting around to it this evening after work.[/quote]
Loving the vid man[/quote]
I apologize for slipping. Jerk move on my part. I’ll admit that…
SouthBySouthWest, the largest, music, film and I interactive festival on the planet, ends its 11 day streak tomorrow here in Austin, TX… Being a local resident definitely takes it’s toll this time of year, especially when you work in such an iconic part of the city.
I’ll also admit that I’ve spent time responding to, as well as creating, other threads since I told you I’d make a video. They were more or less done on the fly. Regardless, I told you I would make a video on applying compound to your strops and I haven’t. But I have not forgotten about you.
I just loaded up some new strops tonight. I still feel a little awkward getting them going for the first few times.. I know it is spread evenly..
I hit the whole leather with rubbing alchol out of a spray bottle..dab some on and rub it in with my finger..then spray it again and make sure it seems even and let it dry.. Then when I use it some of it flakes off and rubbs around wierd..then at some point it seems to start to set in and I start to get the black showing..and get the gription..then I just leave them alone..
I’d be more than happy to shoot a quick crash course video and post it here on the thread. If you think that’ll help clarify a few things?[/quote]
Sounds good to me man.[/quote]
Ok cool! I’ll try getting around to it this evening after work.[/quote]
Loving the vid man[/quote]
I apologize for slipping. Jerk move on my part. I’ll admit that…
SouthBySouthWest, the largest, music, film and I interactive festival on the planet, ends its 11 day streak tomorrow here in Austin, TX… Being a local resident definitely takes it’s toll this time of year, especially when you work in such an iconic part of the city.
I’ll also admit that I’ve spent time responding to, as well as creating, other threads since I told you I’d make a video. They were more or less done on the fly. Regardless, I told you I would make a video on applying compound to your strops and I haven’t. But I have not forgotten about you.[/quote]
Clay, weren’t you playing around w/ some higher grit CBN compound on strops? what are your thoughts so far and do you know where we can get some? I’m spending too long on the 14 um strops after the 10k choseras (~200 passes) and i want to reduce that time.
This thread has got my curiosity juices flowin’. I had read somewhere or seen in a video where someone was using the pastes to load up steel platens for use as a polishing media. Meanwhile, I’ve been unhappy with my fleet of glass blocks, having convinced myself that they were guilty of producing an occasional obscene scratch. I think that’s fixed, now that I’ve filed all the edges off with my diamond EZE-Lap 400/1200 plate. But my brain is still curious about the use of harder platens. I’ve seen where woodworkers use hardwood loaded with diamond grit to polish planes and chisels. And besides, my glass blocks were really too wide, at 1.00". They don’t work as well on concave stretches of blade.
So I bought some brass. I made a couple of new blocks out of ABS, machined them in my planer to the desired thickness, then drilled them out and installed bronze bushings. Then I Rhino-glued some strips of 1/8" X 3/4" brass into place as platens. Lapped them smooth on a piece of 600 grit sandpaper. Tonight I loaded the platens with about 1/8" of 3.5 and 5 micron paste, rubbing it in with my thumbs.
Seems to work really different from soft strops, but it’s too early to tell. I’ll play with it awhile, then report back.
If it doesn’t work out, the brass blocks will replace my glass blocks for PSA film duty.
I’m curious as to how the brass strops work out. Don’t they immediately wipe off all stropping compound, because the brass is so hard? (Which is what happens to me with glass strops.)
I’ve been playing around w/ 3 different grades of balsa lately… hard, medium, and soft. and I really like them! Hard seems to work really well for the higher grits because you may tend to use more pressure as you go quickly, but I like the medium to soft ones for the finishing touches. The nice thing about them, in my experience, is that they match the existing angles without any lowering necessary. Also, I have found lately that leather strops leave buff marks 1/16-1/8" above where the shoulder of the edge is! i find this to be unacceptable.
I hadn’t heard of Pikal until now. Can you tell us about it? Is it like Simichrome?
BTW, diamond particles will embed themselves in the surface of softer substrates like brass. Glass is intended only for film abrasives. I never considered it to be a embedable substrate. Wouldn’t have expected success.
Rockstead recommends to strop their knives with. Main ingredient is aluminum oxide. Rockstead heat treats their steel to a high RC scale level and it is used for their blade’s maintenance. They don’t strop hours on end, just two or three strokes per side for their 65 to 67 RC hardness blades.
I’m a bit confused by your question. But, if I understand correctly, you’re asking whether you HAVE TO USE ALCOHOL if they’ve been sitting around a while and are dried out, or can you just pick up the strops and get to work with them as the are?
The alcohol is essentially an agitator. The chemical make-up of the alcohol itself disturbs the viscosity of the substrate the diamonds are suspended in, making it easier to spread out new compound or revitalize compound already applied. The substrate being the actual colored stuff in the syringe (green, grey, yellow, etc.) You don’t have to use alcohol but it definitely helps to do so… Just spritz some on without putting much thought into it. How it works isn’t really all that important. What’s important is that it does work.
