Dry rouge sticks - what do you do?

[MajorBurnz]

I've been meaning to try my hand at 'Dremel buffing' a few razors. I usually use wet/dry sandpaper from 220 (if needed) stepped up to 2000 grit, and then finish by hand polishing with some Simichrome. This gives me a nice finish, but I know it can get better with some buffing. Since I rent, a real buffing wheel is not an option, but I've read several threads that advocate using a Dremel.

Anyway, I picked up a stick of Red Rouge and White 'rouge', from the local hardware store but they are pretty hard and powdery.

So do you guys use it like that? If so, how do you go about it?

If not, do you make a paste of some sort? Again, if so, how?

I tried making a suspension of those compounds in mineral oil, and it didn't really work (large particles and not a homogenous suspension.

NOTE: For those who are worried about this. I have a Dremel with constantly variable speed and I use a pretty low setting to avoid heating the blade.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Yohann

 

[Pkrankow]

Rouge or compound in stick form should have a waxlike binder in it. Pressing the stick into the wheel (or the wheel in to the stick) while running the wheel should "melt" some of the stick into the cloth wheel loading the wheel.

I also use compound sticks on denim rag for hand use. I hold the rag on a solid surface like a counter top and rub the stick on the single layer rag to load the rag. If you hold the end of the rag and rub in the same direction you should get a good load in a dozen or so strokes. Then use the rag like sandpaper...sorta.

Since you rent the machine, buy your own wheels, they are about $10 apiece and last a long time. One wheel per compound.

Phil

 

[MajorBurnz]

Thanks for the advice. I was a little surprised at how hard these sticks were. Perhaps they've been on the rack for a while. Still, I'll try to press the buffing wheel into them and see what happens.

I mean that I rent a house, so I can't be buying any large tools. I do own a couple of Dremels (one has only two speeds - fast and very fast, but the other is a constantly variable one). I do have a bunch of buffing pads.

I'll keep you guys posted on my progress. I have a couple of rusted junk razors to practice on, so I don't damage a collectible until I at least have an idea of what I'm doing.

 

[DevinT]

Put some WD-40 on a slow turning wheel and then apply the compound.

Hoss

 

[joshua82]

Red or white rouge won't buff out deep scratches as well as other compounds (they were designed to polish soft precious metals without grinding away material). Try starting with the black and moving to the yellow then finish with red or white.

 

[MajorBurnz]

Thanks for the tip, Joshua.

The hardware store I visited didn't have any of the other compounds. I'll try to find them at another store.

 

[joshua82]

home depot should have them. Probably lowes too.

 

[superbleu]

or ace hardware

 

[Neurotopia]

I got mine at Ace. The employees don't know where it is half the time. Check in the locked cases, probably near the buffing wheel supplies. You say "metal polish" and generally they send you to the other side of the store, where they have Brasso or Maas mixed in with the household cleaners.

 

[Price]

Yes I think the black is called "emery". It is a much more effective compound for cleaning up, then use the rouges to polish. I got mine at Ace as well. Located in the power tool aisle with the buffers.

 

[Pkrankow]

Sears Hardware (or the hardware section)

Phil

 

[Sando]

Hey Yohann, I got a couple Duco sticks and I was surprised by how hard they were - expected them to be soft. I use a dremel. azmark turned me onto the idea of setting the spinning felt wheel into the compound. It takes a second or two but it'll melt onto the wheel.

I like the idea of using it on a rag, never thought of that.

...Ray

 

[azmark]

Hey Yohann, I got a couple Duco sticks and I was surprised by how hard they were - expected them to be soft. I use a dremel. azmark turned me onto the idea of setting the spinning felt wheel into the compound. It takes a second or two but it'll melt onto the wheel.

I like the idea of using it on a rag, never thought of that.

...Ray

My first attempt was with a rag and it worked but then I felt as if I was wasting rouge on the shirt I was using. Whatever works though

 

[azmark]

Red or white rouge won't buff out deep scratches as well as other compounds (they were designed to polish soft precious metals without grinding away material). Try starting with the black and moving to the yellow then finish with red or white.

+1

White after red.

Here's how I do it.

 

[MajorBurnz]

Hey Mark,

Yes, I read that - which is why I decided to try this at all. Thanks a lot for posting that thread - it made me realize that it's possible for me to do some restoration myself.

I've got to find a place that has the black stuff. There's a Home Depot around here somewhere.

Thanks everyone for the tip on how to load the compounds onto the felt wheels. I also thought they'd be less hard than they are. You learn something new every day.

I'll post a thread about the razors I'm working on soon.

 

[superbleu]

yohann if you have no luck I can pick a tube of the emory up for you at my local ace and send it to you. I found it online but it costs more for postage than the actual product.

 

[Pbalkan]

When I was restoring antique pocket-watches, we used red-rouge exclusively. Red-rouge is one of the finest abrasives known. But we used it to load a jewelers wheel. It looks like a grinder, with two speeds but it's probably a bit slower than a shop-grinder. It's surrounded by a metal box all but one side with an exhaust fan and filter. Red-rouge is messy stuff.

Red-rouge acts more like a lubricant and burnisher than a hard polisher. We worked with solid-gold and gold-filled watch cases. An untreated wheel would cut through in seconds. Only with it loaded with red-rouge could we apply any pressure to the case and not remove the metal.

I don't think red-rouge will cut carbon steel very well but it will probably put a very good final polish on the surface if it's been otherwise prepared with more aggressive abrasives. I wouldn't bother trying to apply red-rouge with a rag. You would have to spend hours and hours to get any result with it, by hand.

Wear an old t-shirt. It's so fine that it will stain clothes and it's very difficult to get out. That's one reason why we use the enclosure with the exhaust fan and filter.

BTW, we used separate wheels for 14K, 18K and gold-filled. Gold is so soft that a wheel with 14K particles on it will unduly cut 18K gold. Sometimes for silver or nickle-silver, I used a wheel with stainless steel-rouge and did the final buff with red. Silver tarnish can be a bear to remove after decades.

 

[MajorBurnz]

yohann if you have no luck I can pick a tube of the emory up for you at my local ace and send it to you. I found it online but it costs more for postage than the actual product.

Going to a Lowes today so I should find it there. If not, I'll be in touch.

This weekend I'll see what the stuff I already have does. I bought a kit for Harbor Freight and that had some polishing compound in it. I'll see what that does.

 

[MajorBurnz]

Well, the Lowe's here didn't have emery compound.

 

[Pkrankow]

Check that HF kit, mine had a black/brown stick in it of emery.

I only use the white it seems though.

Phil