I have a gold cap on a tooth. My dentist has used red rouge , aka " Dental Rouge " to polish it to a new condition for 30 years. He just retired, gave me a chunk of it, and now I use it myself.
Jeweler's Rouge
- Thread starter zman1403
- Start date
I’ve used it on razors before and it worked fine. Haven’t for many years now as I was told the same thing that someone posted earlier in the thread. That the particle size isn’t consistent enough for razors and the pastes are much better. Got a thing of CBN .5 micron cro ox paste. The little thing of it I got for around for like 15 bucks will probably last for the rest of my life. It takes such a small amount to load up a balsa strop, and that one application lasts a Very long time. But the green and white rouge did work pretty dang well too Imo. And I used it for a number of years to refresh edges and when I was just starting out honing and couldn’t get a great edge right off the stones.
I have been waiting for years for you to fall into the fold.
You are exactly correct, a Jnat finish is not superior than a film, paste or Arkansas, etc. Once you arrive at that "sharp enough" edge realm, the whole world of comfortable shaving is available. The comfort factor is where the skills can shine.
Alx
Well Alx, you've been waiting 5 years more than you've needed to. Check the date on Seraphim's post
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Diamond is the fastest. I’m lazy. I vote for diamond paste.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Diamond is fantastic. Why use anything else? Just to be contrary?
When an old thread is revived, I always wonder if the 'reviver' realizes the age prior to posting. I've done it intentionally, and unintentionally also.
Particle sizes in abrasive compounds can be very tight, it just matters who the source is and how reliable they are. Most 'industrial' stuff, like the crayon types sold by many retail shops is less than desireable. Some of it can be useable but it's a gamble.
Using commercial compounds is often material dependent, not a 'progression' - although someone might approach it that way. I have not found any recipe to be universally 'true'.
Black - emery
Brown - tripoli
White - Alox
Green - Chromox
Red - FeOx
Blue - weird stuff for plastic, not all that abrasive really.
Different manuals will suggest different substrates for polishing different materials to different levels.
For razors, we usually see white, red and green. Sometimes a black compound like the little sticks from Dovo.
If I am comparing abrasive paste edge to an abrasive paste edge, and all else is equal - I'd choose one done on, say - The Dovo black and red sticks over one done on any type of diamond compound. I've never been a fan of diamond powders/slurries/etc. I prefer working with a milder abrasive. From my perspective, speed is inconsequential here, none of these abrasives are slow in the general sense. While diamond is a fast cutter, I've found that the 'window of opportunity' is narrow and it takes more, not fewer, strokes to get there.
The moral of the story is - YMMV. Horses for courses they say.
Particle sizes in abrasive compounds can be very tight, it just matters who the source is and how reliable they are. Most 'industrial' stuff, like the crayon types sold by many retail shops is less than desireable. Some of it can be useable but it's a gamble.
Using commercial compounds is often material dependent, not a 'progression' - although someone might approach it that way. I have not found any recipe to be universally 'true'.
Black - emery
Brown - tripoli
White - Alox
Green - Chromox
Red - FeOx
Blue - weird stuff for plastic, not all that abrasive really.
Different manuals will suggest different substrates for polishing different materials to different levels.
For razors, we usually see white, red and green. Sometimes a black compound like the little sticks from Dovo.
If I am comparing abrasive paste edge to an abrasive paste edge, and all else is equal - I'd choose one done on, say - The Dovo black and red sticks over one done on any type of diamond compound. I've never been a fan of diamond powders/slurries/etc. I prefer working with a milder abrasive. From my perspective, speed is inconsequential here, none of these abrasives are slow in the general sense. While diamond is a fast cutter, I've found that the 'window of opportunity' is narrow and it takes more, not fewer, strokes to get there.
The moral of the story is - YMMV. Horses for courses they say.
Back before the Internet I used to used jewellers Rouge on my strops. It was all you could get in those days.
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