Thread: Rouges any uses with straights?

Hi All,

I have the white and red rouges from Sears:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

and

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes


Can these be somehow used with a pasted strop? Either leather or wood? I was at a craft store the other day, is basswood the same as balsa wood?


Have a great day and God bless.


Thanks,
kelly

The red "rouge" is iron oxide. It is the only polishing compound that should be called rouge, because the name "rouge" is red, translated from French. I don't know it it will cut steel, because is made for softer metals, like silver and gold.

The white paste (not rouge) is made for harder metals, and it will cut steel, and nothing wrong with trying it as a sharpening compound, but I'd stick to the tried Chromium Oxide paste...

Originally Posted by kellykungfu

I was at a craft store the other day, is basswood the same as balsa wood?

No.

cheers,
Nenad

I use tripoli brown and then jewelers ( red ) rouge. I apply it to the linen side of my strop. The tripoli brown will definately make a sharp edge sharper. I use the tripoli brown on the advice of the old barber who taught me how to use and sharpen my razors. the jewelers rouge I started using when I couldn't find the tripoli brown. It does very little for sharpening but has a polishing effect on the edge which makes for a more durable edge and a bit more comfortable shave!

Mark

Though it's been answered I thought I would expand upon the answer a bit. Balsa and Bass woods are not the same. Bass is considered a hardwood, also called Linden. Bass is sometimes sold as balsa wood in hobby stores, it's often called "hard" balsa wood. True Balsa wood is also a hardwood, the softest of the comercial hardwoods. A couple links for your reading pleasure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsa_wood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basswood

There are many types of "rouge" and sometimes the color's can be different materials so you have to know the make-up of the material or depend on the label for usage. For example I have a set of French materials which contains red for gold and silver, grey for stainless, greeen for hardened steels like tungsten steel, yellow for copper and plastic, white for fine polishing and blue for super fine polishing. They came in a kit and I don't know the make-up but they work as labeled.

I 've never used them on a strop but use them with a dremmel to polish the blades.

If you have access to basswood and want to try putting some abrasive pastes on them then by all means go right ahead!
You certainly will not harm anything and you will learn just how well the combination works.

Keep us posted on what you find out!

Sounds interesting. I just might want to give it a go too. Do you guys think the basswood from Lee Valley would work well? Can basswood be flattened by 'lapping' it like a whetstone?

Basswood will work much like balsa and was also used extensively on early paddle strops. Like balsa a thinner sheet glued to a heavier, warp free surface is the way to go. It will curl easily othewise from the pastes and differences in moisture absorbtion between pasted and non-pasted sides.

It is a harder, tougher wood but feels much like balsa when pasted. Little resistance is felt but it makes a very rigid, yet porous surface to hold the pastes.
I have used it a few times and considered using it in place of balsa as one drop and the balsa surface is easily damaged.

Tony

Great, thanks for all the info everyone!!!

So with the rouges/compound on the balsa/basswood, do I just rub it on? The stuff is quite hard and I would imagine that it'll dent the wood before anything else.

Currently, I use the red rouge on a cloth wheel attached to a old furnace motor to polish up my gold wedding ring and that does polish it up as well as to bringing it back to the jeweler. If anyone wants, I can take a pictures of the motor/gadget, a before pic of the ring before buffing and then afterwards.

The white compound, I actually use that on a piece of leather thats glued down to a piece of wood for polishing/sharping my knives and chisels. This seems to work pretty good. I actually have the leather face (the smooth side) glued down to the wood. For straight razors and pasted strops, shouldn't it be the other way around?


Thanks again to this community for the wealth of knowledge.

-kelly

Originally Posted by kellykungfu

Great, thanks for all the info everyone!!!

So with the rouges/compound on the balsa/basswood, do I just rub it on? The stuff is quite hard and I would imagine that it'll dent the wood before anything else.

Currently, I use the red rouge on a cloth wheel attached to a old furnace motor to polish up my gold wedding ring and that does polish it up as well as to bringing it back to the jeweler. If anyone wants, I can take a pictures of the motor/gadget, a before pic of the ring before buffing and then afterwards.

The white compound, I actually use that on a piece of leather thats glued down to a piece of wood for polishing/sharping my knives and chisels. This seems to work pretty good. I actually have the leather face (the smooth side) glued down to the wood. For straight razors and pasted strops, shouldn't it be the other way around?


Thanks again to this community for the wealth of knowledge.

-kelly

The answer is yes to both of your questions. Just rub it in and smooth leather is preferred ( by me anyway).

Hope this helps,