Thread: Mothers Aluminum Polish

I was just wondering if anyone else uses this in stropping razors? As a machinist and gunsmith for years...I have always used Mothers for polishing metal. It is just a paste white jewlers rouge. Since I have gotten started honing straight razors I use it on a bare leather strop after my 12k stone and before using a plain strop. I am getting pretty sharp edges.

Just wondering if anyone else has ever tried this???

Hi

I think that sounds like an idea with some merit. I've never tried this, but I think today I will. You see, I don't know what I'm doing anyways, and I'm looking for ways to improve my edge.

I wonder what grit the "Mother's" is. Maybe better than 12K if you are using it to refine your edge. I only have an 8K stone, so I'll give it a whirl and see what I can come up with. I don't have an extra strop, so I think I'll try it on some newspaper.

You use a stropping motion right (leading with the back)?

Anyhow, I'll let you know what happens!

I bought the mothers! $5.31

Newspaper $0.75

I opened the can and noted that it was stinky. I laid my newspaper over my hone, that's the flattest surface at my disposal, and dapped just enough on my finger to draw a stripe across the area where the middle of my stroke would be.

I worked it into the paper a bit and went to work with a very light stropping motion. I don't have much of a feel for how things are going with the blade as I work on it, but I did notice that things got extremely shiney, so I called that good enough.

The mothers is somewhat oily, so I thoroughly cleaned the razor, and then got some clean news paper and gently stropped some more. I thought this would help get any left over polish off the razor and avoid any nasty skin irritation which could result from using automotive products.

The razor readily took hair off my arm, but unfortunatly the best way I've found to test sharpness is on my face. I just shaved yesterday afternoon and I'll have to wait until tomorrow to report on the sharpening results.

Up until now the sharpest I've achieved, according to my scale, is a disposable bic that's already got a couple shaves under its belt. Heh, we'll see if I get any improvement, but so far I'm excited. I did notice that things looked a little differently after trying that method out. I have my fingers crossed.

The thought of having a possibly sharp razor sapped all the patience right out of me.

I found it to be the sharpest I've had it yet! That's sort of a mixed blessing, I really cut the crap out of myself! The alcohol really burned, and I had to whip out the styptic pencil!!

Cuts of Progress is what I say. With some more practice I'll be able to handle the razor with more care. Maybe if there are any other new guys having trouble getting a desireable cutting edge, they may be able to use this method.

Thanks for the great idea! And hopefully I didn't clog this thread too much, so the experienced hands can weigh in on this subject.

Interesting idea - I tried to google what grit size might be in Mothers, naturally it's a "secret formula."

that said, in a pinch I bet all kinds of things with "polish" in the name will work for a strop paste. Probably even the cleaner waxes have some light abrasives in them. My only concern would be the long term effects on the leather. My guess is that used sparingly it might actually benefit the strop since most are petroleum oil or wax based and won't go rancid. But that's totally a guess, I never tried it.

If it works for you I say go with it. Oh and just to state the obvious, once you paste a strop it's kind of fixed at that grit or coarser. That's easy with the diamond pastes since you know what grit is there.

I got the same results as you guys; a piece of white paper, taped to a flat length of hardwood, just enough paste to coat the stropping surface with a thin coat of polish, and about 20 strokes later I had what felt like a newly honed razor that was previously quite uncomfortable to use.

This would be a great way for new guys to get into keeping razors sharp between professional honings.

Kudos on the discovery!

I've never used the stuff and don't plan on it but what would concern me is what's in it and trying to then get it off the edge of the razor and of course the unknown grit size. The fact is there are plenty of products out there that are tried and true where you don't have to worry about unknowns. remember the razor will be on your face. Do you want some petrolium solvent type chemical there too?

I have used Mothers with the Dremel and you have to be very careful not to burn spots into your razor. It heats up quickly and if you concentrate the pad on an area, you could have a burn spot in a heart beat. Not a good thing. If you are careful, it can produce a nice shine.

Lynn

There are all kinds of abrasive pastes out there that could be used at some point in the honing process. As mentioned the objections that some of us have is twofold.
1. Unknown grit size
2. Chemicals that could irritate the skin when shaving.

Other than that, if it works for you then go for it!

Just be sure to clean that razor with hot soapy water after your done.

The only thing I can do here is second the caution about completely cleaing the blade. If I remember correctly Mothers does have a petroleum base. And once polished anything to be painted must be cleaned with spirits in order to get to bare metal for the paint to adhere.

This goes along with the fact that there are two types of Diamond paste out there. One is oil based and less expensive but not used on razors because of the oil base. The other is water based and a great product for fine edges. The moral here is, with pastes, what goes on must come off.

Extensive cleanup before use is not something I want between my finishing honing and my shave.