Thread: MDF polishing Boards

I was wondering is i can use MDF polishing Baords with my pastes aplied to them to do a final polish or honing rather than the leather covered boards

cheer Gary

THere will be more knowledgeable replies.
I have seen MDF used as a replacement for wood as a base for mounting leather and denim. I'm not familiar with it as a hone...I don't think so.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/DKA122

take a look at this as this is what i was looking at and let me know

Could work, but I'd use the glass plate. MDF can be kinda funny about getting wet.

I've heard of this type of kit but I don't know anyone who has used one on razors.

The other thing you will want to watch out for is the base the diamond paste is in. There are both oil based and water based pastes. The water based ones are the ones that are always used for razor sharpening because you want to make sure it is all cleaned off before you use the razor.

Gary, this is the perfect opportunity for you to get the kit, use it and review it good or bad.
This way we can learn from your success or failure.

There are many places that sell diamond pastes in those grit sizes(many of which you don't even need) and you could just apply them to balsa wood (somewhat popular AFAIK).

Or if your really cheap (no insult intended), try this, buy a small tub of aluminum wheel polishing paste like mothers etc., put some on a strip of paper that's taped to something flat (2x4 for example, anything you have on hand) and strop until the edge passes the HHT or TPT or whatever. the grit size is probably in the neighborhood of 1 to .5 micron and it wont cost near as much. Wash it off when your done.

OR, for convenience, you can buy the kit and be on your way.

MDF is not a bad material for a substrate to which you would adhere other materials such as leather. It's flat and it's smooth. I wouldn't use it alone as a base for pastes as the MDF is made from waste wood products (floor sweepings, sanding dust, saw swarf, etc) and will contain random nasty grits of unknown sizes. There is a reason why carbide tools are needed to cut the stuff. It has particle board's hatred for water: wetted it has all the integrity of a sponge. And it's ugly. Other than that it should work just fine for a paddle strop base - you just need to glue something on top of it to hold the paste or other micron measured media.