Thread: red jeweler's paste, suitable on strop?

I got some red polishing paste from a local jeweler. I am thinking of making a pasted strop. Is this paste suitable to use between Norton 8000 and plain strop, and what is its micron size? How is this paste doing compared to diamond compounds?

Any info is appreciated,
thanx,

Nenad

Red paste (rouge) is used to polish soft precious metals like silver and gold. I don't think it would do much to a carbon steel or stainless steel razor. Of course you could try it, I don't think it would harm a razor but you would ruin a strop for further use.

What bigspendur said is right on the money. It's not something that I could recommend for anything but polishing brass. Diamond paste is excellent, though.

I have used it with a felt wheel on a drimmel tool to put a mirror finish on stained blades on neglected razors.

We use it daily on a felt wheel to do final sharpening of wood chisels in our pattern shop. Sort of a quick power strop that easily removes a wire edge. No issue on good steel.

Guess I better coble up another strop and try it here to see what it really does. Just wondering if the old time red paste commonly found on antique strops is nothing more that jewlers rouge in a slightly softer medium.

Tony

The only way to find out is to try it. You can always go back and re-hone the razor on the hone.