Thread: Powdered Graphite

Howdy all,

I've been having a few lock issues and I was recommended powdered graphite.

After using this I saw how it is a fine powder. I was wondering if anyone has ever used this as a paste on their strop.

I have no idea what the grit might be but it is very fine. I didn't want to use it before asking on here.

Any help or comments will be appreciated.

Graphite is a carbon form that forms very thin platelets. It is commonly used in pencils and lubricants. So it works well as a lubricant but is soft and does not form what would be called grit. The plates slide along each other.
Some grits like garnet and boron nitride do break down and form new cutting edges with use.
Rust; iron oxide is another that breaks down and is sold in buffing wheel coating sticks as Rouge. In combination with Corundum, a natural mineral, it is sold as emery.
Pumice crushes and becomes smoother with use, and is better as a cleaner than a sharpener. It is often used in hand cleaners and buff coating sticks as "bobbing compound."
~Richard

Which means no I can't use it on it's own then.

Put some on your strop and rub it in with some neatsfootoil.

Don't do it. It's a lubricant and will ruin your strop. The idea in stropping is to create some draw and dress the edge. The graphite will lube the strop and you will accomplish nothing and you'll probably never be able to get the stuff off the strop.

I dunno, I rubbed some in to my strop a few months ago as a trial. It seems to have improved the overall performance of my strop, without effecting draw.

Then again, I have only been using it graphite-ized, for 2-3 months, so I'm still in trial phase.

Dragging up an old post, but since I'm looking into this, I figured others might also.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Don't do it. It's a lubricant and will ruin your strop. The idea in stropping is to create some draw and dress the edge. The graphite will lube the strop and you will accomplish nothing and you'll probably never be able to get the stuff off the strop.

I have just started looking into stropping compounds and am looking for something simple (read inexpensive and works). I ended up running across this patent in the process:
Patent US1602437 - Razor-strop dressing - Google Patents
"the graphite will maintain the strop pliable and prevent cracking or breaking thereof," so someone at one time thought it actually helped the strop.
I also hear rumors of using glass as a hone, and even rumors of it working far better than expected.

For a good idea of how effective compounds are, I ended up running across this blog a couple days ago where a guy takes a blade with a couple notches out of it and puts it under the microscope:
Knife Sharpening Techniques: Global Boning Knife - Sharpening Progression