Thread: Alum Oxide powder - an alternative to greaseless

I have become increasingly disenchanted with loading greaseless compounds and their staying power - having read about various techniques for reducing the 'fly-off' I have never managed to load my mops without creating a mess on myself and the workroom wall.

However, looking at my mop suppliers website I came across a 'mop cement' and loose aluminium oxide powder - the loading is really simple, you paint on the water based cement and then roll it in the powder and allow to dry. It creates a uniform surface - I sprinkled the powder onto foil and then poured the residue back into its container.

Experimenting with 180 and 320 grit, I would say it is slightly more aggressive than the comparable grits in compound so you need a light touch. I used 3" close stiched mops on a small variable speed polisher at lowest speed - with no noticeable heat build-up.

It's well worth a trial - my supplier in the UK sells small volumes - the only drawback is that 320 is the highest grit he stocks whereas something like 600 and 1000 would make a really good base prior to using polishing compounds.

Yea, recently met a guy who told me he used the same method and swears by it.

You can buy grits down to 60 or 80 from Gotgrit.com.

Castwell’s sells the glue and grit as well as an “Abrasive Wheel System”, I have often wondered about it, may have to try it.

I use 2 wheels of the same grit so one is drying as the other is in use and try to do all the buffing at one time.

I do keep a 600 grit on another buffer that is great for touch ups and the grit I use most often.

How does the "Re-load" work when needed ????

Do you just add more glue and reload, or do you have to clean the wheel first with a Rake ???

According to the information on the supplier website you apply cement on top and build up from there - the wheels become better with a couple of applications.

Having used them on just two blades, it looks as though one application will last much longer than greaseless.

I would love for you to continue this thread Rob, as you gather more info please share with the rest of us, so much of the info out there is just not geared to us as SR guys and the more we get from us, for us, the better off we are

Pics etc: would be most welcome..


Color me interested

Will do Glen - I'll post a few pictures of one I finished polishing but it will give some idea.

Incidentally, I checked the Caswell US site and that has the grit up to 320 only. Having searched the net I can see that brown alum oxide is available at 600, 800 and 1000 grits from other websites in the US so if any one tries the higher ratings please add to the thread.