Thread: Crocus finish or Satin?

A very straightforward way to make leather wheels of any diameter or thickness is to cut a series of say 2" diameter circles from a piece of cowhide and glue them together to make your desired thickness. Then you drill though the centre and use a length of threaded bar and a nut and washer on either side of your 'wheel' to make a shaft. You can then mount this in your motor and while it's running use a coarse abrasive paper wrapped around a flat file to dress the wheel and make sure it's running true.

Simple

I know a guy who did just that, to sharpening carving tools with red rouge and it did put a gleaming edge on his tools quickly. His was about 4 inches and about ¾ in thick, made from glued shoe sole leather. It did have some flex, he ran his bolted to a washing machine motor, so it ran pretty fast.

I wonder if they used the wood centers to save the hides for larger wheels or to make the wheels stiffer. What do you think, Michael?

Are you guys in Sheffield using leather or are we chasing our tails?

Originally Posted by mikew

A very straightforward way to make leather wheels of any diameter or thickness is to cut a series of say 2" diameter circles from a piece of cowhide and glue them together to make your desired thickness. Then you drill though the centre and use a length of threaded bar and a nut and washer on either side of your 'wheel' to make a shaft. You can then mount this in your motor and while it's running use a coarse abrasive paper wrapped around a flat file to dress the wheel and make sure it's running true.

Simple

Power strop wheels are readily available 3.5" diameter will work well for larger blades and one can be resized with a rasp fairly easily I think.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Power strop wheels are readily available 3.5" diameter will work well for larger blades and one can be resized with a rasp fairly easily I think.

I think Stefan has the right idea here. The pictures of the smaller diameter wheels that Hatzicho posted look a lot like the power strop wheels that Stefan is referencing. These can be purchased online easy enough, and would certainly save a ton of time vs. making something similar yourself. The only thing I didn't like about them (other than the apparent hardness or stiffness of the leather used to manufacture these) was the thickness of the wheels. They seemed to have a pretty thin profile to me...

The thing I like most about the wheel that I made is the 'give' of the softer bridal leather...that and it has a much wider profile. It has a really nice feel when polishing the steel. I've been using hard composition leather wheels and they are very hard and unforgiving if you are not careful.

This could be nothing more than a 'chasing your tail' exercise as Marty suggested. For me it is more about trying to replicate the old 'method' and 'look' of polishing rather than trying to prove that the end result is better than more modern methods...

Originally Posted by Wolfpack34

The thing I like most about the wheel that I made is the 'give' of the softer bridal leather...that and it has a much wider profile. It has a really nice feel when polishing the steel. I've been using hard composition leather wheels and they are very hard and unforgiving if you are not careful.

How do you maintain the give once the glue & abrasive is dry on the wheel ? My looseleaf wheels become like stone grinding wheels till I hammer them into submisssion.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

How do you maintain the give once the glue & abrasive is dry on the wheel ? My looseleaf wheels become like stone grinding wheels till I hammer them into submisssion.

Hey Oz! I am not using glue to glue the abrasive or polishing grit on the leather. I am using a paste that I made using Fe2O3 mixed with beeswax and paraffin. I have the same misgivings about gluing, and figured it would be the same as using grease-less compounds, which is what the old-timers did before the invention of grease-less. Definitely not what I want for my polishing.

So far I really like what I am seeing as far as effectiveness of leather as a polishing materiel when used with a polish. As soon as I get some of the other wheels made I am also going to be trying this out with all the different more modern polishes. I'll try to post a couple of before and after photos later today or tomorrow that will show how well this works.

Being as I had two power strop wheels for chisel sharpening I thought I would try them out for polishing. It is not easy. They are as hard as wood with no flex or give and are not easy to load with anything. I think I am going to have to backtrack and go with trying to figure out cutting up some leather to get very nice and pieces for wheels.

Finally got around to start playing with crocus , more specifically making it.
I followed a recipe that was either posted somewhere in the thread or Mike gave me the pdf (cant remember which one exactly) .
The recipe is by weight 10 parts paraffin
2.5 parts FeO
1 part Bees wax.

I melted the beeswax and the paraffin together then added the FeO, mixed very well and poured in a plastic container. I put the containers in the freezer to set fast, the result can be seen in the picture below. The yellow puck is 44 micron (~400 grit) FeO , the red puck is 25 micron (~800 grit ) FeO. I tried them both on a scrap blade and they bring out pretty good mirror finish. I used felt wheels, but I want to try with leather wheels too. I'll be making some soon. I did not have any issues with the compound loading on the wheel.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Finally got around to start playing with crocus , more specifically making it.
I followed a recipe that was either posted somewhere in the thread or Mike gave me the pdf (cant remember which one exactly) .
The recipe is by weight 10 parts paraffin
2.5 parts FeO
1 part Bees wax.

I melted the beeswax and the paraffin together then added the FeO, mixed very well and poured in a plastic container. I put the containers in the freezer to set fast, the result can be seen in the picture below. The yellow puck is 44 micron (~400 grit) FeO , the red puck is 25 micron (~800 grit ) FeO. I tried them both on a scrap blade and they bring out pretty good mirror finish. I used felt wheels, but I want to try with leather wheels too. I'll be making some soon. I did not have any issues with the compound loading on the wheel.

Awesome Stefan! That's exactly the formula I've been using... Great Job!

Does anyone have a source for 4 inch felt wheels? I see 6 inch and larger only.