Thread: A few questions about greaseless compounds

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I'd give odds on that those are rust pits that are getting polished & smeared.

nope. I thought that too but as I stated, i've tried on many different pieces stainless and carbon. New and old. Good try but just not possible. Thanks tho! I feel like a jerk telling people who are trying to figure out my problem off! haha
If you look at the original pics, the less close up ones, you can see its a sparkly haze, thats just under a micro. I tried like doing a bunch of cutting to see if that was the case, but the "pits" or sparkles never get smaller, and they end up in new places.

Nice close up pics of your issue at the steel mate.
Sure looks like hard contaminants to me based on the impact pattern. I get my greaseless in sealed tubes and only expose enough to use that day. Think the manufacturer is Beaver?
Meticulous, thorough racking of the buffs between uses and every few loadings has kept that from happening for me, and having lots of dedicated buffs for your different grits as well.
As Sharpton said, Dremel mini buffs also work with greaseless on razors but the higher rpm needs a gentler touch.
I have buffs, sisal, sewn, and cotton that are only for either greaseless or bars, not used with both medias.
Personally I don't use lower than 400 on any razors, just knives and engine parts.
Maybe try a new buff, fresh compound from a known sealed package and a fresh piece of steel and run another trial? Could be a bad lot of compound maybe.
Caswell is a great supplier, up here anyway, and has always worked with me to ensure my satisfaction on items ordered from them.
Keep us posted..

Originally Posted by glytch5

belts and contact wheels? huh? this is buffing compound on a buffer.... i'm not using a grinder at all here.
that one confused me. I just took from what I was told worked on this forum. A lot of people have bought from Caswell here... I have new stuff arriving tomorrow, I will be sure to get back to this. Thanks for helping though man appreciate it

If you are speaking of Caswell greaseless compounds on a buffer, you ain't buffing. You are grinding!

okay so got a bran new wheel from caswell, sewn wheel this time. Took EXTREME care that wheel was not contaminated, applied the 600 grit, which is left in the fridge tightly wrapped in its own plastic tube, and additional baggies.
applied it on, let the wheel sit for 25 minutes, and then tried on a very new, knife. This knife is very clean, most certainly no pitting on it. here is what I GOT!

same exact thing, only now that its a tighter wheel, even worse. I tried polishing strokes, cutting strokes, just holding it there everything. what the heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeck!?!?!! I must have bad compound correct?

Well that's curious .
How does a rotating particle produce anything other than a line scratch ?
Rhetorical question maybe.

what i'm starting to think is, little furs from the wheel are colliding into my surface before the rest of the wheel, and its doing almost a whip lash effect. But if that was so, how come we have never seen this problem elsewhere? Also why are they so damn deep? Idk... but this is giving me an aneurysm!

“[I]The flappier the wheel, the less heat I get[/I]”

Because you are using the wrong kind of wheel and it is not cutting into the steel. If it is cutting, it will generate heat.

I don’t know how you got the greaseless to stick to the loose cotton wheel, but am not surprised with the results, as I suspect your greaseless is applied randomly.

So as your wheels are not cutting, you may be using more pressure and it is biting randomly causing your issue.

Some proper, 4 in wheels, either sewn cotton or sisal should work just fine. While it is not difficult to polish with greaseless, there is a steep learning curve, before you obtain mirror like results. Polishing a straight razor is probably one of the hardest things to master, because it is so easy to overheat and ruin the temper or remove way too much material by using too much pressure or low a grit.

How much is too much? That, you will have to figure out. How hot? Lay your index finger on the back side, if it is too hot to touch, it must be quenched immediately

Its a spiral wheel now Euclid....

video will be uploaded @ https://youtu.be/8oGb89kYe7c in about an hour from this message to SHOW my issue. I think this will make for an easier understanding where i'm coming from. Thank you all for the help.

I have to go to sleep for work in the AM, hopefully you guys will have some good news for me in the AM, THANK YOU!

I watched your video. First off mount your buffer to the work surface. Yes I saw it jump when you were trying to apply compound to the wheel. If you read the owner manual one of first things it tells you to do is fasten the buffer to the work surface.
I doubt there is anything wrong with the compound. Your application of the compound to the wheel is poor. I can see it is not an even coat and is full of lumps. I'm not surprised at the finish. Here is a picture of what a wheel should look like with greaseless compound properly applied. GSSIXGUN has a write up in the sticky that you should read if you have not.

Yup, the compound is not applied properly, it should be smooth on the wheel.

Your wheels are too large, you should be using 4 in wheels or the surface speed will be too high, and you will quickly over heat and loose the temper. Buff with you index finger behind the steel, you will quickly feel when it is too hot, then quench.

Rake the wheel to fluff it up, then with a sharp scissor, trim all the nubs that are sticking up so the wheel is smooth. Any threads that stick up will grab compound and cause it to lump, the strings will beat the steel and may be the source of the “track marks”.

Also you compound looks dry, the tube should be soft, and feel about like an uncooked hotdog wiener. If it is dry put it in a large Zip lock bag with a folded paper towel soaked in water, leave the open end of the package un-rapped so it can absorb moisture. Overnight should be long enough. You don’t have to refrigerate. I store in a ziplock bag in a plastic tupper ware type container in the shop.

Here is a video that shows

how to apply and what the application should look like

.

You can make a splatter shield from a cereal box just cut an opening for the shaft so the box can cover at least half the wheel. Your wheel is spinning too fast to grab the compound and is fling it off.

On brand new wheel it takes at least 2 applications to get a smooth finish. Once applied to the wheel, let the wheel run for about 5 minutes, then reapply.