Possible Substrates for Honing Compound

[Russell Cook]

Hi all.

I am planning to have a go at some chromium oxide honing compound, and am trying to decide what to use as the substrate for it.

I've heard leather strops and balsa wood are good. I also seem to recall someone rubbing it on very fine sandpaper to finish off a "scary sharp" session.

I've had the vague idea of using the reverse side of my translucent Arkansas.

Any tips?

[Chris Griggs]

Balsa is my favorite substrate, followed by mdf, or some type of close grained grained hardwood (cherry or maple).

[John Coloccia]

Someone mentioned MDF not too long ago here. I thought it was kind of silly, but what the heck. I tried it, and I think it's quite nice. I still like leather for my actual strop...maybe I'm just old fashioned, or maybe I just like dead animal skin...I don't know. I just know it was interesting to me just how good the MDF worked, even though I don't use it in my personal sharpening method.

Balsa is interesting. I haven't heard that before. Isn't it ridiculously easy to dent it and ruin the surface? On the other hand, you couldn't ask for an easier surface to fix, I guess. I have to try that.

[Chris Griggs]

Balsa is interesting. I haven't heard that before. Isn't it ridiculously easy to dent it and ruin the surface? On the other hand, you couldn't ask for an easier surface to fix, I guess. I have to try that.

Yeah, its not good for narrow chisels. I like if for plane blades and don't really use it for chisels so that didn't really occur to me (and use it for razors which is obviously TOTALLY different). On second thought the other suggestions are probably all better all around options.

Probably should just ignore my first post as I've moved away from using compounds in the shop...in my dirty workspace there's just too much contamination so half the time they do the opposite of what's intended. My preference as of late when I need an extra fine edge is just to dry my 8k water stone allowing it to load and working it up to a finer finish.

[David Weaver]

Horse butt strip or MDF for tools, and balsa for razors.

Use chromium oxide with caution if you care that the stone may be green. It will be in the oil and then the stone will pretty much be green forever.

I've used it on pretty much everything from a medium felt all the way to a spyderco UF, and I think the in-betweens like MDF work best, they have some give but don't change tool geometry. Horse butt is nice, but it's more trouble get get and affix to something that MDF. If you contaminate MDF, you can just cut off another square or you can sand off the contamination. You can do that to some extent with horse butt, too, if it's been kept dry.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I had great luck with MDF until it got dirty/contaminated. Learned that lesson the hard way. I've got some nice little offcuts too small too do much with, and too pretty to toss, I'm thinking of making a nice stone-holder box to hold a piece of MDF for honing compound to help keep it clean. I find the idea of a pretty box holding a piece of MDF hilarious for some reason.

[paul cottingham]

I use it on both maple, and horsebutt. works great.

[David Weaver]

By the way, russell, if you're going to use the crayons/sticks, they will work *miles* better if you introduce a couple of drops of oil on the MDF or wood that you use each time they seem dry. Be easier to wipe off anything that sticks on the chisel, too. The wax in the crayons is intended to make them apply well to a buff (where there is some heat), but you're not going to have that.

[Chris Griggs]

I had great luck with MDF until it got dirty/contaminated. Learned that lesson the hard way. I've got some nice little offcuts too small too do much with, and too pretty to toss, I'm thinking of making a nice stone-holder box to hold a piece of MDF for honing compound to help keep it clean. I find the idea of a pretty box holding a piece of MDF hilarious for some reason.

This is funny. I've considered doing the same from time to time. Its a ridiculous and hilarious idea but would at the same time be very practical.

[Mel Fulks]

I'm experimenting with vintage real linen glued with Elmer's school glue to cabinet grade plywood. There are a lot of tea towels ,napkins,etc cheap at thrift shops and estate sales . Using it turned at 45 degree angle. High thread count and smooth.

[David Weaver]

Side comment, if you have tormek pa 70 honing paste or autosol, that also works well on MDF, though it does leave a film of black on things. But it's fast and will make an edge as fine as an 8k grit stone (IIRC it is 3 micron al ox paste). when you get a build up of it on a piece of MDF, you can just scrape it off.

[Bruce Haugen]

Just try something. It doesn't have to mean you're committed to that combination forever. I have and still use Corian, leather, maple, MDF, and you know what? They all work. I've also used AlOx powder, green chromium, Flitz, diamond paste and Meguiar's plastic polish. For different tools, they all work, too.

[Tom Vanzant]

If you can't bring yourself to building an MDF hone storage box, check out the grocery for re-use em or lose em plastic food storage boxes. They come in many sizes.

[Russell Cook]

Cheers for all the replies.

MDF seems a very popular choice. I'm still tempted by the idea of using a flat, hard stone that has come pre-lapped as otherwise I'll worry too much about how flat the substrate is. But if I decide to do this I'll buy a cheap "Hard Select" rather than dye my lovely translucent green.

Anyhow, thanks a lot, I have all the info I was looking for　:)

[Christian Castillo]

I've used chromium oxide on mdf based on a suggestion I was given by David Weaver. It works so well that I don't even feel the need for a leather strop.

[Mel Fulks]

Update. Op's question was about compound ,and the linen I mentioned work fine. I tried the powder yesterday and that
does not work,it wears out the cloth FAST .I will be trying the other listed suggestions,had no idea there was so much
difference between the two products.

[David Weaver]

Mel, I should've sent you some balsa, but I think I threw it away. Radiata pine sawn in a veneer and glued to something stable would not be a whole lot different than balsa, especially given the quality of the 2nd or 3rd or 8th growth or whatever it is that they have at home depot.

Still like the smooth veg. tanned cowhide (because you can literally wipe the strop clean with an oiled rag - as in not used with any compound at all, just bare leather) glued hard with hide glue to a board. And horse butt if there's compound involved, though MDF with a drop of oil is probably functionally just as good.

[Tony Shea]

I have gone with the popular consensus of MDF now for years and prefer it over anything I've tried. I like it better than all the leathers (horse butt, veg tanned cow, etc) that I've tried as well. I have a drawer full of different stropping media and I just haven't found a better strop than MDF. I keep mine in a drawer so it doesn't seem to ever get contaminated, it is my 2nd piece over a 4 year period. It is long enough that half is charged with compound and the other half is bare. A couple swipes on the charged end and finish on the bare end. This is only when I need a really sharp edge though. I like the harder surface the MDF has over leather, less chance of slightly dubbing an edge which seemed to happen too often with my leather. I also use the compound without oil, the oil seemed to make a mess of the MDF and is the reason I threw my first MDF strop out.

There are certainly lots of opinions about stropping and everyone seems valid. This is just what I have grown to like and get repeatable results with.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Part of the reason I contemplate a box, is even though a drawer keeps it clean, the only time I really strop my edges is during work - if I'm doing a fair amount of chisel work, something to strop on nearby is great for keeping my edges in great shape. I find during sharpening that it doesn't add that much to the edge off my finish stone; if it's handy I use it, but more often than not forgo it. But it's those "out on the bench" times that I manage to contaminate it - I always forget to put it away if I switch from chisel work to saw work, or go to sweep off the bench of something.

[bill tindall]

Substrate theory

The particles must embed in the substrate so they stay fixed while to steel moves past them. This is why diamond on cast iron works to quickly abrade steel and diamonds for polishing, but the cast iron doesn't quickly abrade away. The particles may not embed in the stone. If they roll around they will cut, but inefficiently.