Restoration: Greaseless Compound...

Hello Everyone,

I have seen a few straight razor restoration videos and the restorers always use greaseless compound when restoring (buffing) old blades. Why is this? Would using regular compounds work just as well? If there is a difference, could someone explain it to me please; I am interested in the physics behind the difference. It would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Greasless compounds come in different grit ratings so you start at a low grit rating for very heavy grinding and maximum steel removal and move up to a very high grit rating which is for removing very fine scratches. I've never used anything other than greasless compound so I can't make a comparison to regular compounds I'm afraid.

Where do you purchase your compounds?

The greaseless compound are better when you are taking off a lot of metal. But if you take off a lot of metal with a buffer you run the risk of rounding out the lines that make the old steel look pretty. I sand and finish up the final polishing stages with a series of different grit standard buffer sticks and they work great. Just don't want to use them for much more than light rust removal and polishing.