Jeweler's Rouge

**zman1403** · 12-11-2007, 04:45 PM

Today I aquired several chunks of Jeweler's rouge. Black, Grey, Green and Red. I then called a friend in Kentucky who is makes knives by hand in his spare time. He has been doing this for longer than he wishes to admit. He told me that the progression of the rouges is the following: (From Course to Fine)

Black
Brown
White
Green
Red (AKA Jeweler's)
Blue

He uses them on a piece of leather to finalize his products.

I also found the same progression on the internet on a tool sharpening site.

My question is can these rouges be used on straights ?
If so can any of them be applied to the rear of the white linen strop ?
If so which one ?
Can they be used in conjuction with one of Tony's strops?
Can they be used with balsa wood ?

DO THEY SERVE ANY PURPOSE ON A STRAIGHT ?
My friend told me it all depends on how far someone wants to go to get a perfect edge.

**heavydutysg135** · 12-11-2007, 05:05 PM

Knife sharp is not even in the same ballpark as razor sharp. For instance a 1200 grit stone such as the DMT extra fine is very fine for a knife finish, however this type of stone would only be used for major edge restoration on a straight razor. Most people would not want to shave with an edge below 8,000 grit. If you want to use pastes then use the 3, 1, .5, and .25 diamond pastes or .5 micron chromium oxide pastes that are tried and true for straight razor use. There is no need to come up with a solution for a problem that does not exist.

**FloppyShoes** · 12-11-2007, 05:53 PM

Green Rouge = Chromium Oxide Paste

HOWEVER! the particle size and gradation may differ from that of high end products made for sharpening blades.

I use a 3 paste progression on dremel wheels when polishing razors after the 2000 grit sandpaper to obtain a mirror finish. I also use the green paste on a strop, but I tried 2 other brands of green paste before settling on the current one. The 2 first ones were too coarse and too waxy respectively. If it's not meant for blade sharpening, it's a craps shoot.

Also worth noting, not all rouges will effectively cut steel. Some are meant for softer metals only.

**zman1403** · 12-11-2007, 06:45 PM

When you say paste do you mean what I am calling rouge. The items I have are more like a stone/crayon type material than a paste like an auto wax.

Sorry for all the questions !

**FloppyShoes** · 12-11-2007, 06:50 PM

Same thing in the end (I find anyways). Pastes/Rouges/Sprays use some kind of binding agent to help them adhere to buffing wheels, rags, strops etc. As long as they are not too heavy on the binding agent, they all work more or less the same.

In the case of Rouges, this is usually some kind of wax. I find it makes things super easy when applying to a strop. It's like coloring with a crayon. After applying it, massage it in with your hands. The heat and friction melts the wax a little and helps you to work it into the leather.

**Thebigspendur** · 12-12-2007, 09:11 AM

True jewelers Rouges are not designed for sharpening anything. They are made to polish metal. Unlike sharpening pastes where colors denote grit sizes in jewelers rouge the colors are designed for polishing different metals.Red is for gold and silver, yellow for copper and plastic, grey for stainless steel, green for carbon and very hard steels, white as a general final polish and blue as a general super polish and Vorneau as a pre polish to remove scratches on all metals.

**FauxPax** · 04-21-2012, 09:03 PM

I am reviving this thread because I just picked up some white polishing compound from Harbor Freight, how would it compare to the Dovo white paste?

**Slash McCoy** · 04-22-2012, 12:22 AM

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

Knife sharp is not even in the same ballpark as razor sharp. For instance a 1200 grit stone such as the DMT extra fine is very fine for a knife finish, however this type of stone would only be used for major edge restoration on a straight razor. Most people would not want to shave with an edge below 8,000 grit. If you want to use pastes then use the 3, 1, .5, and .25 diamond pastes or .5 micron chromium oxide pastes that are tried and true for straight razor use. There is no need to come up with a solution for a problem that does not exist.

+1 on the diamond paste progression. That will gitter done. But for ordinary edge maintenance, the 3u is sort of redundant. It is roughly equivelant to ANSI 8k grit, or an 8k Norton synthetic. (still good after 1.5k or 2k paper, though, for sanding/polishing.) The 1u is approximately 14k, about where a 12k Naniwa Superstone would be. A bit of 1u on balsa, and either .5u or .25u on another piece, would be a pretty good kit. You can supplement that with a felt or linen strop with some CrOx on it, or go with some .1u diamond. When you get down to .1u, diamond seems to be a smootherer like CrOx, rather than a sharpenerer like .5u diamond. YMMV. But I would only use the polishing stuff as a last resort. Remember, this is the internet age. You can have practically anything shipped right to your house. No need to use less than satisfactory substitutes.

Even for polishing a blade, I like the diamond paste. A dremel and a felt wheel and some diamond will getcha sparkling in just minutes. 5g will last a long time. Only takes a little dot of it.