Using MDF as a buffing wheel is a fairly well known technique, here's my take on it. I use green metal buffing compound on the wheel. More here: ibuildit.ca/ti...
tHANK YOU for demonstrating the use of MDF as a polishing base. Also: Nice demonstration of a light touch while stropping the knives on the stationary MDF. It is easy (for me) to forget to keep the touch light -- your video is an appreciated reminder whether i am using a strip of MDF or leather.
Color - from coarse to fine - Black, Brown, White, Red, Blue, then Green which is very fine. Thanks for this video - I will use the stationary MDF idea - You always have great videos
MDF is a great product for strops. I use it with my leather crafting knives. I will also use the diamond paste with a block of MDF. Awesome video. Thanks for sharing!
I actually thought this up on my own, and was surprised when I searched and found lots of other references to it. Thing about this is, there's hard felt and that looks a lot like MDF (using my imagination, here, a bit). I tried it and thought that it was great.
Brilliant idea! I just come up with the idea of making shoe horns out of stainless steel tubings (50-60mm D) from my scrap metal pile. I bet i can carve out suitable wheels for inner and outer curves for buffing purposes and mount them in my bench grinder. I have already made a few "prototypes" (shoe horns) and it takes me around 5 minutes on each with the cutting disk and flap disk to get the shoe horns ready for buffing. But the final contouring and buffing took me over an hour with my setup at the moment so this tip might help my project evolve (not that i plan mass production but i've already got a few request from friends and family so there is very likely i have solved part of next year annual pre Christmas headache). Lol. Yeah i know its a dirt cheep present idea but think about the numbers of cheap and crusty choe horns that needs replacement every year in a regular household. Most consumer things today seems to be manufactured with the intent of braking within a short amount of time and this will be the downfall of humanity if we don't get our acts together and start living our life more sustainable in respect to natural resources and nature itself.
"... why you'd need a kitchen knife this sharp" Thin, thin slices of roasted meat, my friend. Better yet, thin, thin slices of sous vide and then slow roasted beef slathered in a tangy hot sauce, served in a warm bun. That is why.
"Not sure why you'd need a kitchen knife this sharp..." The sharper the knife is, the less force required to cut, the more control you have, and the safer it is to use. I never COULD convince my mother of that, and she was always slipping and cutting her fingers with her (to my standards anyhow) dull kitchen knives.
Very nice - I appreciate your "Take". On mine, I'll use a tapped wood faceplate instead of dedicating an expensive metal faceplate. Thanks Alan Stratton
Very cool idea. This could work well in conjunction with the scary sharp sandpaper system. Thanks for the idea! Also, I'm jealous of a kitchen knife that sharp.
According to the wikipedia page on polishing metalworking, green is for stainless steel. It would appear that choice of polishing compound is on a what's available/trial and error/what works basis.
Shopsmith had one years back that attached to the drill press with a bearing underneath to prevent deflection and too much side pressure on the bearings. They mounted sandpaper on the perimeter and leather on the top.
It looks like "Jewelers Rouge". There are several different types of rouge for different polishing. Green, Brown, & White are the most popular. You can also find Black as well. You can find these in Truck Stops most of the time.
All my kitchen knives are this sharp. At first my wife was apprehensive about them, but now she rarely uses her old stand by's. After I started sharpening them to this degree, we used them on potatoes and thought there was something wrong with the potatoes, the knives went through them so easily. Now we know it's the difference between a sharp knife and a dull or mediocre one.
I just received my first buffing/polishing compounds today. That's the degree of expert I am. I presume from the descriptions of the various "colors," that they are at least partially like sandpaper grits, but maybe chemically different too, so as to take appropriate measures with the materials being worked, like the stainless steels with their high nickel and chromium contents, for instance. They have had decades to perfect these compounds, but who's to say what they did with that time.
Before it became impossible to find a leather worker. Leather buffing wheels where the go. Did you know that leather is used by optomotrists to polish optical glass lenses? The shine that JH put on that chisel is amazing. You can never have a kitchen work knife that is too sharp. Cudos to you John.
Jeweler's rouge is red. He's using green here which is a fine grit for metal, particularly stainless. For most stuff the white would be good; it's a rather medium grit. Brown or black are the courser grits. Also as long as the user is aware of it, a very sharp kitchen knife is less prone to cause accidental cuts - less pressure needs to be applied and so there's more control. Question: what speed did you have your lathe running?
Any concerns with heat build up when you are honing? I REALLY like that idea, just don't want to anneal the cutting edge. Nice video, thanks for posting. - Don
Hello, thanks for the vídeo! Would you say that the stationary method is better for knifes?How long does it take using stationary method, seems like hard work...
THis has probably been asked before. But I'm wondering what the RPM of that machine is, and what's the max RPM you can have on that MDF wheel before disintegration can become a hazard. Saeid
Also note, the mdf wheel will quickly get your tools/blades hot enough to lose the temper. I also stress what he did, you don't need a firm touch w/ this. Anyone that does this, take your time, it does get your tools wicked sharp but you don't want to burn up your steel.
I asked my carpentry teacher and he has told me you can use some commercial products to polish and grind certain metals eg toothpaste can be uses to polish gold, is there any commercial products that can be used instead of buffing compound. I heard you can use cement mix and mix it will wax polish or water and the particles in the in the cement mixture will do the job, do you know of anything i can use?
I made one there 6 pieces of mdf wide some job great for plane and wide chisles plus u can run knifes over the round side. I tryed polishing compound paste mity lad
Thanks for the tip. I hate it when I have a really good idea and when I look for that idea on the internet I find that other people have already thought of it. I guess that it is getting pretty hard to have a completely new idea when there are over 7 billion people on the planet. Haha
Why would you need a sharp kitchen knife? You clearly do not cook. for those of us that do sharper the better why do you think people spend a small fortune on a good set of kitchen knives?
tHANK YOU for demonstrating the use of MDF as a polishing base.
Also:
Nice demonstration of a light touch while stropping the knives on the stationary MDF. It is easy (for me) to forget to keep the touch light -- your video is an appreciated reminder whether i am using a strip of MDF or leather.
Color - from coarse to fine - Black, Brown, White, Red, Blue, then Green which is very fine.
Thanks for this video - I will use the stationary MDF idea - You always have great videos
The colour code is not Universal, depends on the manufacturer and country of origin.
MDF is a great product for strops. I use it with my leather crafting knives. I will also use the diamond paste with a block of MDF. Awesome video. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the info. I have glued a piece of leather from a craft store to my disc sander and charged it with compound to get the same effect.
I actually thought this up on my own, and was surprised when I searched and found lots of other references to it. Thing about this is, there's hard felt and that looks a lot like MDF (using my imagination, here, a bit). I tried it and thought that it was great.
Brilliant idea! I just come up with the idea of making shoe horns out of stainless steel tubings (50-60mm D) from my scrap metal pile. I bet i can carve out suitable wheels for inner and outer curves for buffing purposes and mount them in my bench grinder. I have already made a few "prototypes" (shoe horns) and it takes me around 5 minutes on each with the cutting disk and flap disk to get the shoe horns ready for buffing. But the final contouring and buffing took me over an hour with my setup at the moment so this tip might help my project evolve (not that i plan mass production but i've already got a few request from friends and family so there is very likely i have solved part of next year annual pre Christmas headache). Lol. Yeah i know its a dirt cheep present idea but think about the numbers of cheap and crusty choe horns that needs replacement every year in a regular household. Most consumer things today seems to be manufactured with the intent of braking within a short amount of time and this will be the downfall of humanity if we don't get our acts together and start living our life more sustainable in respect to natural resources and nature itself.
great tip... will get some compound tomorrow and use this method. love it when there is a simple answer to a problem
"... why you'd need a kitchen knife this sharp"
Thin, thin slices of roasted meat, my friend. Better yet, thin, thin slices of sous vide and then slow roasted beef slathered in a tangy hot sauce, served in a warm bun.
That is why.
Moar tips pla
I too have been using mdf wheels charged with the green stick but on my WorkSharp machine. Works great. Thanks for affirming this method.
"Not sure why you'd need a kitchen knife this sharp..." The sharper the knife is, the less force required to cut, the more control you have, and the safer it is to use. I never COULD convince my mother of that, and she was always slipping and cutting her fingers with her (to my standards anyhow) dull kitchen knives.
Scary sharp kitchen nice are really nice for slicing onions. The sharper the knife, the dryer the cut stays, the less you cry :)
Anything John does is top notch...
Very nice - I appreciate your "Take". On mine, I'll use a tapped wood faceplate instead of dedicating an expensive metal faceplate.
Thanks
Alan Stratton
Very cool idea. This could work well in conjunction with the scary sharp sandpaper system. Thanks for the idea! Also, I'm jealous of a kitchen knife that sharp.
According to the wikipedia page on polishing metalworking, green is for stainless steel. It would appear that choice of polishing compound is on a what's available/trial and error/what works basis.
Shopsmith had one years back that attached to the drill press with a bearing underneath to prevent deflection and too much side pressure on the bearings. They mounted sandpaper on the perimeter and leather on the top.
It looks like "Jewelers Rouge". There are several different types of rouge for different polishing. Green, Brown, & White are the most popular. You can also find Black as well. You can find these in Truck Stops most of the time.
All my kitchen knives are this sharp. At first my wife was apprehensive about them, but now she rarely uses her old stand by's. After I started sharpening them to this degree, we used them on potatoes and thought there was something wrong with the potatoes, the knives went through them so easily. Now we know it's the difference between a sharp knife and a dull or mediocre one.
I just received my first buffing/polishing compounds today. That's the degree of expert I am.
I presume from the descriptions of the various "colors," that they are at least partially like sandpaper grits, but maybe chemically different too, so as to take appropriate measures with the materials being worked, like the stainless steels with their high nickel and chromium contents, for instance.
They have had decades to perfect these compounds, but who's to say what they did with that time.
I take it the color sets the grit of the buffing compound. Do you have a color set from hard to soft? Thank you Pete McQuade.
Another most excellent clip. Well done.
Before it became impossible to find a leather worker. Leather buffing wheels where the go. Did you know that leather is used by optomotrists to polish optical glass lenses?
The shine that JH put on that chisel is amazing. You can never have a kitchen work knife that is too sharp. Cudos to you John.
nice tip, scary sharp knifes in the kitchen and shop is always good. and making something like this cheaply is always good
one more thing mdf is good for ^^ Great idea!
Hey John that was a new one on me..... on things like this, I always wonder what made the first person think to try using MDF to sharpen something?
I would have never guessed that possible! Thank you.
I don't have any concerns, barely got warm.
Jeweler's rouge is red. He's using green here which is a fine grit for metal, particularly stainless. For most stuff the white would be good; it's a rather medium grit. Brown or black are the courser grits.
Also as long as the user is aware of it, a very sharp kitchen knife is less prone to cause accidental cuts - less pressure needs to be applied and so there's more control.
Question: what speed did you have your lathe running?
Green can be chromium oxide, which is what many straight razor fans use to fine tune their razors.
Any concerns with heat build up when you are honing? I REALLY like that idea, just don't want to anneal the cutting edge.
Nice video, thanks for posting. - Don
It metal buffing compound.
You need a kitchen knife that sharp so you can quickly open the pizza boxes.
Hello, thanks for the vídeo! Would you say that the stationary method is better for knifes?How long does it take using stationary method, seems like hard work...
THis has probably been asked before. But I'm wondering what the RPM of that machine is, and what's the max RPM you can have on that MDF wheel before disintegration can become a hazard.
Saeid
Thanks John! that's a great tip.
Also note, the mdf wheel will quickly get your tools/blades hot enough to lose the temper. I also stress what he did, you don't need a firm touch w/ this. Anyone that does this, take your time, it does get your tools wicked sharp but you don't want to burn up your steel.
I asked my carpentry teacher and he has told me you can use some commercial products to polish and grind certain metals eg toothpaste can be uses to polish gold, is there any commercial products that can be used instead of buffing compound. I heard you can use cement mix and mix it will wax polish or water and the particles in the in the cement mixture will do the job, do you know of anything i can use?
you can use poop
+rory Donaldson gold is too soft for tooth polish I used tooth polish to remove some scratches from a bronze object but that is pretty much the limit.
nice one, John. I will be trying this in my shop real soon!
Hi !
Thanks for this interesting vid !
What kind of paste do you use to sharp your tools ?
Thanks !
Cheers,
Phil
Got me thinking I wonder if mdf is better than a leather stropping wheel? I am going to build one and try it out... Nice tip!
I made one there 6 pieces of mdf wide some job great for plane and wide chisles plus u can run knifes over the round side. I tryed polishing compound paste mity lad
Buffing compound, green.
Jewelers Rouge. You can find it in most truck stops.
Have to try that.
Thanks John
Very nice. Great idea.
Thanks for the tip. I hate it when I have a really good idea and when I look for that idea on the internet I find that other people have already thought of it. I guess that it is getting pretty hard to have a completely new idea when there are over 7 billion people on the planet. Haha
When you have to prep a lot of food your going to want a sharp knife just to make your job easier. I just use an old leather belt for honing.
A+ MAN great idea nice one, John
I have to ask as well, what compound?
What compound was that you used ?
Just tried this out and _wow_! My chisels are now sharp enough to shave with.
Great idea!
Ya done good, real good!
what was the compound you used
I don't think sanding for smoothness is a good idea. Sanding grit remains behind to leave scratches you don't want.
my dads a chef. a good knife is a sharp one.
Sweet, Thanks John!!
nice job!
great idea!; thank u for sharing!
genius!! im trying that.
That's awesome!!
Tomatoes. Great for tomatoes. :) Nice.
Tnx, John!
I got mdf...
A+
Fair enough.
You’re not sure why you need a kitchen knife this sharp? 🤔
nice one!
Awesome
thanks
super!
Nice! My Harbor Freight razor blades aren't as sharp as that kitchen knife.
GREAT
cool
nice→knives (sleepy me)
polishing paste must be dissolved in kerosene, and then this impregnated polishing wheel.
Why would you need a sharp kitchen knife? You clearly do not cook. for those of us that do sharper the better why do you think people spend a small fortune on a good set of kitchen knives?