Unconventional (Free) Sharpening Materials

Not really in the category of an abrasive, remember that colas with their high acidic content are pretty good only 2nd to vinegar for rust removal.  I have soaked rust-frozen tools in both white vinegar and Coke Cola and and id say that the later is a very close second to vinegar.  

Also I have taken light but distracting scratches out of plastic and glass lenses by rubbing with toothpaste.  Worked on my i-phone cover too just 2 days ago.

In pre-Revolutionary era Boston, Pewterer, Paul Revere could give you a tooth polishing with a concoction that included broken ceramic crockware.  "Do have a seat, I'll be with you momentarily" (crunch, crunch).

Back to sand again, if you have a new floor in of rough boards and want to work them over pioneer style, some of the old timers smoothed them down scrubbing with a brick and sand.

I believe some South American indigenous peoples spun stone blocks on top of stone blocks using the weight of one against the other to create no-gap no-mortar seams in their architecture.

Another unconventional strop, to realign an existing edge: a piece of scrap plywood. Use light pressure. Works best when the wood grain of the plywood is pointing toward you (i.e., the blade and the wood grain are parallel, pointing in the same direction).

Also I have taken light but distracting scratches out of plastic and glass lenses by rubbing with toothpaste.  Worked on my i-phone cover too just 2 days ago.

Just the other day I tried this on the headlight lenses of my vehicle...not sure how much of a difference it made, BUT I discovered a whole new use for toothpaste!  

After rinsing the headlights, I noticed how shiny the paint was where I had rubbed some of the toothpaste while cleaning the lenses.  So I continued, dab of toothpaste on damp cloth, rub on vehicle as if polishing, and rinse.  The results were stupendous!!  Easily handled baked on bugs, sap, bird droppings, the works.  Even did the vehicle windows.  By the time I was done it was quite dark, so it wasn't until the next day when I glanced at the vehicle and my jaw dropped - it looked brand new!  In fact, I don't think it has EVER looked so good, incredibly shiny, to the point of being able to have the gravel drive show so perfectly in this new shine I could easily pick out individual pieces of rock!

Oh, the van is a 2005 Toyota Sienna, and no, I do not normally wash it, but there was moss beginning to grow on the rubber and flat surfaces, and the $10 automatic car wash did NOTHING to get the grime, bugs and sap off.  

Not sure if toothpaste is considered toxic gick, but as I only used less than a third of a tube on the Van, I figure it is a lot less toxic than ready made cleaning/polishing gick from the autoparts store, and likely a whole lot cheaper.  Plus, the only water used was to rinse of the toothpaste, so likely saved a bunch there as well.  If you are planning on selling a vehicle, I would bet this would seriously up the resale value.

I requires a buff wheel or pad on a tool, but I use my diatomaceous earth and wax mix for my nice blades (ones you'd never dream of using any kind of grinder to sharpen).  If you want to make your own, I wrote and Instructable and posted it at:    

https://www.instructables.com/Making-and-Using-Inexpensive-Buff-Compounds-for-Wo/


The page also gives suggestions of other things you can mix with beeswax or whatever hardware store toilet rings are actually made from to create polishing compounds.

I've discovered a new free stropping material -- the simple (non-corrugated) boxboard that many products ship in.

I set it on a firm surface and pull the knife across it (trailing edge) at a fairly high angle and with firm pressure.

It seems highly effective on pocket knives. Mixed results with kitchen knives so far, but I haven't done many.  

Unlike cardboard, it's not an actual abrasive; it just resets and deburrs the edge. It also cleans off plant crud quite nicely.

You could even charge it with your preferred buff compound.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I've discovered a new free stropping material -- . . .

That's true, but personally I would put a buffing compound on a leather belt instead of a disposable item.

From my perspective, it's interesting to use "found materials" in trash or recycling bins to achieve useful results. The knowledge and skills are available to me and everyone else, wherever they find themselves, regardless of whether they remembered to pack their stropping compound.