Crocus cloth substitute

Crocus cloth is a soft abrasive. Scotch-brite uses different abrasives for different products, I'm told. The original was silicon carbide and that may still be the primary one.

SiC is very aggressive and the result will not be as fine or gentle as crocus cloth. But crocus cloth is widely available. 3M sells it in "Pro-paks" of 25 sheets. That's probably your best bet. They may even sell it online.

I've seen it sold as single sheets in local hardware stores, but I have had a Pro-pak for around five years now, and I haven't looked in that time.

Good luck. It's around. You just may have to do some more looking.

Ed Huntress

Toothpaste in a cotton rag.

Tom sez: "Toothpaste in a cotton rag."

Tom, you've just got to curb those agressive tendencies of your's! Everyone knows the ashes of a fine Cuban cigar is the gentlemans' abrasive.

Bob (milder, gentler) Swinney

That one brings back memories. Toothpaste and cigarette ashes. Yes, yes. Haven't smoked now since 1981, but after that I chewed for about 3 years (it's more convenient inside a welding helmet where I lived then) and I still miss that Red Man ..

GWE

A piece of sash cord or clothesline wrapped around the rod and some jewellers rouge, pull back and forth it goes quite quickly.

I picked up a 2"x50' roll of crocus cloth 15 years ago and expect it to last another 30 years :-) Not a high mileage item in my toolbox. But it does come in handy occasionally

On 27 Oct 2004 06:38:31 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@worldnet.att.net (Al) calmly ranted:

has rolls for dirt cheap. 50 yards of 240 grit alum. oxide cloth for $3.99 (half that when on sale) Item #02717. It's not 3M, but it'll do. They have 80, 120, and 180 grit, too.

...Was gonna say somethin about that!

Also, 240 grit Al2O3 is just 240 grit sand paper at the HW store... much too scratchy for anything but a matte!

Tim

-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @

Go to a jeweler's supply store. Or check Rio Grande on the net. If they don't have it they certainly have various grades of rouge. They also have a lot of other neat stuff for polishing and fine abrasives.

--RC

If I weren't interested in gardening and Ireland, I'd automatically killfile any messages mentioning 'bush' or 'Kerry'

Dad had a roll about 2" x 12" with a 2" center hole. Lifetime roll for both of us, as he had it he kept most of it for just in case. I'll have to ask him about it the next time we meet. Hum where did it go...

Martin

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:38:12 -0700, "Jerry J. Wass" calmly ranted:

My mistake. I was thinking "emery cloth." So buy the HF stuff, flip it over, and charge it with wifey's cosmetics. ;)

Two Two Two cloths in one!

Larry sez: "My mistake. I was thinking "emery cloth."

Naw! Crocus cloth is about two grades "finer" than that stuff the BSP's warned you not to clean relay contacts with.

Bob Swinney

VOTE LIBERTARIAN! A GUN IN EVERY GARAGE, AND SOME POT IN EVERY CHICKEN!

I sure as hell hope you win a lot of converts, Larry. d8-)

Ed Huntress

I suggest a different hardware store. I bought some a year or so ago and it most likely was from Ace.

Crocus is ferrous oxide - fire scale from hot steel. If you're a blacksmith, wave a magnet around the base of your anvil (not the floor

- too much silica grit there) and you'll collect it by ounces, which is plenty. If you're not a blacksmith, then heat steel to bright red or orange, let it cool a bit, whack off the scale, and repeat till you've got enough scale collected. Grind it up in a mortar (or whatever) and glue it to your own backing, such as paper.

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 13:48:22 GMT, "Ed Huntress" calmly ranted:

You damned Liberals (and those bloody Conservatives) gotta confuse every issue, doncha?

My impression is that the abrasive on crocus cloth is iron oxide, otherwise known as jeweler's rouge.

bob g.

Ed Huntress wrote:

240 grit alox is far more aggressive than Crocus. Crocus is a polishing compound, at best.

bob g.

Larry Jaques wrote: