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Has anyone had any luck mixing chromium oxide powder with linseed oil? I got a 8" leather honing wheel with a "chromium oxide kit" recently and it didn't work out for me. The kit was a small vial of chromium oxide powder, a small amount of. 25 micron diamond paste, and linseed oil. I mixed per instructions, applied to the wheel, and let sit overnight. The next day it was still tacky, and I didn't know if that was normal, but I used the wheel anyway. The knife smoothed out the paste to a shiny surface, so I stopped using it and let it sit another night. The next day it was dried hard with a glossy, smooth surface that wouldn't hone anything. No abrasive qualities whatsoever, so I sanded the wheel clean.
Should I have let it dry another day before using? I have no experience with this, so I have no idea what a correct finished product should look like. I didn't realize the linseed oil would dry as hard as it did, and I suspect that smoothing it to a glossy surface is what ruined it. I guess I was expecting a product similar to a chromium oxide stick like the one I have from Harbor Freight. So far the stick I have is the only chromium oxide product I have experience with.  Now I have a new 8" honing wheel and I want to put it to use with a compound/paste that will compliment the Tormek compound I'm using on my other wheel. Any guidance will be greatly appreciated!

Well, I got my leather honing wheel and chromium oxide kit. Quality of the leather wheel is excellent, but the chromium oxide kit was worthless. It consisted of a small amount of chromium oxide powder, a small bottle of linseed oil, and a small amount of. 25 micron diamond paste. I mixed per the instructions, applied it and let it sit overnight. Next day was a little tacky, but used it anyway. When I used it, the knife smoothed out the surface to a shiny finish. Next day it dried more and became a hard, glossy finish that was flaking off on the edges in a few places. After doing a couple knives, I noticed that there wasn't the slightest difference in polish on the bevel, and not one shred of swarf discoloration was on the wheel. I even grabbed one of the cheap kitchen knives I had and held the side of the knife against the wheel for two minutes while running it, and there wasn't the slightest detectable polish on the knife or swarf on the wheel. It's like a green plastic coating with no abrasive qualities whatsoever.
I'm going to sand off the wheel and get some more chromium oxide and diamond paste, only I'm going to mix it with paraffin this time and try again. I have some Venev 2 micron wax, but that's too close to the Tormek compound in abrasive size, and it seems redundant to me.
Has anyone else run into this issue with chromium oxide and linseed oil?

"Apologies if I missed it:  are you honing on the side opposite the burr first?"
Yes. Both Tormek and Vadim stress that, so that's how I do it.

Update:
Regarding my BESS scores, I went back to Vadim's book and realized that I'd missed something. At the beginning of the Deburring chapter, he states that positive burr steels need to be honed higher than the edge angle. Specifically 2 degrees higher for mainstream steels. Then later in the chapter where he discusses his "differential honing", he states that his FIRST pass is at exactly the edge angle, THEN he goes to the higher angle. When I did that I suddenly started getting 70 to 90 BESS scores.
But hey, sharpness is only part of it. I've had a lot of fun working on my technique and getting the feel of this machine. Things like getting straight, even, and uniform bevels I've really focused on. How much pressure to use, both grinding and honing. Truing and grading the wheels, when to apply compound to the leather wheel, etc. I bought the SB-250 black wheel when I bought the Tormek. I've kept it graded coarse, and I switch to the SG-250 which I keep graded fine (most of the time). My intent is to minimize wear on the wheels by not grading back and forth. I bought diamond plates for grading the wheels, and they work great. Since both wheels are new, there isn't a significant difference in size (yet). I can go from the SB-250 to the SG-250 with no issues.
At the height of my frustration with my BESS scores, I ordered another leather wheel and the chromium oxide kit from Slipakniven. I thought going from the Tormek 3 micron abrasive to the .5 micron chromium oxide with .25 micron diamond abrasive would help with my sharpness scores, but it was my technique all along. Ah well, another honing wheel isn't a bad thing.
I have no intention of buying any other wheels, like CBN or diamond, yet. There's still a LOT of capability to squeeze out of the SG-250 and SB-250, I have a lot to learn yet, and I'm having a lot of fun along the way. Now if I can get my hands on more knives to sharpen...

120 BESS is still the best I've been able to pull off, and that isn't often. I've tried freehand honing, controlled angle honing, and higher angle honing using Vladim's book for reference. I have a Cuisinart knife from a kitchen set that I can't get past 150 BESS no matter how hard I try. I don't get it, I would have never dreamed it would be THIS hard with all the info and support from the sharpening community. I have a Victorinox knife that I got to 120 BESS, but can't get any lower. I'm honing with the Tormek compound on the leather wheel. I have a hanging leather strop that helps a little sometimes, sometimes not.  I don't remember the last time I was this frustrated.

Well, after John_B reminded me that Dr Kraichuk had already done all the legwork in his book, I followed his guidance. Since I'm using a cheap mainstream knife, I did controlled angle honing at 2° higher than my grinding angle, followed up with leather then cotton strops, and suddenly my BESS dropped to around 120.
Now I'm going to break out the other mainstream knives and see if I can get similar results.

"While honing at the same angle as you sharpened definitely works I have been using Dr. Kraichuk's Knife Deburring book's recommendation for honing angle going up to 1.50° over the sharpening angle depending on the steel."

John_B,
I'm definitely going to try this. Thanks for the tip!

Welcome to the forum, Joe.

Since you are wisely holding off with your supersteel knives and a tube of PA-70 honing compound came with your T8, I suggest you stRt with PA-70 and set the diamond compound aside. Your time learning your SG-250 and PA-70 will be well spent. This is the combination the Tormek instructors use in the online classes, and they have access to the complete Tormek lineup.

Keep us posted.

Ken,
I agree 110% that I need to stick with the SG-250 and PA-70 compound to learn what this machine is capable of and build a solid foundation. I need to learn this machine and be able to produce consistent, quality results before moving to different wheels, compounds, sprays, or emulsions. Besides, I'm enjoying the ride.
However, I am frustrated right now. Try as I might, I can't get better than a 180 BESS score with knives, either with controlled angle or freehand honing. I know the SG-250 and the compound is capable of much better, but I'm hitting a brick wall. I can consistently get 103-110 BESS with some cheap Walmart Hyper Tough wood chisels, but the small bevel on knives is killing me right now.
Now 180 is still very sharp, and I'm not obsessing over BESS scores, but I know the equipment can do much better. I'm just not good enough yet.
On another note, I followed Dr. Kraichuck's guidance and bought some 80, 400, and 1000 grit diamond plates to grade the wheels with. Man, after grading the SG-250 with the 400, then the 1000 plates, this wheel is silky smooth! Bevels are noticeably more polished. I'm really liking the SG-250.

If you are not doing super steels yet I personally do not see a need to use the SB-250 unless a knife has damage that needs to be fixed. For the knives I have sharpened or my own knives I use the SG-250 ungraded which is I think towards the finer side of middle of the grades possible. For the final passes before honing I will quickly grade it fine. Graded coarse the SB-250 works well to fix minor damage and eliminates the need for a wheel change

For honing I use the Tormek paste for customer knives. For my own I have a second leather wheel and I use 1µ diamond. It would be my recommendation not mix your diamond and the Tormek paste on the same wheel.

If you are serious about consistently getting the best edge I would suggest guided honing using the Tormek setup shown in their angle setter video or a Front Vertical Base (FVB). There are numerous threads on this subject. I found that learning how to consistently hone freehand was the most difficult aspect of my overall learning. When the merits of guided honing werre discussed I adopted it in my process and have not looked back.

I'm in the same boat as you regarding freehand honing. I'm having a bear of a time and haven't gotten a handle on it yet. I ordered a front vertical base, should be in tomorrow, and I'm going to use the KS-123 knife angle setter to hone at the same angle I grind at.
You know, grinding gets all the attention, but I'm finding that honing will make or break an edge. I bought Dr. Kraichuk's Knife Deburring book. Hopefully, my thick head will gain something from all the hard work and research he did.
I sharpened a couple straight chisels and didn't have a problem honing them. That big chisel bevel helps, and I needed a success, lol. But this is just the beginning of my journey, so discouragement isn't an option.

Hello, everyone. Well, after a couple years of sharpening with a couple different systems, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a new Tormek T8. I got the hand tool bundle sale through Sharpening Supplies, the new knife angle setter, and the black silicon wheel. I want to solicit some opinions from the experts here. I'm trying to decide if I should use the Tormek compound on the leather wheel, or the 2 micron Venev diamond compound I have. It's the waxy stuff that comes in a lipstick-type tube. I intend to steer away from supersteels for a while until I get a handle on the T8 and get the diamond or  CBN wheels. My intent is to use the black silicon wheel graded at 200-ish, and the SG-250 graded fine. I bought diamond plates to grade with after watching the Knife Grinders Australia videos. Any and all opinions will be greatly appreciated. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Now if only UPS would do their job and deliver the packages! (Long story).