Did you try an automotive part store?

Yep. They said "We have the tool, but not the compound. We don't know where people get that." There's another shop, but it was a twenty minute drive.

You mean that you have an auto parts store and they have no valve lapping compound? Unheard of around here.

Little fine but tooth paste mixed with oil. Don't know how much or grit size but Borax hand soap has pumice in it. Some scouring powders also. Could glue the sand paper on to the bar and just work it closer. Then strip of after your done.

It's hard to believe. Heck, the one clerk had never even heard of it. The older guy said they didn't carry it - apparently people ask for it regularly? Like I said, there's another store that I can check when I'm by there.

I thought about the fine sand, but didn't have any. The guy up the street has a sandblaster, but he wasn't around.

I thought about the sand paper trick. If I hadn't come up with the sandpaper/oil paste, I'd have tried that.

If you have a refinery near you, see if you can get your hands on some of the spent Alumina catalyst fines that they use in the Cat Cracker. Harder than the hobs of Hell. Just mix with soft soap, oil or grease.

Yep. But it has to be theat kind of tooth paste that is white and opaque, not the gel type. It's because the tooth paste is made with fine alumina, which is the abrasive used to help your teeth to clean... believe or not.

The local auto body supply shop generally makes their own buffing compounds. They can frequently be purchased at little expense through a wide variety of grits.

Bust up a light bulb in a bag and pound it with a hammer. Mix it up with Brylcreem, (becomes Nuclear grade lapping compound).

Tippy - you can still buy Brylcreem?? Anywho, seems like it might work...

You're talking to a man who hasn't been in a barbershop for a very long time.

No brylcreem. But the lightbulb is an idea.

Ajax powder & Vaseline (or your preferred water-soluble lubricant?)

Thanks. That just reminded me that either Lava soap or GoJo with grit might work. Now if I can just find somebody who uses soap...

I would try valve grinding or lapping compound. It is available in several different grits at auto parts stores and mechanic's suppliers.

If I was want to improvise, I would start looking for some fine sand. Fine sand with some sort of carrier, oil, grease, soap or just about anything, including egg white would probably work OK but the soap would likely be easier to clean up.

Try NAPA store 765 2657 for water mix and 765-2656 for grease mix lapping compound. The people at the store have no idea what the hell lapping compound is or what it is used for.........I think the list is 5.39 per bottle(4oz). Maybe there will be a discount at most stores. It is now known as silicon carbide- water mix or grease mix

the sarcsm is free.......

Many years ago I had a push mower. Can't remember the manufacturer.

I used the grinding stone to file out any nicks and burrs.

I removed the wheels and pinions from both sides of the mower.

I monkeyed with the "free wheel" of the pinion gears so they would work when the mower was pushed backward. Then put the wheels back on.

I buttered a thin layer of valve lapping compound between 100-240 grit (from my uncles garage) on the front edge of the reel blades and adjusted the cutter bar blade for a light but firm contact with the reel blades evenly across the cutter bar. Then I pushed the mower backward until the reel blades rotated relatively free and front edge of the cutter bar blade was polished.

Then I put the parts back the way they belonged after cleaning any grinding compound or debris from the cutter bar blades, reel blades, pinion and pawl. I lubed the axle and pinion with a little wheel bearing grease and reinstalled the wheels. Besides the grease. I mixed motor oil with Kerosene as a carrier for a light rust preventing oil film for the rest of the machine.

Clay is a very fine particle size alumino-silicate mixture.

Particles are hard and quite suitable as a grinding paste.

Hobby shop probably has suitable clay, but some clays have sand mixed with them to adjust the modelling properties.

Try some wet clay between your fingers. If it feels gritty, some particles may be too coarse for a fine finish.

Alternatively, get clay from a local creek, break it up well and soak. After a thorough soak, agitate thoroughly in excess water and allow the coarse particles to settle then decant off the rest with the fines still in suspension.

The fine particles can then be filtered out with a coffee filter or simply allowed to settle over a fair period.

The resultant very fine particles can be used to make a good, and very fine, grinding compound.

Jewelers rouge is used for lapping, but that degree of fineness isn't warranted for this application as it would be far too slow to remove enough metal to do the job wanted.

Maybe think about going to a local golf course. Call the maintenance dept. and speak to the mechanic. I used to do this as a summer job setting up greens mowers everyday. I don't know how bad your blades are. What you could do is take the blade real off and have it ground down, if your nice they just might charge you a little to do that. Anyhow I'm sure if you ask them for a small cup of lapping compound they'll give you some for free. We had it stored in 5 gallon buckets.

cheers

Thanks.

And, thanks to everybody else who came up with good substitutions.