David Weaver
Winston - your thoughts on the small sticks is what got me away from woodworking supply once I got a buffer. There's no real reason for woodworking supply compounds at any rate, the softer sticks (like green microfine) still need a dot of oil to work.

I've gotten all of my large sticks from mcmaster carr precisely because I don't feel the need to be cheap with them.

All have been good and even, but I haven't gotten every type. McMaster has a 0.5 micron rouge colored bar and a green bar that's 1 micron. I have both coming today to see how fine they are. If the green bar is actually 1 micron, it will be finer than the microfine compound sold to woodworkers (used to be sold as 0.5 microns, but the manufacturer says particles up to 6 are present in it. It works well, but no great reason to pay $11-$14 for 6 ounces when a 2 1/2 or 3 pound bar from industrial or buffing suppliers is more or less the same price.

I'll report what I find with those.

Mcmaster adds a couple of bucks over the cheapest retailers, but their shipping is so cheap that it usually ends up being cheaper for me, plus they're located in several places. I ordered two bars yesterday afternoon and they're scheduled for delivery today with a shipping charge of $7.

https://www.mcmaster.com/buffing-bars

(the 0.5 compound that I purchased says that it's iron oxide, and the 1 says that it's chromium oxide, but at the price, I would bet they have a little of those and mostly smaller al-ox. We'll see).

Kocour and Jackson Lea (also labeled Osborn in some cases) are the brands that have come from McMaster - nothing has been low spec unbranded.