0000 Steel Wool Prices $26 vs $1

[OldSchool]

I'm odering steel wool to polish the bole for watergilding. I usually buy from Labshop.nl. A really nice family run business, with fair prices on lots of material (champagne chalk (whiting), spike oil, rsg, etc. I did a google search on steel wool and through a woodworking website found the same weight of 0000 grade steel wool for .99 cents. What am I missing? Does the woodworking version have oil that will preven my leaf from sticking to the bole? Or is it a price difference based on the industry? The cheap steel wool can be found here: https://www.hbm-machines.com/nl/p/hbm-100-gram-staalwol

Thanks in advance for any advice or words of warning!

[vintage frames]

Personally, I don't ever use steel wool to polish the bole.
If you wanted an oil free wool then the Liberon brand is fairly reliable.
The trouble with using steel wool is that it will leave tiny scratches that only become visible when the bole is gilded.
Working on the principle that it's best to start with the finest finish possible, the bole is best polished to a mirror shine before applying the gold.

A popular way of polishing bole is to use a thick stencil brush where the hairs have been shortened, (use a small hack-saw).
But the best way is to first flatten the bole with some 600grit wet'n dry paper.
Then move on to 1000grit.
After a buffing with some cotton cloth this will give you a very fine surface to gild on.

For a super-fine finish, you can 'water-polish' the bole and this will eliminate all traces of any scratches or markings.

[OldSchool]

The website that I usually order from looks like they have a typo! 26 euros for .1 kilo should read for 1 kilo! That seems more reasonable.

Thanks for the tip on the stencil brush for burnishing! I'll definitely give that a go. It seems very handy for getting into tight corners and around ornamentation. As for sandpaper vs. steel wool, I'll give that some thought and maybe do some little tests the next time I gild. In my mind, sandpaper and steel wool will both leave microscopic scratches? And I find steel wool forms to the irregular shapes of a frame better than sandpaper, but it could be my lack of skill with sandpaper.

[vintage frames]

I wouldn't say it's anything to do with a lack of skill.
The 600grit paper is to flatten the surface of the bole, ie grind away all the brush marks.
The 1000grit paper then sands away the tiny scratches made by the 600grit.
You can even go on to 1200grit if you wish.

The thing about using sand paper is that it flattens the bole surface. Wire wool and a bristle brush will only ride-up over any brush marks or other. The result is that you don't get a completely flat surface.