In article , Gunner says...

Crocus (cloth) is a (US?) generic term often used interchangeably with
emery paper or cloth. In my neck of the woods, it means the fine version
of the long thin rolls of abrasive.

Crocus cloth is actually thin cloth charged with a layer of
fine iron oxide rouge.

Emery is a specific mineral that used to be used for
abrasive paper, but I think it is almost never used any
more. There is an old emery mine near here that was
being used as a quarry to supply crushed rock, the owners
were under pressure to abandon it because it is in a
residential area.

They claimed they were still mining emery, as this would have
been an original use and would be permitted under zoning.
But the vast quantity of rock being removed told otherwise.

Jim

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