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Dia-paste help
- Thread starter Shkd64
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,647
A little goes a very long way. Just a few BB-sized 'drops', spaced maybe 2" apart on the strop. Use a putty knife, or flexible plastic ruler as a spreader, which will make it easier to get an even coating. Keep the coat as thin as possible, because any excess will simply be scraped off by your blade. The paste that embeds itself in the strop is what will be doing the real work. And not much is needed to do that. The plastic spreader used will probably accumulate excess paste when spreading it out. Don't waste the excess, if you can avoid it. The extra can even be applied to a 'paper strop' made spur-of-the-moment, using a piece of paper wrapped around a wooden block. As simple as that is, it can prove very useful.
The newly-applied paste will feel sticky or gummy for a few days, until the oil suspension soaks in and/or dries a bit. Don't worry about that.
I'd encourage you to try it on different materials, like leather, balsa, hardwood, paper, etc. The backing used can make big differences in how the compound performs. In general, it will be less aggressive on softer backing (leather or stacked paper), and more aggressive on harder backing (balsa, hardwood).
For me personally, the 1 micron dia-paste is very versatile.
The newly-applied paste will feel sticky or gummy for a few days, until the oil suspension soaks in and/or dries a bit. Don't worry about that.
I'd encourage you to try it on different materials, like leather, balsa, hardwood, paper, etc. The backing used can make big differences in how the compound performs. In general, it will be less aggressive on softer backing (leather or stacked paper), and more aggressive on harder backing (balsa, hardwood).
For me personally, the 1 micron dia-paste is very versatile.