Diamond paste/slurry

Ben Dover

Ben Dover

Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
2,809
Can anyone here educate me on the differences between diamond paste and diamond slurry?? Especially how to use each, and which one works better for polishing cutlery? :confused:

Also, has anyone used Borazon (CBN) on a belt sander??

TIA,

Ben
 
Ben,

I've been wondering about the same thing. I've been bumping into a sharpness limit with the little carbides on the edges of my blades. Maybe diamond paste or slurry would help.

Ray
 
I mix diamond paste with with HandAmerican CrO2 gel (on backed leather). I've heard that the handamerican gel is mineral oil based (not sure). I've used maybe 1/2 a bottle in a couple years (you don't need much).
 
A paste is something that you could stick on a vertical surface like a bathroom mirror (think of toothpaste). A slurry is a mixture of oil and loose grit (it would run down your mirror and in time the grit would settle out). Paste tends to be so thick that you have to dilute it when you work. Slurries in a bottle tend to have very little grit in them. I don't think most slurries are a good deal.

I usually take a paste, apply it to a surface, then rub some oil on it to spread it out and thin it out. Anyway, Graves is a good place to look for a nice selection.
http://www.gravescompany.com/polishin.htm
 
I've used both slurry and pastes. Slurry is much much lighter than a paste, the carrier is much more liquid. As noted they run. Slurry straight on glass does have some merit to it but not enough to warrant purchasing it again. One can always make a slurry out of a paste by using the appropriate extender fluid from the supplier.

I use CBN from United States Co Products Applying it is a snap put a small amount on a cloth, hold against the belt lightly and start it up, ensure you don't get the cloth caught and keep your fingers from under the belt.

CBN and diamond are basically over kill on powered leather belts, only use it if you are having difficulty with chromium oxide
 
I use diamond paste for sharpening more than for polishing. Diamond grit is hard and sharp, it works fast, but may cut a little deeper than some other grits. It works well on your hardest alloys. Since I mostly work with the hard alloys I prefer the diamond to most other abrasives, but I use it in very small quantities.
 
For LedSled, I apply 1 micron or 1/2 micron diamond paste onto computer printer "photo paper". I dilute the paste with some oil or other fluid. I support this on a pad of paper and strop on it. I do this after I create a good edge using regular hones. This does a great job on alloys that don't otherwise like to take a fine edge (tend to reach a sharpening plateau). I usually have 1 micron paste along one edge of the photo paper and 1/2 micron paste along the opposite edge. That way I have coarse and fine (well ultra-fine and ultra-ultra-fine) stropping surfaces.
 
Jeff Clark said:
For LedSled, I apply 1 micron or 1/2 micron diamond paste onto computer printer "photo paper". I dilute the paste with some oil or other fluid. I support this on a pad of paper and strop on it. I do this after I create a good edge using regular hones. This does a great job on alloys that don't otherwise like to take a fine edge (tend to reach a sharpening plateau). I usually have 1 micron paste on along one edge of the photo paper and 1/2 micron paste along the opposite edge. That way I have coarse and fine (well ultra-fine and ultra-ultra-fine) stropping surfaces.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jeff,

I was hoping to hear from someone with experience with the stuff.

Ray
 
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