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Diamond pastes - how effective are they ?

S

stalag2

Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
79
Hello there

Id like to hear some tips, reviews and insight about diamond stropping pastes, been using a strop with various componds since about 10 years, i mostly used jeweler’s rouge, car body polish pastes, chromium oxide with mixed results and rather long process on 440v and the likes. The paste im using to get to hairwhittling sharpness for the moment is a white dry compound prolly made of alox but i have no clue really.
Talking about stropping substrate, i have a puma stretcher which was my main strop for a long time, then i tried cardboard, denim (which is quite effective and holds any compound very well if stretched right on a piece of wood) i did several homemade strops using some belts and scraped leather, lately i started to use balsa and it is becoming my favorite substrate so far.

I would like to know how do diamond pastes perform when compared to the ones i listed above, also how durable are the tiny little syringes given that i strop everyday or so.
The steels i am using are: s30v, vg10, 440v and mbs 26 and a pinch of h1
Which grits should i get as a beginner set keeping in mind i do like hairwhittling sharpness but at the same time i would like to rely mostly on stropping and avoid putting the knife to the stone unless it is really necessary.

Thanx for your time !
 
CRO2 is the only compound you've listed that I've used, so I can't compare diamond spray to the others, but I do like the 1 micron spray (not paste) that I'm using on balsa. That's often the only thing I use before a few strokes on bare leather to finish off a session. I've started going from Spyderco's UF rods, to 1 micron diamond spray, to bare leather lately and skipped the 1/2 micron green compound on leather entirely. I think it's a combination of the diamond spray and the balsa strop that gives me the results I'm getting, not just the diamond spray.

If that's going to be your only sharpening method, then you'll need something coarser than 1 micron. You'll probably need several different grits (or whatever you call "grades" or "sizes" in pastes/sprays) and a strop for each of them. My stuff came from HandAmerica but there are other suppliers as well.
 
Diamond compounds (pastes and liquids) are much more effective on very wear-resistant steels like S30V and 440V. Some might say they're almost essential. The very hard carbides (vanadium carbides) in these steels sometimes won't be fazed by lesser compounds (especially red rouge, and sometimes green compounds). The 'white' compound might be AlOx, but it might also be something much less effective.

The 'syringes' will last a very long time. Only a little bit of compound need be applied to the strop, and it'll last a very long while. Excess compound just gets scraped off the strop by the blade, and the stuff that actually embeds into the leather (or wood/balsa/etc) is what's doing all the real work. Even after it starts looking 'dirty' on the strop, it'll keep on working. Apply some BB-sized 'drops' about 2" apart, and use a flexible plastic ruler or a putty knife to spread it. That'll help make a more uniform layer on the strop. After all the surface is covered, use whatever excess compound is accumulated on the ruler to apply to another stropping surface (it's a shame to waste any of it ;)).

The paste compound in 6, 3 and 1 micron size is a good way to start off. I rely on the 1 micron compound almost exclusively, so you might not even need any more than that. How effective any stropping compound will be, is very much dependant on how well the hone work is done prior to stropping.
 
:thumbup: David's & Dalefuller's points.

Suspension is another form (water/wax or oil base) which quite easy to smear onto a strop. I don't like spray, seem wasteful and I sure made a mess quickly with them via clogged or non-uniform atomizer.
 
Thanx for your answers, much appreciated !

Still not sure what to get between spray or paste though, is there a difference in the quantity required or ease of application ?
An other question : Do you guys care of carbide contamination when using sub 2 microns compound and stropping high vanadium steel ?
 
stalag2 said:
Thanx for your answers, much appreciated !

Still not sure what to get between spray or paste though, is there a difference in the quantity required or ease of application ?
An other question : Do you guys care of carbide contamination when using sub 2 microns compound and stropping high vanadium steel ?
Click to expand...

The sprays are presumably easier to apply, though I haven't yet tried them. The paste compound can feel rather 'sticky' for a few days after application. Once the oil base sinks in and/or dries a bit, it's not an issue after that. On leather, the paste compound adds a certain 'grippy' feel when stropping, and I like that.

Personally, I don't worry about carbides from a blade contaminating a strop. I sort of view that as an inevitable and necessary part of stropping (designed to remove this stuff from a blade in the first place), and I doubt it would even be noticed anyway, without using a microscope. On the other hand, it's always a good idea to keep other dirt and debris (including particles from coarser compounds) off the strop, when possible. Cover or otherwise protect your strops from other such 'dirt'. Wipe your blades down, before transitioning from a coarse-compounded strop to a finer one. Don't want any 6 or 3 micron diamond particles on your 1 micron strop, for example.
 
stalag2 said:
An other question : Do you guys care of carbide contamination when using sub 2 microns compound and stropping high vanadium steel ?
Click to expand...

There is a very very low chance of carbide pullout at 2um or smaller diamond abrasive. Most of the time, carbide grain get partially chopped/abraded into small pieces/swarf, eventually carbide swarf would help polish the edge. Sometime carelessness, I use (boo boo) heavy pressure, occasionally I see microchip and feel like a piece of sand on my strop, I just blow or brush those chunks off my strop.

To avoid abrasive contamination - I keep each of my charged strop or surface in its own zip-loc bag. Oh and use toilet paper to clean the blade before moving to another abrasive type/size.
 
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