diamond powder mixed

N

napaknives

Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
24
Hi, all,
I recently ran across a post in a knife forum (?) that said he melted green compound and added 2-4 micron diamond powder. I can't find the post, now. My idea is that it would polish an edge quicker, since I sharpen at Farmers Markets. I also wonder if this would help me remove the burr faster. I use a belt sander.

How would I melt the green compound? The poster poured the melted mix into a paper towel roll and cooled it. Thanks for your help. I'm a novice, and I get great tips from you guys (and gals!)..............Dan
 
You can melt it down in a double boiler or an electric range on low heat. For a form you can wrap a piece of foil or paper and tape around a dowel, remove the dowel and you have a small cup for holding the compound.

I would think a larger grit size might work better, something in the 6-10 micron range, but eve the 2-4 will increase your polish rate.

Edit to add: for experimental stuff a stainless shotglass and a hot air gun work wonders - just shave a bunch off the block of compound, add some powder and heat it up, stir with a bamboo skewer once it turns to liquid and pour into your mold. I've also done short test batches on a piece of foil right over the burner. Be careful, the binder is flammable.
 
Last edited:
napaknives said:
Hi, all,
I recently ran across a post in a knife forum (?) that said he melted green compound and added 2-4 micron diamond powder. I can't find the post, now. My idea is that it would polish an edge quicker, since I sharpen at Farmers Markets. I also wonder if this would help me remove the burr faster. I use a belt sander.

How would I melt the green compound? The poster poured the melted mix into a paper towel roll and cooled it. Thanks for your help. I'm a novice, and I get great tips from you guys (and gals!)..............Dan
Click to expand...

Unless you're expecting to sharpen & polish a lot of high-wear steels with vanadium carbides (S30V, etc), the diamond powder might be overkill and an unnecessary expense. Most mainstream cutlery steels will polish very fast with something like white rouge (Ryobi's is good) or other similar aluminum oxide compounds labelled for 'cleaning' or polishing stainless steels and other 'hard metals'. This would include some of the stick-type compounds found for use with buffing wheels, at the home center or hardware store (Sears' #2 stick compound is very good for this), and polishing pastes like Flitz or Simichrome (3µ and 9µ respectively). They're also very, very good at stripping away the most tenacious of burrs, when used on denim or linen.

Save the green compound for simpler steels like 1095, Case's CV and Case's 'Tru-Sharp' stainless (420HC), all of which respond very well to it. It won't polish as fast or as thoroughly as the compounds mentioned above, but green compound on a simple leather belt works very well to clean up relatively fine burrs on these simpler steels. I doubt you'll gain much by mixing it with other more aggressive compounds (i.e., diamond, aluminum oxide), as any of the others can likely do the job (i.e. fast polishing and burr cleanup) on their own and won't gain anything by mixing with the green. Similarly, reserve the diamond compound specifically for those high-wear steels, if or when they do come along.


David
 
Last edited:
Obsessed with Edges said:
Unless you're expecting to sharpen & polish a lot of high-wear steels with vanadium carbides (S30V, etc), the diamond powder might be overkill and an unnecessary expense. Most mainstream cutlery steels will polish very fast with something like white rouge (Ryobi's is good) or other similar aluminum oxide compounds labelled for 'cleaning' or polishing stainless steels and other 'hard metals'. This would include some of the stick-type compounds found for use with buffing wheels, at the home center or hardware store (Sears' #2 stick compound is very good for this), and polishing pastes like Flitz or Simichrome (3µ and 9µ respectively). They're also very, very good at stripping away the most tenacious of burrs, when used on denim or linen.

Save the green compound for simpler steels like 1095, Case's CV and Case's 'Tru-Sharp' stainless (420HC), all of which respond very well to it. It won't polish as fast or as thoroughly as the compounds mentioned above, but green compound on a simple leather belt works very well to clean up relatively fine burrs on these simpler steels. I doubt you'll gain much by mixing it with other more aggressive compounds (i.e., diamond, aluminum oxide), as any of the others can likely do the job (i.e. fast polishing and burr cleanup) on their own and won't gain anything by mixing with the green. Similarly, reserve the diamond compound specifically for those high-wear steels, if or when they do come along.


David
Click to expand...
What about 8cr13mov?
 
davek14 said:
What about 8cr13mov?
Click to expand...

Any of the aluminum oxide compounds will handle that easily. That would be my first choice for it. And among those compounds, the white rouge and Sears #2 are what I've used most often (on denim), with that steel and many others.


David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top