DIY diamond paste

N

NineZeta

Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
9
Hi Everyone!

This is my first post on BladeForums and I'm still trying to gather my equipment for knife sharpening. So I tried to do a search regarding DIY diamond paste for stropping. Couldn't find one on the forum. I also did a Google search and found a guy on YouTube who can make his own using colloidal silica and a bunch of hard to find ingredients. So I don't think I can source those. But there's this site that states you can make your own diamond paste using 1 gram of diamond dust, 5 grams of floor wax plus 5 grams of Vaseline. Has anyone tried that method? And would you recommend I get 0.18 micron, 0.25 microns....or just get the 1 micron diamond dust? My purpose is to sharpen all sorts of blades , from straight razors, EDC knives, kitchen knives, etc...

Happy Holidays
Thanks in advance!
 
I know that for razors people go very fine, so knock yourself out for those.
However, for the rest .5 micron is crazy refined. For EDC a lot of people just go medium stone -> bare strop. Or even just from coarse stones. With kitchen knives, people do the same or go to like 3 micron.
It all depends on your taste, what exactly you are cutting and how you are cutting. But outside of razors and polishing you won't need anything like that.
 
Seedy Lot said:
Seems easier and cheaper to just buy a diamond compound from a source that has already done their r&d.
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I agree. Bought some Gunny Juice but Amazon takes forever (ok maybe 2-3 weeks) to deliver to our country, and it's almost double the price for the import fees .Just looking for a something I can use in the meantime, or if it works, something I can use in the long run. Thanks for your reply man!
 
Ourorboros said:
I know that for razors people go very fine, so knock yourself out for those.
However, for the rest .5 micron is crazy refined. For EDC a lot of people just go medium stone -> bare strop. Or even just from coarse stones. With kitchen knives, people do the same or go to like 3 micron.
It all depends on your taste, what exactly you are cutting and how you are cutting. But outside of razors and polishing you won't need anything like that.
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Hi! Does more refined mean less prone to dulling? I guess I need to experiment some more. I never thought the learning curve would be kinda steep. I appreciate the info! Thanks!
 
NineZeta said:
Hi Everyone!

This is my first post on BladeForums and I'm still trying to gather my equipment for knife sharpening. So I tried to do a search regarding DIY diamond paste for stropping. Couldn't find one on the forum. I also did a Google search and found a guy on YouTube who can make his own using colloidal silica and a bunch of hard to find ingredients. So I don't think I can source those. But there's this site that states you can make your own diamond paste using 1 gram of diamond dust, 5 grams of floor wax plus 5 grams of Vaseline. Has anyone tried that method? And would you recommend I get 0.18 micron, 0.25 microns....or just get the 1 micron diamond dust? My purpose is to sharpen all sorts of blades , from straight razors, EDC knives, kitchen knives, etc...

Happy Holidays
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
It sould work just fine. I've used Sno-seal mixed with abrasive powder in the past as an experiment and it worked just fine. You might not even need the Vaseline, and 1 micron is all you need to start with.

All you basically need is a suspension that won't settle easily to mix your abrasive powder into, which can then be applied to a stropping surface.

Welcome to posting on Blade Forums!
 
NineZeta said:
I agree. Bought some Gunny Juice but Amazon takes forever (ok maybe 2-3 weeks) to deliver to our country, and it's almost double the price for the import fees .Just looking for a something I can use in the meantime, or if it works, something I can use in the long run. Thanks for your reply man!
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I have tried many different brands of diamond compound and the Gunny Juice is definitely the most impressive in how well it works.
 
You can buy a nice assortment of diamond paste (from China) on Ebay.
It costs about 15 bucks.
 
Roll your own. 1 gram of diamond to 1oz of distilled water and you're good to go. I find this is the best emulsion I have tried to date. Shake before using but you should with any liquid carrier.

What size you want depends on the size of your last stone and what you want from your edge. I find anything smaller than 1 micron is virtually useless with my resin strops. If using leather or wood those substrates will leave scratches that the 1 micron will polish out with a better strop, so maybe 2 or 3 microns if using those strops.

The problem with cheaper diamond, or diamond you are not absolutely sure of what you are getting, is it is not graded very well. You will have some crystals that are two or three times the size of what you think you are getting and a lot of fines that are far smaller.

It really does matter what you mix the diamond into. Most of the stuff used will make the leather stickier which will cause it to convex the apex more. If stropping ceramics or Maxamet it will also cause the apex to fracture off, possibly large areas of it. I have done this myself with light pressure passes on my guided sharpener.
 
Diemaker said:
Roll your own. 1 gram of diamond to 1oz of distilled water and you're good to go. I find this is the best emulsion I have tried to date. Shake before using but you should with any liquid carrier.

What size you want depends on the size of your last stone and what you want from your edge. I find anything smaller than 1 micron is virtually useless with my resin strops. If using leather or wood those substrates will leave scratches that the 1 micron will polish out with a better strop, so maybe 2 or 3 microns if using those strops.

The problem with cheaper diamond, or diamond you are not absolutely sure of what you are getting, is it is not graded very well. You will have some crystals that are two or three times the size of what you think you are getting and a lot of fines that are far smaller.

It really does matter what you mix the diamond into. Most of the stuff used will make the leather stickier which will cause it to convex the apex more. If stropping ceramics or Maxamet it will also cause the apex to fracture off, possibly large areas of it. I have done this myself with light pressure passes on my guided sharpener.
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Diemaker,

A thousand times : THANK YOU !
As a mentor, industrial engineer and old boss used to say : The simplest solution is the hardest to arrive at.

HAVE A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR !

PS : This is right up my alley because I have recently bought some 1 micron diamond powder. (CANNOT bring my self to pay $30 or more for some inexpensive grit in some goo).
I have recently read the Deburing / Edge Refining book by Dr. Kraichuk. Have just, finally, received some new strops for my guided sharpener . . .
and
have been mulling over what to use for suspension media for the grit. Up to before now had settled on mineral oil.

BadaBoom BadaBing !

Water it is.
PPS: I've been fooling around with strops for forty years but decided to get more serious, what with my lovely recent acquisitions of 15V and REX 121.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I just read on reddit that diamond dust is kind of dangerous and that you need a full face mask and a PPE suit if you want to be protected from it. I guess I won't take my chances anymore trying to make up my own and just follow the advice from S Seedy Lot .
 
Diemaker said:
Roll your own. 1 gram of diamond to 1oz of distilled water and you're good to go. I find this is the best emulsion I have tried to date. Shake before using but you should with any liquid carrier.

What size you want depends on the size of your last stone and what you want from your edge. I find anything smaller than 1 micron is virtually useless with my resin strops. If using leather or wood those substrates will leave scratches that the 1 micron will polish out with a better strop, so maybe 2 or 3 microns if using those strops.

The problem with cheaper diamond, or diamond you are not absolutely sure of what you are getting, is it is not graded very well. You will have some crystals that are two or three times the size of what you think you are getting and a lot of fines that are far smaller.

It really does matter what you mix the diamond into. Most of the stuff used will make the leather stickier which will cause it to convex the apex more. If stropping ceramics or Maxamet it will also cause the apex to fracture off, possibly large areas of it. I have done this myself with light pressure passes on my guided sharpener.
Click to expand...

Are you a member at Practical Machinist? Thinking you are the same guy making his own vises for rotary use there?
 
NineZeta said:
Thanks for the responses guys. I just read on reddit that diamond dust is kind of dangerous and that you need a full face mask and a PPE suit if you want to be protected from it. I guess I won't take my chances anymore trying to make up my own and just follow the advice from S Seedy Lot .
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The material is not intrinsically dangerous, it is the size of the finer stuff. I expect it is as dangerous as fine sand dust, which causes silicosis. Just like any fine dust, you don't want to breath it, so careful of being outside on windy days when it is dry out, or vacuuming the house without a builtin that blows the filtered air outside. You know, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. If in doubt, research your question with information from reputable sources, and compare them with each other.

eKretz, that is me.
 
Diemaker said:
The material is not intrinsically dangerous, it is the size of the finer stuff. I expect it is as dangerous as fine sand dust, which causes silicosis. Just like any fine dust, you don't want to breath it, so careful of being outside on windy days when it is dry out, or vacuuming the house without a builtin that blows the filtered air outside. You know, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. If in doubt, research your question with information from reputable sources, and compare them with each other.

eKretz, that is me.
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I guess it's just better to err on the side of caution... But have you tried making your own though?
 
NineZeta said:
I guess it's just better to err on the side of caution... But have you tried making your own though?
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There is caution and there is being ridiculous, which is what I think this fear of diamond powder is. As I said it's the size of the particles that is a problem, and there are a lot of airborne particles of this size that will do the same thing to our bodies in situations we think nothing of.

Yes, I do make my own stropping emulsions and have for years. I also make my own resin strops that are rather unique. Soft enough that they still work yet firm enough that they don't convex the apex and using a material that doesn't have any abrasive qualities. They are also easy to clean so you don't have to worry about contamination like with most strops. The downside is you have to load them with half a drop of emulsion before every use.
 
Ok point taken...Thanks for being straightforward And on a side note, since you mentioned you know how to make, resin strops, would you know how to make resin stones as well? I'm trying to make curved resin bonded diamond stones for recurved/karambit knives since the Venev ones have been SO difficult to find anywhere. But if your formula is a some sort of a secret personal thing, I can understand. Thanks man.
 
NineZeta said:
Ok point taken...Thanks for being straightforward And on a side note, since you mentioned you know how to make, resin strops, would you know how to make resin stones as well? I'm trying to make curved resin bonded diamond stones for recurved/karambit knives since the Venev ones have been SO difficult to find anywhere. But if your formula is a some sort of a secret personal thing, I can understand. Thanks man.
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I do make a range of resin bond diamond stones, the most known are the Edge Pro Matrix stones, and the "recipe" is a secret, sorry. One of the problems with a curved resin bond stone is it would be a PITA to dress. This did get me to thinking that my resin strops may work instead. When they are loaded with 20 or 40 micron diamond they are pretty aggressive, and they don't ever need to be dressed so they would hold their shape well. I have sharpened ceramic knives with just strops but I will need to try it with a steel knife to be sure I like how it works.
 
I bought cheap diamond powder and mixed with isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle and have been using that for the last year. I probably have a lifetime supply of it now and only spent 20$. I’ve used Gunny juice, Jendes, and a bunch of others and I honestly can tell the difference.

You just have to shake it good before use. I chose alcohol as a medium because it dries on the strop fast.
 
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