Grit size Bark River white compound

lonelyronin · Sep 16, 2019

I have a question for you guys maybe someone has similar experiences to mine. After sharpening I usually strop my knife on a leather strop with the black bark river compound and then the white bark river compound. Depends on which stone I finish with. When I finish higher than 5000 I usually only strop with the white side.

I used a different compound before the Bark River stuff and have to say the compound from BR gives me way better results.
Anyway, recently I bought some 0.5 micron diamond emulsion from Jende because I wanted to see if I can get the edge even sharper. In theory it should be much finer than the BR white compound which is around 12000 grit. That’s the only number I could find online. Yet stropping with the emulsion gives me a coarser edge somehow. I usually only test sharpness with very thin paper like phone book paper or similar and I can feel that slicing after the diamond emulsion feels a little less smooth. After that I stropped with the white compound again and voila it’s smoother again. The weird thing is that the diamond emulsion leaves more of a mirror polish than the white compound. At least I thought it looked that way, maybe my eyes were tricking me.

What gives? Is the white compound from BR really that good, the Jende emulsion not really 0.5 micron or am I doing something wrong?

cudgee · Sep 19, 2019

lonelyronin said:
I have a question for you guys maybe someone has similar experiences to mine. After sharpening I usually strop my knife on a leather strop with the black bark river compound and then the white bark river compound. Depends on which stone I finish with. When I finish higher than 5000 I usually only strop with the white side.

I used a different compound before the Bark River stuff and have to say the compound from BR gives me way better results.
Anyway, recently I bought some 0.5 micron diamond emulsion from Jende because I wanted to see if I can get the edge even sharper. In theory it should be much finer than the BR white compound which is around 12000 grit. That’s the only number I could find online. Yet stropping with the emulsion gives me a coarser edge somehow. I usually only test sharpness with very thin paper like phone book paper or similar and I can feel that slicing after the diamond emulsion feels a little less smooth. After that I stropped with the white compound again and voila it’s smoother again. The weird thing is that the diamond emulsion leaves more of a mirror polish than the white compound. At least I thought it looked that way, maybe my eyes were tricking me.

What gives? Is the white compound from BR really that good, the Jende emulsion not really 0.5 micron or am I doing something wrong?

I may be able to help, but don't take what i say as gospel. I read an article a while ago from a well known sharpening expert, he was talking about exactly what you are asking. He "said" that 0.5 micron diamond emulsion, gives your blade a more toothier edge, still sharp, but a bit more toothy. Sounds exactly like what you are experiencing. So i do not think your eyes are tricking you, nor are you doing anything wrong. If you are happy with a particular way you sharpen, i would stick with that, and not over think it. Hope this helps you.

lonelyronin · Sep 19, 2019

cudgee said:
I may be able to help, but don't take what i say as gospel. I read an article a while ago from a well known sharpening expert, he was talking about exactly what you are asking. He "said" that 0.5 micron diamond emulsion, gives your blade a more toothier edge, still sharp, but a bit more toothy. Sounds exactly like what you are experiencing. So i do not think your eyes are tricking you, nor are you doing anything wrong. If you are happy with a particular way you sharpen, i would stick with that, and not over think it. Hope this helps you.

This really does sound like what I am experiencing. Thanks for the reply! And you’re right, if something works for you why change it.

I might try some 0.25 or even 0.1 micron emulsion/Spray in the future though

Mr.Wizard · Sep 19, 2019

Perhaps the 0.5μ diamond is leaving a foil edge. See the Science of Sharp article The Pasted Strop – part 3.https://scienceofsharp.com/2015/03/31/the-pasted-strop-part-3/

DeadboxHero · Sep 19, 2019

lonelyronin said:
I have a question for you guys maybe someone has similar experiences to mine. After sharpening I usually strop my knife on a leather strop with the black bark river compound and then the white bark river compound. Depends on which stone I finish with. When I finish higher than 5000 I usually only strop with the white side.

I used a different compound before the Bark River stuff and have to say the compound from BR gives me way better results.
Anyway, recently I bought some 0.5 micron diamond emulsion from Jende because I wanted to see if I can get the edge even sharper. In theory it should be much finer than the BR white compound which is around 12000 grit. That’s the only number I could find online. Yet stropping with the emulsion gives me a coarser edge somehow. I usually only test sharpness with very thin paper like phone book paper or similar and I can feel that slicing after the diamond emulsion feels a little less smooth. After that I stropped with the white compound again and voila it’s smoother again. The weird thing is that the diamond emulsion leaves more of a mirror polish than the white compound. At least I thought it looked that way, maybe my eyes were tricking me.

What gives? Is the white compound from BR really that good, the Jende emulsion not really 0.5 micron or am I doing something wrong?

Diamond is a sharper, pointier abrasive, it will cut more aggressively especially on softer steel.

I only use the white compound for buffing handles materials like wood and Micarta.

I found it burnishes the edge too much and drops the slicing edge retention.

cudgee · Sep 19, 2019

lonelyronin said:
This really does sound like what I am experiencing. Thanks for the reply! And you’re right, if something works for you why change it.

I might try some 0.25 or even 0.1 micron emulsion/Spray in the future though

Experimenting is a great way to learn, but i would not go under .25 micron. If i can offer some advise, get yourself a jewellers loupe, or a really good magnifying glass, you can actually see the edge when you go through the sharpening stages, so you can see any small foil edges/burrs, it will help you with your sharpening technique.

Diemaker · Sep 19, 2019

Personally, I don't like using diamond on my strops on anything less than "super steels" because as Shawn said it's too aggressive. Most of the time I prefer bare leather. Steel behaves quite differently at the microscopic level that strops work at.

lonelyronin · Sep 19, 2019

The steels I tested the diamond emulsion with were mostly S30V some CPM3V and one CPM4V. Makes sense that diamond cuts more aggressively. And thanks for reminding me to buy a proper magnifying glass. Wanted to do that for a while.