Hand American diamond sprays, which ones?

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

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Oct 20, 2004
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I want to get some diamond spray and the Hand American sprays look to be of good quality and price.

I will be using this to strop knives. I will probably be using it on a strop that I bought that uses hard leather. I might also rig up something to use with my Edge pro Apex that I have not been using much yet (because I need to get a course stone for reprofiling as I bought it used and it didn't come with one). I'm not sure if a piece of leather glued to a blank would be best or a piece of tape (masking) or something else?

Anyways I was wondering what size I should go for? 1 micron, 1/2 micron, or 1/4 micron? Or should I get a small bottle of 2 sizes? And second, which would be better the 4 or 8 ounce bottle? They have the same amount of diamonds in each, just the 8 ounce has been 'diluted' more.

I have been attempting to strop using chromium oxide from Sears so far. I haven't had spectacular results so far, maybe a little sharper though. I'm hoping the diamonds will make a significant improvement.

Also if someone knows of a better source than Hand American website please let me know. Whether a higher quality product or cheaper.

Thanks!
 
HA 21 carat diamond spray is the best you can get. I would go for the 1 micron you really don't need to go any further than that, it becomes sharper than you need and the cutting performance sometimes goes down if you go any lower. If you need to sharpen stright razors then get the 0.5 too.


It will make the sears compound look like there was no abrasive in it by comparison.
 
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knifenut1013 said:
HA 21 carat diamond spray is the best you can get. I would go for the 1 micron you really don't need to go any further than that, it becomes sharper than you need and the cutting performance sometimes goes down if you go any lower. If you need to sharpen stright razors then get the 0.5 too.
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Isn't the 21 carat just the amount (weight) of diamonds in solution? Wouldn't the 21 carat in 8 ounce bottle (2.625 carat/oz) be almost the same as the 12 carat in a 4 ounce bottle (3 carat/oz)? As far as the amount of diamonds per volume of solution? Or am I missing something?
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Isn't the 21 carat just the amount (weight) of diamonds in solution? Wouldn't the 21 carat in 8 ounce bottle (2.625 carat/oz) be almost the same as the 12 carat in a 4 ounce bottle (3 carat/oz)? As far as the amount of diamonds per volume of solution? Or am I missing something?
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As far as I understand it by volume. The higher the carat count the more diamond in the solution.
 
The carat weight is what is in the bottle. The concentration is higher in smaller bottles. In my experience, HA products are second to none. I have been using them since they were offered on japaneseknifesharpening.com. My favorite setup is the CrO at .5 micron on a strop, followed by another strop loaded with .25 micron diamond spray. UNBELIEVABLE edges....

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I personally think that the higher the polish, the more durable the edge. In my experience (and has been mentioned here many many times), thin angle is the weakness of most steels, not high polish. I have to take some good shots of my Sebenza, S30V is amazing when its polished.

I'd order from them soon, as they tend to make products in batches (at least the diamond sprays). I had to wait about 3 months after I had used a bottle, for them to offer more for sale.....
 
Nice looking edges rangerover, you don't find 0.25 to be too fine? I like it for some carbon steels, and some S30V responds well to it but for the most part it just seems to smooth out the edge too much. I don't have the HA 0.25 though so that might be the difference.
 
I really like the HA products, nothing has even compared!!! I really do notice a jump in sharpness from .5 to .25. Maybe its me.....
 
I'm still not real sure what I should order.

I'm thinking about getting 2 bottles. One bottle of 1 micron and then one of the other 2 sizes. Can you jump from 1 micron to .25 micron or should the .5 not be skipped? If that is the case then I would get 1 and .5 micron.

And I wouldn't think there would be much benefit to getting the 4 ounce bottle over the 8 oz. You can always add more once it has dried on the strop right? Just not sure how important the concentration is since more can always be added.

How long does a bottle last? I would think it would only need to be used sparingly and that a bottle would last for quite some time. Is this a good assumption?
 
Hey knifenut, hope you dont mind, Ive sent u an email. I forgot to include in the email, but why does cutting performance drop after 1 micron?
 
zhangmaster12 said:
Hey knifenut, hope you dont mind, Ive sent u an email. I forgot to include in the email, but why does cutting performance drop after 1 micron?
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The HA spray does NOT work well with a 1x30 belt, don't know why but it seems to vanish when you touch the blade to the belt. The reason I really don't like going lower than 1 micron is because the edge becomes too smooth and though you can feel it is sharper it does not perform any better. I would suggest 6 micron DMT paste for you leather belt and the HA spray in 1 micron for a hand strop.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I'm still not real sure what I should order.

I'm thinking about getting 2 bottles. One bottle of 1 micron and then one of the other 2 sizes. Can you jump from 1 micron to .25 micron or should the .5 not be skipped? If that is the case then I would get 1 and .5 micron.

And I wouldn't think there would be much benefit to getting the 4 ounce bottle over the 8 oz. You can always add more once it has dried on the strop right? Just not sure how important the concentration is since more can always be added.

How long does a bottle last? I would think it would only need to be used sparingly and that a bottle would last for quite some time. Is this a good assumption?
Click to expand...

I bought my 8oz bottle about a month ago, used about 1/16th of the bottle to load a new strop. I havent touched it since. A new strop I load heavily, but it only requires a couple of sprays every once in a long while to keep its performance at its peak. I had a strop that I had from my original bottle about a year ago, and I havent touched it with more spray in a very long time. I keep it in my backpack for quick touch ups and its still going strong.

My favorite part about the diamond spray is that its NO MESS!! That CrO paste or powder goes everywhere, as where this stuff stays put on a strop.
 
Smooth side is what I use and how most manufacturers say to use it on the smooth side
 
FYI, this thread is 8 years old and the products being spoke of no longer exist. There is still some HA diamond spray being sold but the the quality is not the same.
 
I actually prefer diamond compound to diamond spray it lasts longer and I've had better results. I usually get it from chef knives to go.
 
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