Making diamond spray into paste

[oldskywalker]

I have a bottle of gunny juice 6 micron. It's difficult to get it on my 1x30 power leather strop. It doesn't want to spread and kinda repels at first but then soaks in eventually. Is there any material I could mix it with? I thought about something like shoe cream or wax to make it thicker and spread better. Thought I would seek some advice before I ruin a strop. Thanks.

 

[wade7575]

I wouldn't mess with it because Gunny Juice is made with deionized fluids and diamonds and that's what stops the diamonds from clumping in Gunny Juice.

I noticed on my leather strops that Gunny Juice did the same thing as what your having happened,I noticed the second time I applied it to my strops it soaked in,have you only applied it the first time to the strop or have you applied it multiple times.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The diamonds don't soak into the strop. They stay on the surface until you use it. Then, some of them embed themselves into the strop surface.

 

[RadialBladeworks]

I have a bottle of gunny juice 6 micron. It's difficult to get it on my 1x30 power leather strop. It doesn't want to spread and kinda repels at first but then soaks in eventually. Is there any material I could mix it with? I thought about something like shoe cream or wax to make it thicker and spread better. Thought I would seek some advice before I ruin a strop. Thanks.

You can buy leather/leather strop conditioner. I can't remember which one I have because I never use it, but it is a thick liquid that would be good for straight-up mixing your diamond spray into. However, I don't think this is recommendable because strop conditioners still leave something on the surface of your strop that kind of just gums up the stropping surface. These leather conditioners and treatments are not really made for strops, but really more to refinish a finished leather product, help protect it from the elements a little more, or to prepare it for taking dye evenly. I would say just spray the strop really well and just live with the loss-of-product from spraying it as a mist. You could also manually apply the compound using a q-tip, but you would probably lose more product due to the q-tip.

 

[115Italian]

Try *warming* up the strop with a hairdryer or something. It may help the spray stick better.

 

[kreisler]

in the latest videos by the ultimate sharpening masters of folders you'll learn that they've switched to wood.

as have i.

diamond spray on wood. wanna give it a try too?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

With leather strops, you can also very lightly sand the smooth leather to give it some temporary 'nap', which allows compound to better take hold. Use of the strop after sanding will smooth the leather again anyway, so the leather won't be permanently altered by this.

Can also wipe down the leather with some isopropyl alcohol on a rag. Don't overdo it. Just a little bit will do. The alcohol will dry the leather a bit and also remove oils on the surface, which may be contributing to the 'repelling' effect with the compound.

 

[sickpuppy1]

I have used a little water and a scrubby from the kitchen to remove the top layer of grit/metal or dirt from a strop. But be careful not to get the leather truly wet as it may warp the outer edges. Wipe it down with a paper towel and allow to dry. Then apply the new spray
The spray I got from Northwest_knife_guy soaked right in after that.He was playing with a 3 micron emulsion too but don’t know if that came to fruition. That would be ideal for a belt strop.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Wood, MDF, or even cast iron.

 

[wade7575]

O oldskywalker If you do decide to try wood go to hobbylobby and type in basswood in their search they have it really cheap,basswood will last longer then balsa but s not as hard,I wouldn't use MDF as it is to hard and smooth and the diamonds won't embed into it.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

O oldskywalker If you do decide to try wood go to hobbylobby and type in basswood in their search they have it really cheap,basswood will last longer then balsa but s not as hard,I wouldn't use MDF as it is to hard and smooth and the diamonds won't embed into it.

MDF is very smooth, very dense and beautifully flat. But it's actually not very hard. It's almost too easy to pierce, cut or otherwise damage with anything hard & sharp. It tears out easily when overtightening screws in it. To some degree, it's even easier to cut, gouge or pierce accidentally than other true woods. In terms of how easily it cuts and tears, it reminds me more of paper or cardboard than wood. MDF is essentially made similarly to paper, being very fine wood fibers bound together in a resin, under pressure.

I use MDF with various compounds, including chromium oxide, aluminum oxide and diamond paste. It works well with any of them, and the compounds don't have any trouble embedding into it. Diamond is orders of magnitude harder than any wood, or even steel - so it can embed in most anything under some pressure.

Other woods like basswood also work well. Most any tight-grained wood that's smooth & flat will do, like basswood, pine, poplar, oak or maple - I've used all of these at one time or another. Basswood happens to be popular mainly because it's not expensive and it can be found in hobby shops already pre-cut to perfect sizes & widths for use as a strop.

 

[wade7575]

MDF is very smooth, very dense and beautifully flat. But it's actually not very hard. It's almost too easy to pierce, cut or otherwise damage with anything hard & sharp. It tears out easily when overtightening screws in it. To some degree, it's even easier to cut, gouge or pierce accidentally than other true woods. In terms of how easily it cuts and tears, it reminds me more of paper or cardboard than wood. MDF is essentially made similarly to paper, being very fine wood fibers bound together in a resin, under pressure.

I use MDF with various compounds, including chromium oxide, aluminum oxide and diamond paste. It works well with any of them, and the compounds don't have any trouble embedding into it. Diamond is orders of magnitude harder than any wood, or even steel - so it can embed in most anything under some pressure.

Other woods like basswood also work well. Most any tight-grained wood that's smooth & flat will do, like basswood, pine, poplar, oak or maple - I've used all of these at one time or another. Basswood happens to be popular mainly because it's not expensive and it can be found in hobby shops already pre-cut to perfect sizes & widths for use as a strop.

Do you use the smooth finished side of MDF or the rough side,I know the stuff in Canada has a really smooth side that's hard and the other side is a bit rough,I know that the smooth side won't let emulsion sink into it but you can load green compound onto it.

The rough side that isn't smooth I could see emulsion sinking into it,I know that the smooth side on the MDF in Canada looks like it's been polished although I'm sure it hasn't and it's just the glue and other crap and it goes that way from being under pressure.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

You're not understanding that the emulsion may sink into a substrate, but the diamonds don't. They sit on the surface until something forces them into the substrate.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Do you use the smooth finished side of MDF or the rough side,I know the stuff in Canada has a really smooth side that's hard and the other side is a bit rough,I know that the smooth side won't let emulsion sink into it but you can load green compound onto it.

The rough side that isn't smooth I could see emulsion sinking into it,I know that the smooth side on the MDF in Canada looks like it's been polished although I'm sure it hasn't and it's just the glue and other crap and it goes that way from being under pressure.

The MDF I use is smooth on both sides - if any difference at all, it's essentially indistinguishable as far as I can tell. A bit later today, I'll see if I can post a pic of a scrap of it (EDITED: pic added below).

There are some types of 'hardboard' or 'masonite' that are MDF-like in some ways and made in a similar manner. I know the hardboard stuff is roughly patterned & textured on the backside, and pretty slick on the front. I've tried that for use as a strop - I think that rough side could sometimes be useful for very heavy, thick burrs or rolled edges to be realigned.

Here's a pic of three examples. At bottom, the largest piece is plywood scrap with some of the 'masonite' or 'hardboard' glued to it, rough/textured side up. Middle piece is 3/4" MDF with green compound (chromium oxide lapidary powder mixed with mineral oil and 'painted' onto the MDF). Top piece is 1/2" MDF with (IIRC) some white rouge compound rubbed onto it.

Kinda have to be careful with with any 'wet' emulsions used on MDF, aside from maybe the oil-based stuff. One downside to using MDF is that any water-based liquids will cause it to swell like a sponge and will essentially ruin it.