Sharpening regime/medium for loading diamond paste

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ks_wayward_son

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Apr 15, 2021
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Probably going to get me some more diamond plates so I can have an all around sharpening system. Looking like this:

Atoma 400 ( already acquired) Will be used for reprofiling as necessary?
Ultra Sharp 600
Ultra Sharp 1200
Ultra Sharp 3000
Diamond Tech 5000 grit paste
Diamond Tech 8000 grit paste

Question is, what is a good medium for loading the pastes? Heard of using balsa wood, ceramic plate, glass plates? Would a single ceramic floor tile be adequate enough for this application? (I have left over tiles from a flooring project).

Also, overall does this seem like a decent sharpening regime?
 
I hadn't heard of putting pastes on glass or tile. It seems unforgiving, but if it works, it works. I'm a little surprised that the paste wouldn't scrape off.

I went from regular leather to kangaroo leather (thinner, less give), and have wound up with basswood. It's firmer and less eager to deform than balsa. I like it a lot.

3000 is a nice grit for good knives, still toothy. The pasted substrate is mostly about knocking off burrs, though there'd be a bit of polishing involved. It's less clear that that polishing is important. My regimen for my really good knives is to finish on a JNat that's maybe 3-4K, then strop on basswood pasted with 4 micron paste. That's about the same grit as the finisher, but the important thing it's doing is knocking off the burrs. Going from a final stone to a pasted strop doesn't seem to involve the same progression model as going from stone to stone, probably because you're doing a smaller number of strokes at a lighter pressure, and edge trailing only.

Anyway, I'd say your plan is worth giving a try. Whether you find it important to have two different grits on your pasted strops will be interesting to discover.
 
UncleB. Interesting of you to say that about the two paste grits. I just wasn't sure if I would get anywhere. It might be good enough to just use 5000 grit as the finisher, as all my knives are considered workers. Never tried to get a nice polish on an edge before, as I am relatively new. Just touching up kitchen knives in general.

On another note, I just discovered/read about Tormek PA-70. Approximately 8000 grit. Question would be, could it polish super steels or harder tool steel burrs of D2 like a diamond paste? Is it essentially also made with diamond medium? About quarter pound (.2) for 15 bucks looks like. 5 grams of Diamond Tech 8000 for 10 bucks.
 
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I've preferred a firm/hard, fine-grained wood substrate for diamond pastes. Basswood works well, and can often be found at hobby supply shops in sizes perfect for use as strops. MDF (medium density fiberboard) also works very well. But if you don't have an easy or convenient means to cut it to size, it may not be as practical (and it's extremely dusty, cutting it with power tools). Scraps of cabinet-grade plywood (like birch laminate plywood) can also work well for this. I have a few of those pieces fashioned into small strop blocks with DMT's Dia-Paste applied.

I'd hesitate at using ceramic tiles for polishing with pastes. I'd be more concerned about the ceramic creating new scratches you don't want on your bevels, if you're polishing to a mirror finish. Whatever's used for the substrate, you want to be sure it's not hard enough, by itself, to scratch the steel of your blade's bevels. This is why I strongly favor using woods for these.
 
ks_wayward_son said:
Would a single ceramic floor tile be adequate enough for this application? (I have left over tiles from a flooring project).
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No, don't do that! The diamonds will embed into the softer of the two materials which in this case could the be knife steel, and that is NOT a good thing.
 
Thanks for all the replies everybody. I definitely will not use ceramic. Probably go with one of the aforementioned woods if I do decide to strop. I'm not really sure where I came up with that idea to use ceramic tile anyways. Anyways. I'm wondering if the 3000 grit diamond top end will give me all the polish/finish I need since I am not really concerned with mirror finishes Just good working edges.
 
ks_wayward_son said:
Thanks for all the replies everybody. I definitely will not use ceramic. Probably go with one of the aforementioned woods if I do decide to strop. I'm not really sure where I came up with that idea to use ceramic tile anyways. Anyways. I'm wondering if the 3000 grit diamond top end will give me all the polish/finish I need since I am not really concerned with mirror finishes Just good working edges.
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Have a look at Kreisler's PTS method on this thread. It could be another option you could look at.
 
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