using xx Micron paste on W.E. strop blocks??

[TRfromMT]

I picked up the W.E. Go sharpening system. It comes with the strop blocks, with 5 and 3.5 Micron paste. I've used it 3 days in a row. Using very little paste, but the residue has dried on the leather. (I put the blocks in ziplock baggies for storage).

The next day when I get to the strops, the now-dried paste gets gummed up on the edge and the strop is clearly not touching the edge. When it was new/damp, the strop would glide easily, but when it's gummy it drags, and actually sticks to the edge where it should be polishing.

Am I using too much? can I "reconstitute" with a drop of water? Does it need to be cleaned off each use, and reapplied at the start of a new sharpening session?


Thanks in advance.
TR

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Give the diamond paste another day or three to fully dry. I've also noticed how gummy it is (using DMT's Dia-Paste), in the near-term after applying it. More so, if too much is applied, which is very easy to do. After a couple or three days and with some use, the excess will be scrubbed off the strop and then it won't be so prone to gumming up the edge of the blade.

Shouldn't need to reapply it very often. A certain amount will embed into the strop itself; any that doesn't embed will be scrubbed off. That's OK, you don't need that excess anyway, as the embedded diamond will keep working for a good while.

 

[Mo2]

I've seen someone use mineral oil to rub the paste and even the bar stuff when initially applying the compound.

I've never done this myself so I'm not sure of it's advantages or disadvantages. I've heated up green bar and applied it to rough side of leather.

I've applied dmt diamond paste to denim without any weird results of the paste drying. Probably because it gets into the denim pretty good from the get go.

Waiting for the dmt paste to finish up and I'm going to get some diamond spray for my smooth side strop that I currently use bare atm. The spray works a bit different than the paste. Apply, dry and then use.

 

[TRfromMT]

There are a couple knowledge base articles on the W.E. website I found. Seems like I'm using too much. I need to work it in. The excess can be worked in with some rubbing alcohol and working the strops against each other.