Thread: 0.25 micron diamond spray SEM

Following a Shapton 8k edge - A perfectly triangular bevel with 16.5 degree angle, as expected from the blade dimensions. Edge width is around 200nm.

10 laps on a 2" wide English bridle strop with 0.25 micron diamond spray over about an 8 inch length.
The last 10 microns of the bevel are convexed (or micro-convex) and a foil edge is formed. Where the foil is broken away, the edge width is less than 100nm.

Very interesting photos, what kind of steel is it?

Fuzzy, very interesting photos. Did you by chance test shave off the 8k then off the .25 to compare comfort? I only ask because the .25 results look like a rolled foil edge but may clean up after a good stropping.

Great pics! I love seeing the "up close" results.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Sterm

Very interesting photos, what kind of steel is it?

A 5/8 Genco deRoma

Originally Posted by ZeroCool

Fuzzy, very interesting photos. Did you by chance test shave off the 8k then off the .25 to compare comfort? I only ask because the .25 results look like a rolled foil edge but may clean up after a good stropping.

Great pics! I love seeing the "up close" results.

Thanks

I use this particular razor for SEM experiments and do not shave with it. It is very difficult to keep the blade clean enough for these sort of images.

I have been experimenting with the .5 and .25 Hand American diamond spray for the past two weeks on both Shapton 8k and Coticule edges. I have found that a 100nm edge width is about the threshold for a shave-ready edge, so this 8k edge would be borderline - with sufficient stropping likely just OK.
I have not found any improvement with the 0.5 micron, but the 0.25 has been giving me very nice shaves. The foil shown here is thick enough to cause problems; however, I looked at the edge after an additional 90 laps on the 0.25 (100 total) and the foil was almost gone, what remained was about 30nm thick and the edge width around 50nm. The 30nm foil will easily be removed by stropping. Most interesting is that there was no measurable steel removed in the additional 90 laps, suggesting that there is no concern with 'over-honing' at this point. (I have been using 30 laps on my razors for shaving)

diamond spray - a set on Flickr

I imagine this is kind of what it looks like at each step of the honing process, just more and more refined at each step.
To me, bevel setting is a process of removing metal and leaving ridges, on both sides of the blade, until the ridges meet. Then it is a process of removing the large ridges and leaving smaller and smaller ridges.
Thank you very much for these pics, they are very helpful.
It seems the diamond is a very fast remover of metal, as would be expected.
I'm off to see if you have other posts with pics...
BTW, did you get that cam off eBay? (lol)

Originally Posted by fuzzychops

A 5/8 Genco deRoma



I have been experimenting with the .5 and .25 Hand American diamond spray for the past two weeks on both Shapton 8k and Coticule edges. I have found that a 100nm edge width is about the threshold for a shave-ready edge, so this 8k edge would be borderline - with sufficient stropping likely just OK.
I have not found any improvement with the 0.5 micron, but the 0.25 has been giving me very nice shaves.

diamond spray - a set on Flickr

I also encorporate .5 micron diamond spray in my prep. However, after honing on the Norton 4K/8K and then a Chinese 12K polisher, I visit a homemade strop with the .5 spray before final stropping. I usually only do 10-15 laps or so with the diamond spray, but I don't see a big difference at all when I use it after the 12K. Do you think I should be seeing a noticeable difference doing this?