Thread: Diamond Pastes

Just curious as I was about to order a CrOx crayon from SRD, and was just looking around and saw the various diamond sprays as well. Now, whenever I order things, I always try to combine things a bit, and since I'm still relatively new, I'm kind of in the "try some stuff out and see how it goes" phase. I'm thinking about getting a few "replacement" webbings/fabrics and trying different abrasives on them.

I understand the Chromium Oxide is like .5 micron, and is a good refresh one before maybe having to step down to a 12k finish stone.

From what I've gathered, I imagine the diamond .5 is similar to the CrOx, and the .25 micron is the "either too sharp" or "perfectly sharp" don't need it/hate it/love it abrasive.

My question is, seeing the 2 and 1 micron abrasives, how would those compare and when would they be used as opposed to stones?

stay away from the diamond sprays. IMO.

Chromium Oxide 0.5 micron vs diamond spray 0.5 = CO cuts slower and leaves a better finish. DS way to agressive and leaves a uncomfortable edge "crisp". I have tried the diamond sprays up to 0.025 and i think thay suck. to agressive edges. i mean i get better shaves from a coticule,escher and jnats.

go from the 12k stone to the CO 0.5 and leave it there.

i try to finish on natural stones and if i i want just a tad more sharpness to the smooth edge i do no more then 4-5 laps on CO 0.5

I've heard that about Diamonds . . . and am definitely going with the CrOx for right now, but was curious, especially seeing 2 and 1 micron . . .

Originally Posted by Shaotzu

I've heard that about Diamonds . . . and am definitely going with the CrOx for right now, but was curious, especially seeing 2 and 1 micron . . .

Yeah well thay are just faster cutting and i find them to leave agressive edges. however thay work nice on kitchen knives

I really don't use sprays any longer. But when I did, I used diamond. I had no issues with it. Sure, too many laps on it and you'll find an uncomfortable edge. The key is to understand that diamonds cut fast. If you plan on trying it, just know that you're best off doing 2 or 3 laps and then see how its performing. But sometimes if you have a really stubborn piece of steel, something exceptionally hard (TI comes to mind), diamond spray may just be what will do the trick. I bought one bottle of the .5 and it will probably last me the rest of my life since it gets used to infrequently. If you try it, just go with the less is more concept. I did not have any bad experiences with it.

I only have the 1 micron spray. Back when I started I didn't have a 12k stone and the 1 micron is approximately 12k equivalent so used it instead. Since I got a 12k it has been used for the kitchen knives.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

I really don't use sprays any longer. But when I did, I used diamond. I had no issues with it. Sure, too many laps on it and you'll find an uncomfortable edge. The key is to understand that diamonds cut fast. If you plan on trying it, just know that you're best off doing 2 or 3 laps and then see how its performing. But sometimes if you have a really stubborn piece of steel, something exceptionally hard (TI comes to mind), diamond spray may just be what will do the trick. I bought one bottle of the .5 and it will probably last me the rest of my life since it gets used to infrequently. If you try it, just go with the less is more concept. I did not have any bad experiences with it.

Good feedback! That's what I've heard a bit before . . . use sparingly . . . Then again, also thinking about just going for the 12k Naniwa . . .

I 1st became aquainted with diamond abrasives years ago. I could sharpen my carbon steel knives OK on Arkansas stones but had great difficulty getting stainless blades sharp. This was before I found out about water stones when I later became interested in Japanese knives. Using a fine (red) DMT hone until I got a good thumbpad test followed by stropping on a 4 sided strop pasted with Dovo red and black pastes performed wonders on my filleting knives. Since then, I have been a firm believer in pasted strops and diamond abrasives.

I do not use diamond hones on razors considering them as being too aggressive. With my shave ready SRs, I touch up on a 4 sided TM strop pasted with 3, 1, and 0.5 diamonds. This works well for me after my 8K Norton water stone. The edge continues to improve for several shaving and stropping cycles using an unpasted TM linen (30) and latigo (60) strop. After leveling off in sharpness, the edges of my Henckels Friodurs last a long time before I need to revisit the diamond pasted strop which I do when the shave performance seems to be fading despite my use of the unpasted strop after each shave.

I use only a few passes on the pasted strop before cleaning the blade and restropping on the unpasted strop. If the shave test is not up to par, I repeat. I can usually tell when the shave is likely to be good by tree topping chest hair. The shave ready edge catches and cuts my chest hair without pushing it down or tugging.

There is condiderable discussion threads about high grit stones (especially synthetic) or aggressive pastes degrading edges if used in excess. I would rather strop a little on a pasted strop, strop again on unpasted strops, shave test, and repeat, if necessary than risk having to drop down to medium grit stones and rebuild an overhoned degraded edge.

I find stones indispensible for setting and initially honing an edge, but I like the pasted strop as a low cost, easy, traditional way to maintain my razor shave ready edges. I do however keep hearing a siren call across the water from Japan about a 20K synthetic stone with amazing properties. Its high cost holds me back, but I keep wondering whether I could one day squeege the hairs off my face leaving it BBS on all areas with the aide of such a stone. Trying different approaches keeps shaving interesting and fun. When pasted stropping begins to lose its effectiveness, I drop back to my 8K or 6K water stones which usually restores stropping performance.

There are many ways to achieve and maintain a shave ready edge. What is important is finding one that works well for you.
HTH

I have tried several CO products - powders, pastes, sprays.
The SRD crayon is by far the best in my opinion.

I find that pasted strops seem to mildly improve the smoothness of an edge at a very steep cost of loss of keenness.
I only use CO after bevel setting for the cosmetic effect of a more even and shiny bevel.

Some of the senior members have said that of the multitude of finishing stones they own, their favorite is a yellow-green Escher.
That would be about 12K.
My favorite is my Charnley Forrest, which is in the same ballpark.
The very high grit synthetics may be more a matter of preference than necessity.

I bought some diamond paste years ago and I still have the same stuff. I have .5 and .25 You especially have to watch the .25 cause it can give you a harsh edge.

I find my hones do the job better and on the rare occasions I use a pasted strop I go for the CrO. I have a few razors with very hard steel and I find the CrO paste seems to do a better job as opposed to the Suehiro 20K for instance. My TI Oak Wing is one razor where I get a better result with the paste. Even then I don't use the diamond. It's a special use media to me. I think it's one media most could do without and never miss it.