Thread: Shapton advise

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I use Leather but I guess pretty much anything soft would work, I don't think Balsa would be a good idea but I haven't actually ever liked Balsa for anything myself...

Stropping is that last thing the edge touches before the face, it plays a much larger role then I think it is given credit for, but the edge still has to be honed well before the strop can be effective...

I recently bought some balsa wood and was given some diamond paste by a guy who showed me how to set it up and use it, and I am awestruck by how good it works! So you are saying that there are even better ways to use abrasive pastes than on balsa? What do you use, exactly? And would you recommend it for a newbie? Do you just use it on a regular strop? This Cerium sounds interesting. I guess the diamond is more cutting and the cerium is more smoothing? If so, could I use diamond first and then cerium? I have all the way down to .1 micron in diamond paste but it is already rubbed into my balsa wood. I plan to order some next week. Diamond that is. What I got was give to me. Maybe I should look for some cerium too?

If I was you it's buy some diamond 0.5 and some Crox sprays , then try them on felt..

If you set on using the cerium on felt you are going to have to figure out how to get it to spray in a suspension..

I would do some google searches on Cerium Oxide Suspension as I know the Eyeglass industry uses it in suspension, but I have never researched how they do it..

I guess you could also just apply the powder to the felt, but I don't know how effective that will be

How exactly do you use yours? I'll just copy you

Originally Posted by Laurens

Is it therefore safe to say that any paste used for optics in the 0.1-2 micron range can be used for sharpening/smoothening razors? I located some diamond pastes in the Netherlands intended for polishing glass, but have not yet pulled the trigger.

Safe to say ??? No but it seems that many of the abrasive crossover, Diamond is a pretty effective cutter, so you want to be careful how you use it...

Some are looking to improve the actual sharpness of the edge, which isn't a bad thing per se but over doing it can lead to a harsh edge, myself I am looking to only smooth the feel of the edge when I look at using a paste so I want a specific result.. With Diamonds I like the results off Felt as it "Tempers" the cutting effect.

You have to experiment with your edges to see what works best for you, IMHO it depends on where the edge starts, to how things work out