Help with diamond pastes

Hello Everyone!

I just bought some diamond pastes (1, .5, .25 micron) and was wondering what kind of progression and amount of strokes I would need from these pastes?

The blade I want to use it on is currently decently sharp but nothing special. I just want to give it that little extra so I was wondering which is the safest paste to start on?

Basically I would like some help on gauging which micron to start on and how many strokes to do. Like I my straight is decently sharp and I know diamond pastes are fast cutters.

Thanks ahead of time!

What brand of razor ???? Diamond pastes are a finicky type of thing, especially the .25... some razors react exceptionally well to Diamond pastes others just flat don't like it...

Its a Wapi. I've had it for about a week. I got it from invisibleedge.

Try the .50 (start at 20 laps) and then make sure you strop the crap outta the razor after...
I have not had any experience at all with the 1.0 so yer flying on your own there.... The Wapi's that I have honed did not respond well to the .25 YMMV of course...

With all pastes remember less is more.... you can always add more to the strop it is a pain to take it off.....

So 20 on the .5 and see where it gets me?

Also, do you think stropping on some newspaper before the leather would help?

Some seem to be great fans of the newspaper strop. Likely it can't hurt whenever you choose to use it. Well inked newsprint has been likened to a super fine abrasive of perhaps a 100k equivalent.

Good luck,

I use linen before leather, always, but it is especially good after Diamond paste to smooth that edge out.... After any paste I do 50 linen laps then 100 leather laps... As to newspaper I have never really used it, so somebody else is going to have to help on that one.... I thought it came after leather, but I may very well be wrong there...

6gun,

I think one does the leather last - something's needed to get all the ink off the blade, certainly we wouldn't want do that on cheek or jowl.:tu

I got a four sided paddle strop from Tony Miller just over a week ago, and I've used it so much already, the pasted sides are black. I have 1.0, .50, .25 and bare.

My sharpening routine was bevel setting on 12 micron 3M paper, sharpening on 5 micron, refining on 3 micron, then moving to the pasted paddle strop. I've been told I'm waaaay over doing it (and I think they're right), but I did 100 laps on the 1.0, 50 on the .50, 50 on the .25, then finally 50 on the bare side. 50 on the bare side is not *nearly* enough to get rid of the harshness. Glen suggested 100 in an earlier post, so I'm going to give that a shot today. I've used the paddle strop on four razors now, and so far I'm really impressed with how well it will finish up an edge. I'm getting blades that are passing all the sharpness tests, but the shave just feels harsh. I'm sure it's more me being a newb than a discredit to the diamond pastes, though. I have heard that it is more difficult to end up with a wire edge (from us over-zealous, honing crazy newbs) with diamond pastes.

I concur with Bruce regarding the newspaper. I have used newspaper in my honing progression routinely. I always finish with plain leather prior to shaving.

I love stropping on newspaper. I especially like stropping on newspaper rubbed with a very small amount of chrome ox. Love it. Why? to me it smooths edges well after honing, keeps and even enhances sharpness all without any overhoning issue. Last year I stropped the same razor on chrome ox rubbed newspaper 100 passes each night and shaving with that same razor each morning for one week. 700 total passes and no overhoning issues at all. The edge did not get 700 times sharper, but topped out at an optimum level of sharpness.

Plain newspaper works just fine for the final edge polishing prior to plain leather stropping but it's slow. On plain newspaper as a final polish, I'd recommend 100 passes. With chrome ox rubbed in, I'd recommend <25.

Chris L

I hope this isn't considered off topic but I have a question about pastes and don't want to start a new post and since the pros are already here, here goes.

I love using 0.25 paste but it is a little harsh. What does using 0.5 Chromium do to the edge after you are finished with 0.25 paste? Does it make it duller since it is a higher grit? I have been wondering about this for a while now.

Thanks,
Richard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by riooso

I hope this isn't considered off topic but I have a question about pastes and don't want to start a new post and since the pros are already here, here goes.

I love using 0.25 paste but it is a little harsh. What does using 0.5 Chromium do to the edge after you are finished with 0.25 paste? Does it make it duller since it is a higher grit? I have been wondering about this for a while now.

Thanks,
Richard

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That exact question is what made me decide to go with .25 diamond paste instead of CrOx. Now I wish I'd listened...alot of the gurus here say that the CrOx will leave you with a much smoother finish than the .25 diamond paste.

I used to use the 0.25µ diamond paste as a way to get the finest edge to shave with. As my honing skills have improved I find I no longer need it to get a super fine edge. Chromium Oxide should be enough for most anyway.

X

I understand about the 0.25 being harsh and the Chromium being smooth but the question still remains. Does Chromium dull a 0.25 pasted blade? I can sees reasons for both arguments of whether it makes it duller or stays the same but smoother.:D

Thanks,
Richard

Yes and no. It will initially, but quickly it'll create a wire edge or make the razor over honed.

X

How long do pastes take to dry? I put my new pastes on a wooden paddle strop last night and I think that some paste would come off onto a razor if I used it. Is this normal?

You might have put too much on. usually over night is good enough to let it dry unless you are in a very damp climate. Give it another day and if it's still not dry, you might consider cleaning some of the paste off.

X

Just to clarify .25 diamond paste use...
It is a hit and miss proposition, some razors like it and it will give a smooth VERY sharp edge, actually one of the best you'll ever shave with....
Other razors don't like it and it gives a harsh feel to the edge, thus propagating the often stated "I used it and it felt harsh" post...
As with everything that has to do with this hobby of ours, YMMV because of personal preference...

My personal experience "in general" has been that Spanish and English steel does not respond well to it, where many German and most American steels it works very well with.... There are exceptions to everything though, so the final say is always, your own face....

If you use it though I recommend extensive stropping on linen(50) and leather(100) after, to smooth up that edge....

Another trick to it's use is what you are already discussing, use the .25 shave once then use the .50 Cr and re-strop the razor.... Now that is a smooth edge, try it you might be very surprised with the results...

Does the results that you get with the 0.25 pastes have a lot to do with the hardness of the steel that you are using it on? I am very new at this but the razors that I have used it on that seem to like it are higher end, harder to hone razors that have very hard steel.

Take Care,
R

Hi,
I use the same method on all of my 16 razors (carbonsteel and stainless):
10 laps on the .5 diamond paste, followed by 5 laps on the .25.
The diamond pastes are on balsa wood.
After that, some 10 laps on newspaper.
I end up stroping some 20 times on the canvas, followed by 60 on the plain leather.
If I find that the results are too harsh after the above procedure, I give some 20 laps on a chromoxide induced balsa wood, followed again by linen and plain leather.
The chrome doesn't dull the bevel, it takes only away the "oversharpened" feeling sometimes after the .25 paste.
I will describe the feeling: .25 gives you a "Feather" double edge razor sensation: very sharp.
Chromium gives you a "swedish Gillette" feeling: sharp and smooth.
The step "before" I go to the diamond paste is the use of the broad Thiers Issard paddle strop with diamond/aluminum paste, obtainable from Thiers Issard. It has a 10000 grit and excellent.
The exact name is: "PATE A RASOIR Thiers Issard, à l'aluminocyline".
:gl: