Thread: 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...

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...