Thread: D8EE to 0.5 Diamond Spray on Hard Felt

Folks,

I'm curious if anyone has gone straight from the DMT D8EE
(3 micron) to 0.5 micron diamond spray on hard felt (SRD).
It seems like a big jump to me, and one option might be to
bridge the gap with 1.0 or 2.0 micron spray, but I'd like to
hear from you guys who have experience with this stuff.

The reason I ask is because I'm looking to experiment with
a repeatable honing process that I can do without too much
fuss when I've got razors piling up to hone and too little free
time to drag out my set of Shapton GSs and lap them for a
session. I'm happy to set the bevel on a D8E or 1k GS, then
I want to polish the edge as quickly and effectively as
possible.

Regards,

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

Folks,

I'm curious if anyone has gone straight from the DMT D8EE
(3 micron) to 0.5 micron diamond spray on hard felt (SRD).
It seems like a big jump to me, and one option might be to
bridge the gap with 1.0 or 2.0 micron spray, but I'd like to
hear from you guys who have experience with this stuff.

The reason I ask is because I'm looking to experiment with
a repeatable honing process that I can do without too much
fuss when I've got razors piling up to hone and too little free
time to drag out my set of Shapton GSs and lap them for a
session. I'm happy to set the bevel on a D8E or 1k GS, then
I want to polish the edge as quickly and effectively as
possible.

Regards,

- Scott

Experimenting...
If you have a set of shavers that need a touch up you should only need
an 8K or better hone to touch them up and then back to the strop. No
need for the full pile of hones.

The key for you might be knowing what hone in your pile best makes
a razor strop ready. A pasted strop after honing on stone can add a
final polish that a strop can then build from. A pasted strop after
shaving will wear down the fine folded edges that canvas and leather
would have restored requiring a sooner visit to a touch up hone.

Diamond on hard felt is interesting and makes a lot of sense after honing...
The grit size 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 micron spray should not be very critical
since the felt does not present the diamond to the steel with very
much authority unlike DMT or even diamond paste on wood backed leather.

I haven't tried the diamond on hard felt yet. I'm trying to get that set up going but really like Cro2 for razors. How would the diamond of hard felt be any different than if it was on leather?

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Experimenting...
If you have a set of shavers that need a touch up you should only need
an 8K or better hone to touch them up and then back to the strop. No
need for the full pile of hones.

The key for you might be knowing what hone in your pile best makes
a razor strop ready. A pasted strop after honing on stone can add a
final polish that a strop can then build from. A pasted strop after
shaving will wear down the fine folded edges that canvas and leather
would have restored requiring a sooner visit to a touch up hone.

Hi Tom,

I'm talking about start-to-finish, dull-to-sharp here. I've
got a good, repeatable system for doing this with my set
of Shaptons which I've been using for a few years. What
I'm curious about is whether or not the edge of a razor
off of the D8EE (or similar stone) is `ready' to be polished
to its final edge on the above mentioned pasted felt.

Thanks for the reply,

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

Hi Tom,

I'm talking about start-to-finish, dull-to-sharp here. I've
got a good, repeatable system for doing this with my set
of Shaptons which I've been using for a few years. What
I'm curious about is whether or not the edge of a razor
off of the D8EE (or similar stone) is `ready' to be polished
to its final edge on the above mentioned pasted felt.

Thanks for the reply,

- Scott

Lots of folk have reported DMT 8K diamond can go
straight to the strop. I suspect this has more to
do with their touch on the hone than the grit size of
the DMT (or hone).

Since the Shaptons only need a spray of water
and not a soak I would think they would be a
lot like my film on glass setup in terms of muss
and fuss.

If these are your razors I would say just try it. Your face is
the ultimate judge of such things.
If you were honing for me and gave me a choice I would ask for Shaptons
but if you are good on a strop I doubt that I could tell the difference with
one razor as a sample.

BTW: What grit is your finest Shapton?

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Since the Shaptons only need a spray of water
and not a soak I would think they would be a
lot like my film on glass setup in terms of muss
and fuss.

The muss and fuss is mostly lapping all of the stones
before each session, and the number of stones that I
use in my progression

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

If these are your razors I would say just try it. Your face is
the ultimate judge of such things.
If you were honing for me and gave me a choice I would ask for Shaptons
but if you are good on a strop I doubt that I could tell the difference with
one razor as a sample.

It sounds as though it's worth a try. I suppose I'll just
give it a shot and see what the result is. I'll be able to
tell whether the resulting edge is up to par.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

BTW: What grit is your finest Shapton?

I finish on the Shapton 30k.

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

The muss and fuss is mostly lapping all of the stones
before each session, and the number of stones that I
use in my progression



It sounds as though it's worth a try. I suppose I'll just
give it a shot and see what the result is. I'll be able to
tell whether the resulting edge is up to par.



I finish on the Shapton 30k.

- Scott

DMT8K .vs. Shapton 30K
Not a contest in my mind.... but the shave test will tell for sure.

I've had the chance to experiment with this progression on
two different razors so far, and I've been happy with the
results. After the D8EE, it took about 15-17 laps on the felt
to get the edge where I wanted it.

Super-quick and easy, but these plates aren't as enjoyable
to use as the Shaptons, and they don't feel silky smooth at
all like the Naniwas.

- Scott

It would be interesting to see if there is any difference in terms of how long the edge lasts, compared to one honed through you Shapton progression.