Thread: Diamond Paste

If I bought a strop paddle with leather on both sides and use 1.0 micron diamond paste on one side and 0.5 on the other will that sufficiently be enough to sharpen the blade or is diamond paste a waste of time and money?

It will certainly do the job, but many - myself included - find it leaves a "harsh" or too-sharp edge - going th a CrOx pasted strop afterwards smoothes it out.

Regards,
Neil

It will definitely finish or refresh your blade. It won't "sharpen" it per se. The diamond paste is more aggressive than Cromium Oxide.

I've used diamond pastes on an already keen edge, and it certainly does bring it to a whole new level. Not everyone likes the feel of the edge afterwards, as it can be harsh. But as long as you're conservative on the number of laps you use for a touchup (I would just try 10-15 on the 0.5 for starters) it shouldn't be too harsh.

But as long as you have shave-ready blades that only need a touch up, then yes, a paddle strop with those diamond pastes is enough to sharpen your blades.

When I bought my diamond spray 0.5um, Don told me to apply it onto the canvas side of a hanging strop. Basically, I coated about 6" of the reverse side of my only hanging strop. I have been using it like that for touching all my razors with success, I think that it works great. I just only a few strokes and use very light pressure. WARNING: cover your hand when you do it (if you decide to go that route).

Al raz.

I think I want to make a padle strop with 0.25 and .5 micron paste.. but where do i get this paste...(pref. in europe)
I just want to try it a bit to see if I like the edge so I dont want to invest in a whole lot of diamond spray.
I did see some ebay sellers from Hongkong with .5 micron and up. is that stuff any good?

Thanks,

Maarten

I have honed a ton of razors probably more then anyone in the world except for that guy Lynn who has a callus the size of a Buick on his thumb You name the combo and I have tried it. IMHO sprays or paste perform much better on a material. the product gets into the material instead of just sitting on top. As for sharpening Paste will sharpen an edge they take metal off. But the will not be enough to get a very dull blade back. If you are using a razor and feel it has lose a little and take it to a material with paste or spray and it will put that edge right on. If you do it right you can go a very long time between honing. But be careful paste or spray can also over hone and edge then you are for sure back to a stone.

Agree. The 1 micron and .5 paste are more refreshing media although both can be used off a 4K/8K combo to finish a honing job. They should be put very sparingly on leather. The .5 diamond spray is also very effective on a felt strop or flat bed set up too.

Lynn

I recently added .5 ChrOx to my linen strop and things have not been the same since.
My razors where pretty sharp before, but giving it a swipe or two on the linen makes a great difference.

I use the 1.0 and .5 along with Crox. I have .25, but I find it makes my blade so keen, it irritates my face.