Thread: Honing with diamond pastes

Hello everyone,

I recently began using the Amplex 0.5 and 1.0 micron diamond pastes with a Handamerican flatbed hone. As soon as I started using them to sharpen my razors, grey-silver streaks appeared all over the leather, which become darker after successive use. I assume these streaks consist of the metal particles coming off the blade and they indicate the surface area of the leather that comes in contact with the blade. However, streaks never appeared when using the green Handamerican paste.
Being a novice at this, I am wondering whether these streaks are an expected by-product of the sharpening process with these pastes. In case they are not, is there an evident possible cause, such as uneven paste dispersal on the leather surface? Do they reduce the effectiveness of the sharpening process and should they be cleaned up somehow, and the leather re-pasted?

Thanks in advance

Vasileios

That silver streaking is to be expected and is normal.

Um ..... those streaks of grey are razor dust. That the metal the abrasive is removing.

As the other guys have stated the grey streaks are normal. Occasionally I will spray a little Camelia oil on my diamond pasted strop and use my fingers to work the suface, dispersing the grey streaks.

Hope this helps,