Thread: Diamond Paste Extender

I want to apply .25 diamond paste to my balsa hone, but think it will be very difficult to get an even application. I know there are extenders available from lapidary supply houses, but was wondering if there are any household products that might be useful.

Diamond extender on wood. Now thats a good question.
People who are using this need to speak up and share their experiences and observations.
You would seem to have a choice between a water based or oil based.
My speculation would be that since the balsa is not sealed if you used a water base then the balsa might absorb the water and slightly deform.
But thats just speculation.
An oil base solution would be less apt to do that.
My solution has been to use Camellia oil for my dry powdered abrasive's. Another option would be mineral oil.

Just my two cents,

I get great results from the pastes from classic shaving, the ones in the syringe tubes, but don't know if its oil based or what. I thought it was water but might be wrong. I just applied it lightly with my finger. I think the grit of the paste fills into the balsa wood and you get grit action and a perfectly flat surface, two things that are critical to the process in my humble opinion.

My gut tells me not to add any other chemical fluids to the paste. For what thats worth.

I succesfully loaded the balsa with the .25 diamond paste. It turned out that I did not need any extender. The Amplex that Ray sells are water based btw.

Thanx, yea thats what I remember....its been year or so since I bought some. Tell us about your results with it please. I found about 40 laps worked well for me.

Thanks guys!

I just picked up some balsa wood at an estate ssale today so I will be trying this very soon.

Cool,

Randy what I have been doing is getting out the microscope and doing about 20 laps and then reviewing the scratch patterns and edge and usually within about 3 x 20 lap runs I have a really nice looking edge. I have been finding little need to even use a strop before shaving with this method. Its an "interesting" approach. Can't wait to hear what you think.

Just found my Corian pieces that I will be using as a base for the Balsa wood.

Hope to have this going by the end of the week.