Thread: Has anyone used diamond powder for light honing & stropping - Diamond Powder 0-1/2 μm

I'm just worried about it forming clumps, i'm sure it will work fine though

2ct is not much at all for 120ml!

4 US fluid ounces = 118.294118 millilitres

I reckon you had serious amounts of diamond in that paste you made

i swear it wasn't much! well i didn't think it was before i mixed it (less then a match head) lol

Ah well, at least it has enough on it to stay coated for the next 12 months lol

You realise that's like a teraquadjillion microns of diamond

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I see some of the stuff available in Oz is 2ct per 120 ml....And someone said this ain't rocket science

Maybe it is rocket science!!!

First i tried a little plain distilled water and the diamonds sank to the bottom of the bottle, so i then topped it up with some of the SRD 0.5 solution hoping what ever they use might help suspend the diamonds in the liquid. I got the same results.

Below is a video of the 0.5-0 micron diamond spray mixed with water and the SRD 0.5 micron solution.



The diamonds drop to the bottom of the fluid and dose not suspend in the liquid at all! But as you can see there are also no clumps, it just didn't suspend in it!

I guess i was sort of expecting this to happen due to the fact that diamonds are heavier then water lol. It does give a cool effect in the solution though don't you think?

Also, I think i found a better way to apply the diamond powder to a strop. I removed all the stuff that was on my strop and I stole one of my fiancee's unused makeup brushes lol, Applied a small amount of the dust to the brush and brushed the diamonds on to the strop. I guess sometimes simple is better!

It stropped much smoother and nicer then the mix with the paste and gave a much more desirable effect and feel.

Brighty83,

Re dusting strop with abrasive powder

That is how I apply CrOx to leather; just lightly dust the leather with CrOx and rub in gently with micro-fbre cloth and then wipe off excess.

Seems to work very well

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Thanks PhatMan, I have tested the brush method several times now and it seems to work every time!

I have been spreading the dust over the strop in an X patter using a small brush then I'm spreading it evenly with a large brush. Then using a hard plastic ruler or a metal plaster scraper, pressing the dust lightly into the leather and dragging it across.

Dragging the edge or the scraper seems to help hold the dust onto the leather and remove any excess gunk that is on the strop.

I'm also using a brush on the canvas side of the strop and doing X along it, then spreading it evenly with the lager brush.

All in all this seems to be working well, not wasting too much of the diamond dust and i think i have easily made a huge improvement to my blades!

I wish i took a photo of this blade before i stropped it, it had no shine and i hadn't honed it after receiving it on eBay. (it was supposed to be shave ready lol)



But, you can see there is a very good mirror finish on the bevel and it brought it up from almost unsaleable to one of my best shaves.

I would differently recommend the diamond powder to anyone who is interested in give it a go. It is very different from the diamond spray!

I have passed some of the dust to some other members, hopefully one of them might add something once they get it!

I would like you to try something for me, if you still have your "suspension" from the video above.
Let the diamond particles sink for a while (couple of houes? Two days? I dunno).

Take a light source like a laser or a lamp and see if the light gets scattered inside the liquid like this
If so, you have created a colloidal suspension, which is what you want. Then the particles at the bottom are merely excess.

In that case decant the liquid phase. Be sure to leave all the particles on the bottom.
I would use a pipet and make sure not to stirr or shake the suspension.
You can try to reuse the excess particles, and put the suspension into a spray bottle and try it.
You can use it on a plain sheet of paper or something similar if you don´t want to spoil leather or felt.

Shake well before applying it. The only downside is the water won´t evaporate quickly.
you have way too much water and probably should fill upt the suspension with the same amount of alcohol for better evaporation

Originally Posted by Brighty83

I would differently recommend the diamond powder to anyone who is interested in give it a go. It is very different from the diamond spray!

Can you expand on the difference to the spray ? eg What is the effect of 10 strokes on each ?

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

I would like you to try something for me, if you still have your "suspension" from the video above.
Let the diamond particles sink for a while (couple of houes? Two days? I dunno).

Take a light source like a laser or a lamp and see if the light gets scattered inside the liquid like this
If so, you have created a colloidal suspension, which is what you want. Then the particles at the bottom are merely excess.

In that case decant the liquid phase. Be sure to leave all the particles on the bottom.
I would use a pipet and make sure not to stirr or shake the suspension.
You can try to reuse the excess particles, and put the suspension into a spray bottle and try it.
You can use it on a plain sheet of paper or something similar if you don´t want to spoil leather or felt.

Shake well before applying it. The only downside is the water won´t evaporate quickly.
you have way too much water and probably should fill upt the suspension with the same amount of alcohol for better evaporation

I will buy a cheap $2 laser and do a controlled test, 3 shot glasses. one with distilled water only, one with distilled water and 0.2ct and one with 0.2ct of diamonds and isopropyl alcohol.

Give me a couple of days and i will let you know.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Can you expand on the difference to the spray ? eg What is the effect of 10 strokes on each ?

Without a microscope i can only go buy what i can see with my eyes and how it feels. Generally do 10 strokes on a diamond coated strop and if its not how i like the feel i do another 10 strokes etc. I couldn't tell you exactly the difference between 10 to 10 but i am sure there is a difference.

There is a noticeable difference with the shine, i find with the spray i can tell it has polished but no as much as the dust. maybe this is because there is a higher carat quantity on the felt or maybe its a different particle type to what the spray uses.

There are two particle type that i could have ordered. 1125b or 1151b. both are 0-0.5 micron. one is a standard curve and the other is a short curve and both are 60,000 grit. ( i ordered 1151b, the standard curve)

The dust 'seems' to cut faster then the spray but again this could be due to a higher carat count from the dust on the strop compared to the spray. I know some of you guys would be saying 'the spray cuts too fast as it is' but, in the final feel of the blade it had a much smoother feel then what i have had with the standard spray.

If i can get through my chin area with out any drag I'm very happy with the outcome of the blade. until now i have only had a few of my blades that can shave that area without any pulling. This could just be luck, but so far with 3 razors tested with brushing the diamond powder and 3 of my smoothest shaves I'm beginning to suspect not.

Also having the ability to use it on a strop give you something different to play with! i haven't sprayed my strop with the diamond spray and I'm not keen on doing that, water on leather doesn't sounds like a good mix! lol but brushing it on dose seem to have a very nice feel and nice drag. until now i have only used the dovo black crayon things on my strop and although i dont have anything bad to say about them i felt the drag from the diamond dust seemed smoother (but not with the diamonds mixed with the leather conditioner).

I don't think i would recommend mixing it with a conditioner, not unless you had a strop with no drag at all. My strop without conditioner has a lot of drag. While it worked, brushing for me worked a lot better.

I have a third strop coming in the post, If i can find a blade that has a dull edge i will take some of photos before, after the diamond spray and after the diamond powder. but until i get my third strop i cant really do this.

I am still playing around and all my good results could just be luck, I'm hoping that feedback from another user experimenting could confirm or disagree with what I'm saying. What ever they say, either way it will give an idea if its worth its weight or suggest more testing needs to be done.

But, If anyone is interested, i would get the 10ct for $5.50us and have a go, worst case you might say it's similar to the spray. but your only out of pocket $5.50 and I'm sure it will still get used!