Is this any good for leather/linen strop or balsa?

[Elwer]

Hi Guys!
Just found some cheap diamond paste. Any one ever used these?
Diamond Lapping Paste
Diamond Lapping Paste - Arc Euro Trade

I'm wondering if they would be ok to use on strop or balsa?
Cheers
​

[thebigspendur]

With diamond it's pretty much a matter of how well sorted the individual particles are. If it's not really uniform you won't get uniform results. That's why some pastes are very expensive.

I'm told whether it's mono or poly crystalline diamond makes a difference too.

[Laurens]

The thing to note is the range of sizes they give:

WO.5 ( EXTREMELY FINE ) 25,000 (0.000-0.001)
W1.0 15,000 ( 0.0005-0.0015 )

This indicates that the 0.5 micron will contain 1 micron particles and depending on just how much, the results will differ. If you expect 1 micron edges off the 0.5 micron, you should not be disappointed.

As for poly- or monocrystalline, the poly is more rounded whereas the mono leaves deeper scratches. The websites do not specify which type it is and I think it is worth a try, I've been thinking about buying something similar myself. Perhaps try on cheap balsa first, so as not to spoil good leather, should the quality not be up to par.


Edit: This website has a nice picture of the difference between poly- and monocrystalline: Why Use DMT Diamond Sharpeners