Thread: Strop material for diamond paste?

In need of some advise. I have .25 micron diamond paste.
What would be the correct strop material for that?

Looked up and down and couldn't find it. :-(

Here is some opinion

The more open the strop surface the less cutting effect the paste has

So if you are looking more for smooth refinement then refreshment of the keen then you want a softer component or in this order


Felt - Least agressive

Linen

Leather

Balsa

Hard Surface Marble / Glass / Stone - Most aggressive

Just to name some
So you have to decide what you are after

If you are using it after honing to give a little extra smoothing to the edge then go Felt
If you want to use it as the edge starts to deteriorate to boost the edge back to keen then Balsa might be the ticket

General info, there are variations of course

Glenn, you are so generous. Thank you very much.


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I have two leather bench strops and have .25 and .50 diamond on them and they work great. I think what is more important than the base material is to ensure the diamond paste has diamond well sorted and uniform. if it's .5 and it's contaminated with everything from .2 to 1.0 or worse you will never get a good result.

Ive used balsa and felt but much prefered felt.
A tip is to ensure you gently wipe your razor after using the diamond paste as you can contaminate your normal linen/leather strop.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Here is some opinion

The more open the strop surface the less cutting effect the paste has

So if you are looking more for smooth refinement then refreshment of the keen then you want a softer component or in this order


Felt - Least agressive

Linen

Leather

Balsa

Hard Surface Marble / Glass / Stone - Most aggressive

Just to name some
So you have to decide what you are after

If you are using it after honing to give a little extra smoothing to the edge then go Felt
If you want to use it as the edge starts to deteriorate to boost the edge back to keen then Balsa might be the ticket

General info, there are variations of course

I would like to suggest one more substrate. That is basswood. You can generally purchase it at the same outlets that sell balsa. I found that 3" wide by 1/4" thick by 1 ft long works well. Purchase a 3 ft length and cut it into three pieces for three strops. The basswood is a little more firm than balsa; it is less likely to get nicks, dents, etc. I lap it flat with 320 grit sandpaper and then spread the honing paste with a straight edge.

By the way, an alternative to diamond paste is Cubic Boron Nitride stropping compound. I purchased 0.25 and 0.50 micron CBN pastes from Amazon. I use them after my finishing hone and also for a quick touch up when a razor starts to tug. The pastes are also available in 1, 2, and 3 micron pastes if you need the larger particles. If they sold 0.1 micron paste, I would have purchased that as well.

Some people claim that diamond paste can leave the edge a little harsh, so it that is your experience, try the CBN paste.

https://www.amazon.com/CBN-Stropping...n%2Bpaste&th=1

Thanks tons!


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As said, it depends on what you are trying to achieve, with any paste. And yes, the harder the substrate the deeper, more aggressive, it will cut.

Diamonds traditionally, are notorious for leaving a harsh edge, and usually must be stropped on another pasted strop, to calm the edge down and make comfortable.

For that reason, I rarely use diamond on razors, works great on tools and knives, where I apply on leather glued to wood or directly to wood, MDF. But most flat smooth wood will work.

CBN is a much better paste, but with either Diamonds or CBN you have to look at the concentration and suspension of the abrasive, how much and how evenly distributed they are, the higher, the more expensive and better they will perform. And with Diamonds, there are various Diamonds, and are not all, alike and will performance will vary.

A liquid spray is the easiest to apply. I like and have used Ken Schwartz’ CBN with great results, for years. He sells CBN grits down to .10um equivalent of 160,000 grit and BTW, sells Poly Diamond spray down to 0.005um .(5 nanometers, 3.2 million grit)….

Though I find few razors can handle a .10um edge, as well as skin. It will produce a very keen edge, capable of exfoliating skin aggressively. You won’t feel it but will leave you bloody.

For both Diamond and CBN I use a hanging, paper strop, made from Pellon interfacing, a paper fabric use to line and stiffen clothing, (collars and shirt plackets). It is very strong, cuts easily, inexpensive, readily available and can take repeated wetting and drying cycles.

CBN and Diamond perform much better when the substrate is misted damp, with distilled water. Sub-micron abrasives are smaller than minerals found in most tap water, so I eliminate that by using distilled water. Misting makes the substrate even softer.

.50um, 30K grit will cut as aggressively as Diamond, capable of refreshing an edge, but leave a much more comfortable edge. .25um, 60k equivalent or .125um, 120k equivalent will leave a very keen and comfortable edge, depending on your skin type.

You can, and I have stropped on CBN daily, with no ill effects to a razor edge, except that it will remove all visible stria from a bevel and leave a very keen and buttery smooth edge. No need for leather…

The only problem is air born contamination, after about 6 months to a year the strop becomes contaminated from dust. The dust being larger than the abrasives.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

The only problem is air born contamination, after about 6 months to a year the strop becomes contaminated from dust. The dust being larger than the abrasives.

The potential for dust contamination is why I am leery of porous substrates like balsa and felt. At least with balsa, you can lap the surface and start over.

Ken Schwartz, who promotes the ultra-ultra fine diamond and CBN sprays says natural substrates (wood, linen, cotton, leather) contain natural abrasives that are often larger than the abrasives you apply to that substrate. He recommends nano cloth backed by glass for these sub micron abrasives. Nano cloth is woven from a very fine synthetic microfiber. Being a synthetic, it has little or no abrasive properties of its own. He claims that the nano cloth works better for sprays than for pastes. I have not tried the nano cloth as I have not tried the sprays yet.

Paper cost literally, penny’s, I just cut a new strop. Nano-cloth is just… cloth.