I noticed some difference in performance this time around. This time a very very light touch on the strop. I did just try again, taking the razor back to the 12,000 stone, then the serries of strops. Trying diamonds because of all the talk here and elsewhere about even further enhancement of the edge. I've been using chromium and iron oxides on leather and balsa bench strops for about 18 years and have been pleased. Big time.Ĭlick to expand.Jury is definitely still out on for me on diamonds. It's easy to kill or compromise an edge on a paddle charged with compounds, rounding the apex is quite easy to do, esp when there is too much compound on the substrate. Abrasives can deteriorate an edge fast, to the point where they need daily upkeep past normal stropping, which is something I strive to avoid. There is a finite amount of objective 'need' here that, once passed, becomes pointless and possibly problematic. Once a blade cuts effortlessly, and flush, it can not cut with less effort or 'more flush' via enhanced sharpness. I think I can make things ultimately sharper with diamond, but the law of diminishing returns looms heavily here. Chromox is better suited to a set up for that edge, for me anyway. But I'd rather finish with a high quality FeOx paste any day. There are better compounds out there, really. Personally, I am not a fan of diamond abrasives for finishing. I prefer to use abrasive compounds on blades honed to - under 12k, a perfect 5k edge is ideal for me. I have put blades on diamond charged leather for extended sessions and have found shave quality diminishes over the long haul. 1 is more of a preferential thing, I have found it can smooth things out a bit perhaps - but again, the required amount on the strop and lap counts are low. Whether or not the edge is actually better for someone, or not, depends on a lot of personal reasoning.įollowing up with. Note - I did not say the edge will be better. I prefer sprays, and I am talking about 5-6 spritzes, maybe. 25 diamond on a 6-8" x 3" leather paddle strop will increase felt sharpness significantly. ![]() Typically, with a well honed edge, about 10-12 passes on. Then give it a full proper diamond pasted balsa strop progression following the instructions and shave with it again. Then shave with the SR off the whetstones so that you can guarantee that it is truely shave-ready. Do not strop on a pasted leather or cloth strop. Go back and refinish the edge on your whetstones. I'm sure that you know all this already as you have now read the instructions. You didn't start with a truely shave-ready edge.The paste on your strop has been contaminated due to not properly cleaning the blade between use on different strops.Diamond paste is very aggressive and too much pressure can quickly tear up an edge. You are applying too much pressure as you strop. ![]() ![]() You are not holding the substrate in-hand. ![]() You need to wipe the paste off the strop with a clean cloth until no more appears on the cloth. But for grins and giggles lets just keep that on the table of possibilities, there are a few things that can deteriorate or not improve an edge in diamond pasted balsa stropping. I can't imagine I am an unwitting master of razor stropping and was so good at it with chromium and iron oxides that the diamond pastes could offer no further improvement to the quality of my edge. I wonder if my stropping technique itself needs adjustment, maybe I need a lighter touch with the diamonds? Or if I didn't use enough or maybe too much paste? More passes? I expected more and I'm not sure what I need to change to get more from this. Shave wasn't really any better than when I used an iron oxide balsa strop. Then a few light passes on a non pasted leather strop. I had to hone one of my gold dollars today so I thought that would be a good first. 75ml of paste, worked it in evenly across the surface and wiped off the excess with a clean cotton rag. For a 12"x3" piece of balsa I used about. I bought from Tech Diamond Tools, 5g syringe of 25% diamond in. I made new balsa strops today and decided to try diamond pastes since I've heard so much about them on here.
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