Which diamond paste or spray for my leather strop?

S

SkinnyElectrician

Joined
Oct 29, 2023
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I’d like to buy diamond paste or spray for my new leather strop. What micron size should I use, and should I use paste or spray? Your recommendations are appreciated.

I sharpen with a KME diamond system, and the very fine stone is 1500 grit.
 
I've got some 2.5 micron Burrfection paste and it's a pain to apply and it makes stropping "sticky". It has a lot of drag. Used on leather.
I've got some 1 micron emulsion that is ok. Used on leather.
I've got some .5 micron DMT spray. It sprays all over the place. Used on leather.
My stropping results with these products are ok, nothing spectacular. Might be time to make a change.....

I'm switching Gunny Juice 3, 1 and .25 micron emusion on Basswood with 3M micropore tape. Gonna see how that works. Might try some Jende nanocloth strops if the basswood doesn't perform. Scott Gunn, the gunny juice creator is very knowledgeable about all aspects of sharpening expecially stropping. Thought I'd give his products a try. Checkout some of his videos on the tube as they are worth a watch.
 
I use dmt 3 micron paste, it also is sticky with lots of drag. Will get my edge "brought back" from further than finer sizes will. Then I use .5 micron dmt spray. Smooth and easy to slide knife across, it puts the final easy shaving/pushcutting edge on. I use both on balsawood paddles I made. Just what I bought when I got started, before I knew about options from folks on here. I'm sure there's better options out there than dmt, but it does work. Even on 15v. But I also load my strops up pretty darn good, gotta make sure there's enough diamonds and I overdue most things I do.
 
I would follow a 1500 grit stone with about a 5 micron strop.

My favorite strops these days are Jende Nanocloth charged with their diamond sprays. The sprays last quite a while, and I think they are no more pricey than some of the pastes. The Nanocloth strops are firm, flat, and they do a beautiful, even job. I've used the sprays on flattened balsa wood, and the performance is excellent as well.
 
Khromo said:
The Nanocloth strops are firm, flat, and they do a beautiful, even job.
Click to expand...
How do you clean them when they get clogged?
I never tried them but I saw some mixed reviews. I made a jeans strop a while ago; it worked but after some use it was simpler to just make a new one.
 
Quick report back on the Gunny Juice
tacos3 said:
I've got some 2.5 micron Burrfection paste and it's a pain to apply and it makes stropping "sticky". It has a lot of drag. Used on leather.
I've got some 1 micron emulsion that is ok. Used on leather.
I've got some .5 micron DMT spray. It sprays all over the place. Used on leather.
My stropping results with these products are ok, nothing spectacular. Might be time to make a change.....

I'm switching Gunny Juice 3, 1 and .25 micron emusion on Basswood with 3M micropore tape. Gonna see how that works. Might try some Jende nanocloth strops if the basswood doesn't perform. Scott Gunn, the gunny juice creator is very knowledgeable about all aspects of sharpening expecially stropping. Thought I'd give his products a try. Checkout some of his videos on the tube as they are worth a watch.
Click to expand...
Quick report back on the Gunny Juice and Basswood with 3M micropore tape. I've been getting a much better edge, with improvements of 30-40 on my Bess tester. The polish on the edges is far better than I got using leather strops and various compound and pastes/Emulsions. And,yes, I use the super slow method on the Bess and don't just ram it home for those low scores. I had my Shiro F95 and PM2 testing at 135 before and at 100 after. This is a process that I will switch over to. The Gunny Juice isn't cheap but the Basswood and 3M tape is very cost effective. It's a winner in my view.
 
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