Best diamond stropping compound?

N

NeedItCheaper

Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
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I've only every used Venev diamond stropping compound lip balm, the; 3 micron, 2 micron, 1 micron, and 0.5 micron. They've been the next level for me in attaining a sharper knife. Wondering if there's any noticeable difference in diamond compounds by brand. Brands that I'm thinking of are; DMT, Jende, Gunny Juice, etc... Anyone try more than one brand and can list the pros and cons of them?
 
last night while i was toasting 2 slices of toast i tried to cut a big tomato with a chef knife. even with force, the knife wouldn't cut! so i decided to sharpen it as fast as possible. RRS edge-following movements, burr created, same procedure for either blade side. then slow deburring on the same RRS. some edge cleaning with toilet paper and done . knife cuts the tomato like butter, passes the 90degree test. the toast was still warm. was a yummy warm tomato sandwich.

oops wrong thread sorry
 
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NeedItCheaper said:
I've only every used Venev diamond stropping compound lip balm, the; 3 micron, 2 micron, 1 micron, and 0.5 micron. They've been the next level for me in attaining a sharper knife. Wondering if there's any noticeable difference in diamond compounds by brand. Brands that I'm thinking of are; DMT, Jende, Gunny Juice, etc... Anyone try more than one brand and can list the pros and cons of them?
Click to expand...
I've tried a number of different brands: Gunny, Chef Knives to Go diamond spray, KME's CBN, Tech Diamond Tools, Venev, Gritomatic, etc. I can't say I love one more than another. Ultimately it comes down to the grit rating and your touch/angle.

I did find that, with the Venev chapsticks, it helps to hit the strop with a heat gun after applying, to melt the wax and spread the diamonds around.
 
I've been using the CKTG/HandAmerican 1 micron diamond spray on a Richmond 3"x11" balsa strop for around 6 years now.
For me, it makes such a noticeable difference, whether maintaining an edge, or, after sharpening, that I never really felt compelled to try anything different.
When I empty the spray bottle, which is about 1/3 from being empty, I might give one of the newer products a try.
 
3D Anvil said:
I did find that, with the Venev chapsticks, it helps to hit the strop with a heat gun after applying, to melt the wax and spread the diamonds around.
Click to expand...
For those that don't a heat gun, if you leave the strop on a window ledge for about 15 minutes and let the sun coming through the window warm it up, this also helps. You can even use this method out camping or hunting, just leave the strop on the dashboard of your car and let the sun warm it up.
 
I liked Jende, but Gunny Juice seemed like a real step up. It's good enough that I've stopped looking for alternatives. That's if you want a spray. If not, the Tech Diamond Tools stuff is very good and reasonably priced.
 
NeedItCheaper said:
I've only every used Venev diamond stropping compound lip balm, the; 3 micron, 2 micron, 1 micron, and 0.5 micron. They've been the next level for me in attaining a sharper knife. Wondering if there's any noticeable difference in diamond compounds by brand. Brands that I'm thinking of are; DMT, Jende, Gunny Juice, etc... Anyone try more than one brand and can list the pros and cons of them?
Click to expand...
I've used Venev, Jende, Gunny Juice, Poltava, Tech diamond tools, unknown Chinese brands and many other diamond / cbn pastes.

My favorites are Venev and Gunny Juice. Tech diamond is decent, Jende is kind of ..meh, but good enough too. The worst by far was the Chinese pastes I bought on AliExpress.

Like it is mentioned above by 3D Anvil 3D Anvil - you really should use heat after you've applied the Venev paste - or any wax based paste for best results. The wax needs to fully melt and disappear from the surface, leaving the diamond compound nicely embedded in the strop. Just a plain old hair dryer will suffice.
 
777 Edge said:
I've used Venev, Jende, Gunny Juice, Poltava, Tech diamond tools, unknown Chinese brands and many other diamond / cbn pastes.

My favorites are Venev and Gunny Juice. Tech diamond is decent, Jende is kind of ..meh, but good enough too. The worst by far was the Chinese pastes I bought on AliExpress.

Like it is mentioned above by 3D Anvil 3D Anvil - you really should use heat after you've applied the Venev paste - or any wax based paste for best results. The wax needs to fully melt and disappear from the surface, leaving the diamond compound nicely embedded in the strop. Just a plain old hair dryer will suffice.
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I've been using a hair dryer since day one. Thanks for the reviews all. I'll probably try Gunny Juice at some point.
 
kreisler said:
last night while i was toasting 2 slices of toast i tried to cut a big tomato with a chef knife. even with force, the knife wouldn't cut! so i decided to sharpen it as fast as possible. RRS edge-following movements, burr created, same procedure for either blade side. then slow deburring on the same RRS. some edge cleaning with toilet paper and done . knife cuts the tomato like butter, passes the 90degree test. the toast was still warm. was a yummy warm tomato sandwich.

oops wrong thread sorry
Click to expand...

The movie Hannibal was loosely based on this guy...
 
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I followed this guide as my first attempt at using Tech diamond pastes. I used unprepared leather to make the strops and they worked really well. The strop with the 2K paste even sharpening a dull knife.
I am busy preparing some much better strops following the Stave Kramer method and then will try those with the diamond paste to see if the results are better. I recently got hold of some product from Gunny and will put that to the test soon as well.
 
I haven’t tried Gunny Juice, but I have tried Ken Schwartz’s emulsions and I’ll say don’t sleep on Chefknivestogo Diamond pastes. Priced very reasonably at $6 a syringe.

Pick up some balsa strops from him too.

He also has diamond sprays for $17 for 2oz. I wouldn’t hesitate to try them at that price. Gunny Juice appears to be $24 for 0.33 ounces (10ml). (Of course there’s more to it than just raw weight, like concentration of the diamonds, but I’m sure of which one is the better value.)

I bought some of those cheap pastes of EBay that were junk. Don’t remember the brand but each grit had a different color. Don’t bother.
 
I've used Bark River CBN emulsion, Tech Diamond, Venev and "no name" off Amazon. I would rank them (first to last):

Venev
Tech Diamond
Bark River CBN
"no name"

Venev is AWESOME. IMO, the results / quality is better than the others and the price is unbeatable. Also, Gritomatic is a great vendor and active on this site. I get the paste in the tube, and it is easy to apply and useable after :30 sec under a hair dryer.

Tech Diamond and Bark River are similar in terms of results / quality. They are not bad, but not nearly as good as Venev.

"No name" works, but I will not buy again.
 
Best is probably subjective, but i have been using various professional grade diamond pastes from this company for many years with very good results.
On my Paper Wheels, on hand strops made from various materials, and also on the leather deburring wheel of my Tormek T7.

Consumables - Micro Star 2000 Inc.: Metallurgical Technology Supplier of Materialographic Sample Preparation Equipment and Consumables

Micro Star 2000 Inc. established in 1986, became of of Canada's leading Supplier of Metallographic Instruments and Consumables for Metallurgical Sample preparation
microstar2000.com
 
kwackster said:
Best is probably subjective, but i have been using various professional grade diamond pastes from this company for many years with very good results.
On my Paper Wheels, on hand strops made from various materials, and also on the leather deburring wheel of my Tormek T7.

Consumables - Micro Star 2000 Inc.: Metallurgical Technology Supplier of Materialographic Sample Preparation Equipment and Consumables

Micro Star 2000 Inc. established in 1986, became of of Canada's leading Supplier of Metallographic Instruments and Consumables for Metallurgical Sample preparation
microstar2000.com
Click to expand...
How are their prices?
 
3D Anvil 3D Anvil :

Iirc a 20 gram syringe containing 15 micron diamond paste would have been around 50 Euro, and that was several years ago.
I didn't pay that btw, as back then i traded almost 900 Euro's worth of these 20 gram syringes in various micron sizes for one new Hogue EX01 folder with a Dutch guy who worked in the electronics industry (polishing silicon wafers)
Definitely one of my better deals :)
 
I have used poltava CBN paste which I assume to be similar to Venev diamond compound both being oil based paste with high abrasive ration. I also used Jende CBN emulsion and Gunny Juice and some cheaper diamond spray. There is considerable performance difference between each of those. If I rank them from best to worst;

Gunny Juice
Jende CBN emulsion
Poltava CBN paste
No name cheap diamond spray.
 
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