Diamond Paste, Honing Compounds, and Abrasive Powders

N

Nodestar

Joined
May 16, 2007
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16
An example of the Diamond Paste can be found here.
http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Diamond-Paste-P27C11.aspx

My Question is. After your sharpening and polishing are done with Stones and whatever you use. Are these tools useful? Can these Paste and Abrasives get your blade that much sharper and that much more polished. Or are they just a waste of time. A 1 Micro Paste sounds appealing. But does it really work? Or should I just stick with Stones and Buffers?
 
Whatever your lapping has to be dead flat for the polish to look nice with the diamond slurry.

For sharpening, I dont really know what a difference it would make from, say, an 8000 grit waterstone. That is as fine a grit as I've ever used to sharpen. Honing with the diamond slurry would probably be beneficial, but to what degree, I dont know. You would have to take it in many steps to work your way up to the diamond. 1 micron is equal to 14,000 grit. 1/2 micron is equal to 60,000 grit. So with either of those, you're talking alot of time sharpening.

I'd give it a try.

Alex
 
When I facet stones I often polish then on a hard ceramic lap. I use 1/2 micron and 1/4 micron diamond compound to attain a nearly optically flat surface. However, On a knife blade, it would do little or no good to lap beyond 14,000 grit (1 micron). The edge will be so narrow that it will form micro-chips upon cutting, and look just like an 8000 grit edge (or worse) almost immediately.

To see how to get more from your polishing without going to the extremes of diamond paste, sharpen a blade your normal way, ending with your finest grit (lets say using a 400,1000,4000,and 8000 waterstone). Take a 20 power loupe (or better, a scope) and examine the edge and the surface next to the edge. Make a note of the look. Now go back and resharpen the same blade,doing it exactly the same, but spending twice as long per grit. Look at the edge again. You will usually see that it looks much smoother and sharper. The longer you spend on each grit, the more you remove the last grits marks. Just like sanding the blade from 50 to 800 grit, EVERY previous scratch must be removed for a perfect finish. Japanese sword polishers get up to $100 per inch to repolish katana. They spend as much time per grit as it takes. The results are a proven thing.
Stacy
 
Hi Nodestar. I could be wrong (happens quite often) but I think the primary use for that type of diamond paste is in polishing (injection molds for example), lapping (whether it be tight tolerance holes, machine ways or laboratory specimens etc.) and maybe sharpening gravers. Man I hate to say its overkill. Someone will surely sing the virtues of using it to sharpen their knives ;)

Just for comparison sake I personally use diamond paste with a felt stick and also a diprofil to polish steels that are a real b**ch (S30V) to bring to mirror. I get very good results using it. I'm using 8 micron (3000 mesh) which is classified as "mirror finishing" diamond compound. Also 4 micron (8000 mesh), classified as a "super mirror finish" diamond compound. The link you referenced listed 1, 3 , & 6 micron. 1 micron, compared to how the paste I use is graded is waaaaay fine. :eek: Maybe for a cutting competition sharpening or something real serious...... otherwise I would say " overkill " ;) :D
 
So Diamond paste should only be used for extreme Mirror finishing and not so much sharpening. Thnx for the info guys.
 
Shapton makes water stones up to 30000. I've never tried them, but I'm sure your results would be better then using a paste.
 
Water stones dish too quickly, the advantage of paste is some people put it on paper stuck to glass. This gives you a very flat surface that won't dish out, and the give of the single sheet of paper is pretty much negligible.
 
Polishing an edge on diamond and glass is fine it the edge is a microtome blade. It is virtually useless for any edge that is not totally straight and flat (like a knife edge). On surfaces like knife edges, a leather strop charged with diamond, or any good rouge ( I like yellow rouge) will get the edge mirror bright and razor sharp. Many think the surface left by diamond is a bit less shiny. I think it is hard to beat water stones (if used right) and then going to a 3"X12" strop charged with rouge. Mount the strop to a rigid and flat surface, like MDF.
Stacy
 
I just invested in a couple Shapton waterstones. These are awesome. Well worth the price. They are much harder than other brands so they don't dish out nearly as fast. I bought 1000, 5000, and 8000 grit stones. I can go from the 1000 to the 8000 in less than 15 minutes and achieve a wicked sharp edge that can shave my facial hair. These stones cut extremely fast. I have yet to spend a long time on each grit. I bet that would have some insane results.

If your in the market for some stones, throw down the $400 or so dollars and buy Shapton. Also get a lapping plate. Japan Woodworker has all of these items.

Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions about the Shapton stones.

Alex
 
No clue, at all. I've made myself some sharpening gadgets using glass epoxied to 3/8 plywood, then coated with PSA. I stick on wetdry paper and go to town. No angle guide yet, but I'll get something rigged up. I go from 150 (putting a scandi grind on) to 1500. My last knife shaved hairs after cutting a yolo county phonebook into 10 strips.....
 
koyote said:
No clue, at all. I've made myself some sharpening gadgets using glass epoxied to 3/8 plywood, then coated with PSA. I stick on wetdry paper and go to town. No angle guide yet, but I'll get something rigged up. I go from 150 (putting a scandi grind on) to 1500. My last knife shaved hairs after cutting a yolo county phonebook into 10 strips.....
Click to expand...


I like this way of doing it. What is PSA. I assume it is the sticky stuff you uses to bond the paper it such a way that it sticks well and you can still remove it. Where do you get this stuff and what names do I look for? Thanks
 
yeah, pressure sensitive adhesive. there's a handy spray I think texas knife suppky sells but mine is in a tube "3M Feathering Disc Adhesive Type II"
 
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