Diamond paste?

[Jim DeLaney]

I'd like to try using diamond paste for sharpening/blade-back-flattening, but am a bit confused as to what grits/meshes to use. I see references to 360 mesh up to 50,000 mesh on some lapidary sites, and a couple of others that are measured in microns (µ).

So, the question is: What grits/meshes do I want/need?

Secondly, is there a comparison chart for mesh-to-micron sizes?

TIA

[Tom LaRussa]

So, the question is: What grits/meshes do I want/need?
Personally, I use a progression of 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, then 2500 grit sand papers. 2500 grit is roughly equivalent to either 0.5 or 0.3 microns, I can't remember which.

If I were going to use diamond, I would definitely not buy any kind of compound -- you're paying a lot for the fact that somebody has mixed diamond power with grease. Instead buy diamond powder and mix it with a little petroleum jelly.

Use just a tiny bit at a time. Diamond cuts steel like a chainsaw cutting soft wood, so there is no need to load it on. You'll need a seperate grinding plate for each grit of diamond, because the diamond powder will embed itself in literally anything.

This web site has the best prices I've seen on diamond powder: http://www.amlap.com/alw/facetsupp.html



Secondly, is there a comparison chart for mesh-to-micron sizes?

Yep, in fact there are several. Unfortunately I can't find the best one right now, so this will have to do:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00006_sb2.asp

You might also want to read this info about grits and tolerances:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00006.asp

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=shop&file=articles_244.shtml


Finally, here is a warning: MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT INHALE ANY DIAMOND POWDER -- IT CAN SEVERELY DAMAGE YOUR LUNGS.

[Dick Parr]

Jim see if this site will tell ya what you want to know.

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/cgi-bin/56DB119C/mac/template.mac/loadHtmlPage?htmlPage=grit_grading.htm