Diamond Paste

[Jerry Thompson]

I am going to venture into using diamond paste to thouch up my plane irons and chisles. I have 6, 3, & 1 micron tubes and plan on using MDF. The directions say to use 2-3 drops. After I put this amount on the MDF do I use the item to be honed to spread it around? Can one sharpen the item by pushing it or does it have to be pulled? I will use a differnt piect of MDF for each grit. My planes and chisles ae all very sharp but I would like to thouch them up now and again when using them.
Thank you.

[Casey Gooding]

I tend to sharpen with diamond paste the same way I do with waterstones. Just be careful not to dig into the MDF. I also like to keep some light oil on hand to lube the paste as it starts to dry out.

[Barry Vabeach]

Jerry, I had very little luck with the mdf ( the paste seems to sink too deep into it and I doubt you will see any results from a few drops - you will want to use something about the size of a pea, maybe larger ) You will want to pull not push, otherwise you may end up shaving the mdf. Another option is to go from side te side, like the harelson side skate jig. I sometimes smear the paste with my finger, and other times use the tool. Be sure to have plenty of rags around to remove all the paste from the tool before you go to the next grit. Barry

[Jerry Thompson]

I used the paste on my Hock blade for my # 5. The stuff if FAST! I can shave the end grain off of a 1/2 pine board with no tear out.
The fact of the matter is, I held the iron up to the sun light to check it out, a fly flew through the shadow and had a wing cut off. Thats one you can take to the bank.

[Eddie Darby]

Just a quick note to say make sure you wipe well inbetween grits, so don't get cross contamination.

[Clifford Mescher]

I made a bunch of blocks and labled them for different grits. Clifford