Diamond spray on Balsa

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I tried the Blue Diamond spray from Dave (1 micron) on Balsa and I gotta say the results blew my mind.

I only did about 4 very soft passes on each side on already pretty sharp knives that for example aced the edge tester gadget..

Still, it took the edges to another level: really made the edges just about perfect, an interesting combination of toothy for things like tomatoes and polished for everything else.

Does anyone know of pictures that show what is happening at the microscopic level with 1 micron diamond? My 40X magnifier isn't nearly good enough to detect what is going on.

I also wonder if the effect of the diamond's (small in this case) yet irregular shaped crystals approximates the magic everyone talks about with high grit natural stones, you get very very tiny microserrations combined with what visibly looks like a perfectly polished edge...
 
I just picked up 5/16" thick balsa tonight. I already have quality 6, 3, 1, and .5 micron sprays. I'd been using them with 1/8" F1 felt...but honestly I can't see any difference with them. Doesn't matter if I lift the spine, or lay it lower, or put it dead in the middle...there's just NO difference. I'm hoping the balsa will give me some tactile feedback that will help me hit the edge better...and that the diamond will just be the icing on the cake :).
 
Well, i had to spray it a few times (let dry between them) to saturate the balsa. One nice thing about Dave's Blue Diamond stuff is you can see when it is loaded as the Balsa develops a very slight blueish tinge. Also Balsa is a little less giving than felt so no convexing where you don't want it??

I confess however, I have no data to back up my conjectures, my magnifier simply isn't good enough to see what is going on.

Which leads me to another ?, does anyone know if any of the higher powered USB microscopes that sell for about $100 on Amazon worth a damn? But I think Marko may have some data on 1 micron sprays and their effect on edges??
 
Nice...my 6, 3, and 1 are orange, yellow, and white respectively. The .5 is a greyish color. I haven't made the strops yet...but I'm hoping I can see when they're loaded up well enough.
 
Hmm. Well. I'm impressed.

20130920_004926.jpg


I haven't cut myself like that testing an edge in a long while lol. I really wasn't expecting that major of a jump in one step. Very nice!
 
I sprayed 0.75 CBN on balsa once only to have it soak straight in. How much do we need to apply before it starts to sit on the surface and be useful?
 
I like my balsa, and it's what I've been using for stropping for two years. I use CBN.

I get a nice tactile feedback when it comes to sharpening angles. If I'm at too acute an angle (where the edge isn't touching the strop), the balsa feels like it's clinging to the bevel but the resistance is still smooth. If I'm too large of an angle where the only thing touching is the edge, I hear a high pitched woody scrape (like you would with a whetstone) and the tactile feedback changes.
 
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