Identify and use hundreds of woods
Articles Forums Gallery Marketplace Videos

WoodCentral Forums

Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

Need a tree taken down or milled?

Diamond Paste Question

Posts

Diamond Paste Question

#1

Diamond Paste Question

Jerry Nicholson

>I see posts about oil based and water based diamond paste and about using cast iron, hard maple, and MDF with diamond past for flattening and polishing plane irons but I haven't seen anything about using a Formica surface. It would appear to me that Formica would imbed the diamonds as well as cast iron and have a much longer useable life than MDF or maple, particularly when used with water based paste. Besides that, I have plenty of MDF and Formica scraps. I would like to hear any comments or experience on this.

Jerry

Re: Diamond Paste Question

#2

Re: Diamond Paste Question

Wendell @ Murphy, TX

>I tried formica as my second attempt at a substrate for diamond paste, right after I tried plain MDF. It worked well for the coarser grits but I think acrylic blocks work better. I seem to get more "bite" with the acrylic substrate. For the finer grits, to me it seemed like the surface of the formica was rougher than the diamond paste so I couldn't get a good polish on the edge. Sort of like trying to use 1000 grit sandpaper as substrate for paste that is equivalent to 2000 grit.

Wendell

Re: Diamond Paste Question

#3

Re: corian?

paul womack

>

Re: Diamond Paste Question

#4

Re: Diamond Paste Question

Tony Zaffuto

>For a cheap method, try MDF with some DuPont "Perfectit III" autobody rubbing compound. Get it at your local auto parts dealer, comes in a quart container as a liquid. Spread a bit of it on the MDF and hone away.

Re: Diamond Paste Question

#5

Re: corian?

Jerry Nicholson

>After I posted my question I thought about corian. I have some left over from a bathroom remodel that I did over 20 years ago - back when I had a friendly plumbing supply dealer that arranged for me to buy corian from the local distributor. I got some diamond paste today from a lapidary supply that is going out of business so I am ready to experiment with the stuff.

Jerry

Re: Diamond Paste Question

#6

Yes corian?

Alan Bierbaum, near Denver, CO

>Corian does work - at least on the courser grits. I have not tried the real fine grits as I wanted the diamond to flatten planes and blade backs, to be followed by sandpaper. Let us know how you make out.

Alan

👍 This page answered my questions

Your vote helps other woodworkers quickly find the answers and techniques that actually work in the shop.