Used a Spyderco UF today

[Wid]

Tried it again tonight, used it with water only. I know I'm not used to using this stone but it sure does seem slow.

My nephew has some diamond spray, I'll have to try and borrow some.

[PapaFish]

It is a pretty slow stone, but it works very well. I have been meaning to find some diamond to try out on it, but haven't gotten around to it. I suppose any micro-abrasive would work... If I didn't think I would stain my carpeting and clothing, I would use some CrOx on it and see what happened. Maybe I can try some of my auto polish and report back what happens, it could be interesting.

[tomjr]

i always wondered about these since i first heard of them....

[chuckr9]

I bought one some time ago, but did not find it effective for me. I may get it back out aand try again, as my technique has improved a lot since last try.

[PapaFish]

I used some auto polish with mine, and it removed metal MUCH faster than it normally would have. I also used it with some other slurries to compare how well they worked. Now I will say that this is using the UF as a base, and I was even using the side that I lapped flat (which will not cut for anything on it's own). I tried these combos:
A good amount of metal polish, not mixed with anything or diluted
Slate slurry in water
Slate slurry in oil
Metal polish with thick soapy water
The straight metal polish worked very quickly, at least when compared to the UF alone, or really about any other stone I have (I am thinking about making a video, just because I couldn't believe it myself). I did use a quite a bit of it, but it didn't get cleaned off the stone until it was absolutely black, maybe 10 minutes later (started out blue). Although it was fast, it was kind of a mess, and tended to make the razor stick to the stone. The slate slurry worked, but not near as well. I got a pretty good amount of water slurry going, but it just didn't want to remove metal quite like the metal polish, and the metal got deposited into the stone. The mineral oil slurry stopped all cutting power, and effectively only cleaned the stone. Then I used metal polish in a thick, soapy formula, and only used a little polish. It worked well, but I wonder if it would have been more effective with more polish. I think I may play around with metal polish on the non-lapped side of the UF tomorrow, and see if I can finish setting the bevel on one of the razors I found at the antique mall. With that razor, I have only used metal polish on the UF. It's possible it won't work though, since toward the tip there is some chipping and a fair amount of metal that needs removed. If it winds up being set, only using the UF and polish, I will report back on how it shaves :).

[Wid]

Looking forward to your findings.

[professorchaos]

Be careful using metal polish - it will take gold wash off fast. Also, you should known that it polishes with chemicals as well as rather mild abrasives.

To conduct an experiment of my own, I have one bottle each of 1 and .25 micron diamond spray on the way. I'm going to try using a progression of diamond slurries on one hone (UF) to take a known dull razor - no bevel - to shave ready.

[global_dev]

i'll try the same thing, I have 1 .5 and .25 diamond that i haven't really used.. what type of razor grind are we talking about?

[professorchaos]

I'm going to start with a Puma Special and a Wade & Butcher. Figure they are the opposite ends of the spectrum.

[global_dev]

i think i have henckels twin works 16 ~6/8 that i'll start with.. i think is a decent hollowed blade.. so 1u is big enough to set a bevel with? i thought it was near 8K grit...

[professorchaos]

Technically I think 1u is too small. But used on the very hard UF, it should cut very quickly. I've read that Robert Williams, who I believe to be the source of this technique, hones all his razors this way. We will see how well it works; the custom from Robert I had was very, very sharp.

[Kentos]

Hard diamond on hard ceramic? It might cut a lot faster than anticipated.

[oscar11]

Try spraying some .50 diamond on that UF.

I've been playing with this for a while.

[Wid]

I've been playing with this for a while.

And???

[PapaFish]

Henry, you don't have to worry about metal polish taking off my gold wash, since none of my razors have any :). I worked on a couple razors this weekend for a bit. The metal polish stinks like ammonia, so SWMBO has me work in the garage, so when I got too hot, I quit and went back in side. I think there may be something to the polish working chemically, since I took a razor that had a known set bevel (just set with a DMT 1.2K) and worked it with an application of metal polish until the bevel was good and uniformly shiny. The razor, however, would not catch/cut a hair, so I played with it on just the UF (no polish) for a quite a while, and still couldn't get it to pass a consistent HHT 1 along the blade. Under magnification (jeweler's loupe), it almost looks like there is a second (very small) bevel that needs worked out. The only way there would be a second bevel would be if something I had done on the UF had set a second bevel. I tried shaving with it anyhow, and it would shave, if only barely, and not real uniform along the length of the blade. From what I have found, the metal polish on the UF does indeed remove steel quickly (less than 10 minutes to remove all the DMT scratches), but it doesn't seem to be the best solution. I have to see if that guy I know has any diamond he would part with.

[professorchaos]

Hard diamond on hard ceramic? It might cut a lot faster than anticipated.

I hope so. While I do enjoy spending 45 minutes using my Maruichi Maruka Nakayama and a series of nagura, I don't often have the time. Be nice to have one stone and three diamond sprays for a slurries that'll do the job in 10 minutes.

Henry, you don't have to worry about metal polish taking off my gold wash, since none of my razors have any :). I worked on a couple razors this weekend for a bit. The metal polish stinks like ammonia, so SWMBO has me work in the garage, so when I got too hot, I quit and went back in side. I think there may be something to the polish working chemically, since I took a razor that had a known set bevel (just set with a DMT 1.2K) and worked it with an application of metal polish until the bevel was good and uniformly shiny. The razor, however, would not catch/cut a hair, so I played with it on just the UF (no polish) for a quite a while, and still couldn't get it to pass a consistent HHT 1 along the blade. Under magnification (jeweler's loupe), it almost looks like there is a second (very small) bevel that needs worked out. The only way there would be a second bevel would be if something I had done on the UF had set a second bevel. I tried shaving with it anyhow, and it would shave, if only barely, and not real uniform along the length of the blade. From what I have found, the metal polish on the UF does indeed remove steel quickly (less than 10 minutes to remove all the DMT scratches), but it doesn't seem to be the best solution. I have to see if that guy I know has any diamond he would part with.

Too hot in the garage?!? Where are you?

[PapaFish]

Northern Alabama. It was only 84 degrees outside, so I am more of just a weakling than anything. My requirement for "too hot" was that I started to bead up with sweat.

[professorchaos]

Starting to sweat is plenty hot enough. It's why I don't live in Louisiana anymore. Always too hot!

[PapaFish]

Well, I figured something out... I screwed up the edge on my one razor before I ever got it to the UF with metal polish... I had done something stupid (well in retrospect it was stupid, at the time it was the most logical thing in the world) and effectively gave 1/3 of the blade a second bevel. I am viewing this as a good thing, a learning experience, and an opportunity to re-test the metal polish on the UF. I had made a video, but didn't want to post it if the method wasn't capable of producing a usable (or at least serviceable) edge. I will report back when I have more information, but it may be a little while, we are planning a camping trip this weekend :).

[PapaFish]

I tried the polish again, and no dice! It screws up the edge on short order. Although it polishes up the bevel fast, it's not worth it, as it takes a long time to clean up the edge. Oh well... Henry, did you ever try the diamond? I am interested in the results!