#Chromium oxide paste plus#

Sharper than the chromium oxide, but also harsher. 25 micron diamond spray, and find it yields a great shave. I have no affiliation with Hand American. Hand American sells pure chromium oxide and it’s much better than the veritas. If you’re interested, I did a better write-up on the Veritas bar here: It’s the difference between a super smooth shave and a tougher one. I’m a straight razor user, and the difference between pure chromium oxide and the veritas bar is huge.

#Chromium oxide paste plus#

I contacted the manufacturer of the compound, Formax, and discovered that the bar is only 20-30% chromium oxide, 60-70% aluminum oxide, plus a few other ingredients. I did some research on the Lee Valley Veritas honing compound, and it claims that it is 0.5 micron Chromium oxide. I really need to send him a sample of some good diamond grit. While it will still leave a misty finish instead of a mirror finish, it will cut quite smoothly. I think he would find that the diamond was, despite being a finer grit, still quite a bit faster. If the experiment were repeated using 0.0 to 0.25 micron diamond paste, he would get a very different outcome. I would rather he compared best to best for stropping purposes. The advantage that diamond has is long wear, speed and the ability to sharpen the harder and more durable modern steels easily. The advantage of green rouge is that it is fairly inexpensive, consistent and for the size of grit, reasonably fast. A smooth finish at a particular grit size will be better than a rough finish. This is going to leave a difference in finish. Diamonds cut, they do less pushing and scraping. Grit size for grit size, I suspect that diamond will make for a rougher finish. More of the grit will be at about 0.5.ĭespite my complaints, I think his observations are going to be the truth. Additionally the physical properties of top grade grit in green rouge tends to control grit size.

The 0 to 1.0 will be cheaper as well, so there are good odds that this comparison is literally the best of one class of grit vs the worst of another. The 0 to 1.0 will give a maximum grit size of 1.0 and the0.4 to 0.6 will give a maximum grit size of 0.6 nearly half the size. It could also be graded from 0.4 to 0.6 microns. For example it could be graded from 0.0 to 1.0 microns. When they say 0.5 micron, that could mean it was graded a bunch of different ways. There are a couple of different crystal structures that will give varied results, and the grading of size is always an issue. The diamond grit however is the poor variable here. Several are quite inferior for sharpening.

I have a small collection of green rouge. The problem is that he used Veritas green rouge (0.5 microns) and compared it to 0.5 micron diamond paste that he got off of eBay a few years back. I consider him a mentor, even though we have never met.įrom my own experimentation with diamond grit for sharpening, I find I have to agree with his results, but not the experiment itself. I have copied more than one of his designs. His reviews are superb, his craftsmanship, breadth of knowledge and innovation set him with the very best. He is one of a small handful of influences that brought me into tool making. He shares his methods and encourages others. It is great to see interest in diamond spreading, even though this review does not come out positive for diamond grit.įor some background, Derek Cohen is in my opinion one of the great woodworkers on the net. Derek Cohen has done a C omparison of Diamond Grit vs Green Rouge.