I just read an interesting article in “STRAZORS” regarding particle size rating and even diamond particle is rated on an average. That was a little too deep in the weeds for me. I’ve been using .1u CBN for daily maintenance for a few weeks an so far haven’t detected any noticeable difference.Particle shape (and maybe friability/breakdown) does make a difference though, right? (otherwise why would it cut "faster" at all). In my experience diamonds cut deeper than chrome or iron in a similar particle size, and leave deeper scratches.
Having said that, I suspect some of the cheaper CroX and IroX paste sold is actually just diamonds in the appropriate particle size associated with that paste, so there might not always be much of a difference there.
Having said that, lol, and as you say ("Diamond is...likely with more accurate particle size.") this comes from a discussion of Dovo branded pastes from another forum "...the green's maximum particle size of steelcutter (is) about 6 microns. They're not the most exact mediums...".
I forgot to mention the Gold Dollars. I have a couple left but gave most away. Haven’t used on in a while though mainly because I prefer smaller and lighter blades. I just checked one under 60x and the edge looked good.Fair enough - I was particularly interested in your experience regarding micro chips because you are clearly maintaining your razors in this way consistently over a long period of time and it's working so well. I think you also have gold dollars don't you, which can be chippy.
Why I ask is because I've been alarmed by micro chips cropping up on my razors in the past. Once might have been caused by diamond paste, but I think that was because it was stropped on suede.
I only use the pasted balsa with stainless blades because I don't like the feel of the method edges on my other razors. The stainless doesn't seem to chip.
I wonder if the fact that the diamond is embedded in a perfectly flattened surface prevents chipping or whether the repeated stropping polishes out any chips.
If you ever do start checking them under 60x magnification then I would be very interested in what you find.