Diamond Paste Concentration?

[Slash McCoy]

Would it be best to rub it in by hand?

Or is there a pic showing a better method. I get the idea of using the least amount needed, just want to keep from mucking it up.

I use my fingertips initially, then the heel of my hand. It might be wasteful, I don't know, but I think it probably gives a pretty uniform distribution.

 

[WildWest74]

I use my fingertips initially, then the heel of my hand. It might be wasteful, I don't know, but I think it probably gives a pretty uniform distribution.

Awesome, thanks. I have my balsa cut. Tomorrow I will gluing balsa to one tile, 120 and 240 grit sandpaper to another. By this time tomorrow I will be laying on the paste.

Slash, I cannot thank you enough for your help, and that goes for everyone else here as well. I am hoping to keep my new razor up and running for a long time.

UPDATE: As of 9pm my new strop and lapping tile are drying. Balsa and leather on opposite sides of one tile, 120 and 240 grit sandpaper on the other. Two more hours drying time to handle them, so tomorrow I will be lapping the balsa and applying the paste.

 

[stamasd]

Resurrecting this thread with a question. I just made a few balsa strops - only found very thin balsa that was appropriately wide (3" wide, 1/16" thick) so I glued it to thicker wooden slats of the same dimension for safe handling.
I don't have diamond paste, I have diamond powder. Is glycerine still the best way to dilute the diamond powder for spreading on the balsa? I plan to make it at a low concentration, 5-10% max. The diamond powder seller recommended water but I don't think that would work well at low concentrations for spreading over wood. Any advantages of using mineral oil instead of glycerine?

 

[Slash McCoy]

I suggest that you do NOT use wood. It flexes, bends, warps, swells/shrinks, all the bad things. You want to set up your balsa on a dimensionally stable substrate, THEN lap it flat, THEN apply diamond. Sure, you can use glycerine. You can use nearly anything. Or just sprinkle a couple of matchheads worth of powder over the balsa and rub it in.