Diamond Paste Polishing

Hi, and thanks for getting some diamond pastes from me.

I thought I should write up a quick user guide for them to give you an idea of how to use them to their full effect. Note this will be mainly in terms of their use in opal polishing. For a video demonstration, feel free to check out any of my carving videos on the YouTube channel “Roys Rocks”.

This diamond paste comes in multiple grits from 3000 to 100000. This is more than enough to reach a mirror polish on just about any material softer than diamond.

I hope this very brief guide helps, but if not, there are many videos on my channel using these exact diamond pastes, so check them out and ask me any questions you have.

Thanks and have fun carving,

Roy (YouTube: Roys Rock)

Stay Safe

I recommend, at minimum, safety glasses, lubricating with water, and wearing a P2/N95-grade mask, even when cutting wet (P100 is best). Vision and breathing are very important to us humans, so look after your eyes and lungs. These diamond pastes have some strong surfactants added to be able to disperse in water rather than oil and so have a high pH much like a strong soap. This can cause irritation if you are sensitive to soaps so wear a glove or avoid touching the paste (dopping the stone).

Also, for carving, I always recommend using a flex-shaft attachment on your rotary tool, since water and electricity do not mix, and you don’t want to give yourself a zap.

You can also download the SDS HERE

How do you use diamond paste?

Apply the paste directly to your felt/leather/wood polishing tool, be it a carving burr, flat lap or wheel, rather than on the stone.

Start polishing slowly to evenly spread the paste over the surface, and once spread, you may push harder, but keep a slow, steady speed. Especially when using felt or leather, you want to avoid generating excessive heat through friction.

You can use a little water to hydrate the diamond paste, but do not wash it away, or you'll lose your diamonds.

Once you have ground across the entire surface, wash it thoroughly with water and move on to the next grit. AVOID any cross-contamination of your finer grits by changing the burr/pad, but store them for reuse (they get better over time).

Once complete, simply wash your polished item with water and store all your burrs/pads and polishing pastes separately for next use.

Of course, I have covered this in many videos, so check out the YouTube channel “Roys Rocks”.

For the best results, use a dense, fine felted material like these rather than a coarse, thick-fibre felt.

Maintenance

When you are done, allow the burr to dry if you got it wet (though the last grinding against the surface should have dried it).

Store all materials separately based on grit to avoid contamination.

You can reuse everything many times with no maintenance other than reapplying paste as needed and finally disposing of the burr/pad once wo