Anybody use the DMT DuoSharp System?

R

Rhodies

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Jul 27, 2017
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What do you progress to if you want to go finer since DMT sadly stops at 1200. Method you choose to get there. I only own the f/ef Stone, debating whether to get the c/xc stone. Not sure how often I would actually use the c/xc stone as practically never let my knives get dull or really, really dull.
 
In the DMT offerings, the only options would be the Medium Extra Fine and Extra Extra Fine in the Dia-Sharp line. Or you could go to something like the Spyderco ceramic bench stones.
 
I use the XC/C for reprofiling. Works great. Then DMT F to refine the edge.

For most steels I’ll finish on Spyderco ceramic. For really high vanadium steels I will just microbevel with the ceramic.

I have tried the MXF DMT as a finishing stone for kitchen knives. It is an odd, interesting beast all on its own. Bizarre stone.
 
Past the DMT EF, you're getting into polishing territory. For that, assuming your steels are high-vanadium and warrant a diamond progression, DMT's stropping pastes work well on very firm or hard wood/mdf strops. It's a fairly smooth transition from the EF hone (9-micron) to DMT's 3-micron Dia-Paste, if polishing is the goal. Just make sure all the scratches coarser than EF (Fine, Coarse, XC, etc) are cleaned up first. DMT also has 6-micron paste, but I've seldom felt the need for it in between the EF hone and the 3-micron paste.

I have DMT's EEF (3-micron) hone, in the Dia-Fold format, but haven't used it much. As above, if I'm looking for much polish past the EF, I've just used the 3-micron paste instead (on basswood), and that's suited me fine.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Past the DMT EF, you're getting into polishing territory. For that, assuming your steels are high-vanadium and warrant a diamond progression, DMT's stropping pastes work well on very firm or hard wood/mdf strops. It's a fairly smooth transition from the EF hone (9-micron) to DMT's 3-micron Dia-Paste, if polishing is the goal. Just make sure all the scratches coarser than EF (Fine, Coarse, XC, etc) are cleaned up first. DMT also has 6-micron paste, but I've seldom felt the need for it in between the EF hone and the 3-micron paste.

I have DMT's EEF (3-micron) hone, in the Dia-Fold format, but haven't used it much. As above, if I'm looking for much polish past the EF, I've just used the 3-micron paste instead (on basswood), and that's suited me fine.
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Thanks for your diamond paste recommendations. I do have .5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0 paste on hand and diamond paste do work wonders, that I know.
 
Yes, I used the almost full range of DMT Diasharp hones, including the EEF hone. Not cheap, but acquired one-by-one over many years.
 
I use 2 duosharp plates in XC/C and F/EF, as well as other DMT single-grit diasharp plates including the C and the EEF. Checked out the MEF and talked to 3 of the pro sharpeners here on BF about it a while back, but consensus was nobody saw the necessity or value it would add. What I do is use the DMT up thru EF, and after that, either (1) stop and consider the knife done--refining it with very light edge leading strokes, and a super light single edge-trailing strop per side to finish, or (2) use a basswood strop with either 4 micron, or 1 micron cbn compound, or (3) use the EEF to refine in lieu of stropping.

For a basic multipurpose diamond sharpening kit, most people could easily get by with 2 duosharp plates I have, add a strop with some paste in 1 or 2 common grits, and good to go. The EEF is definitely not required to get great edges, and I'd say given what you can do on the EF alone, or EF plus a strop, that should easily suffice for most of your knives. That said, if you don't mind spending around $80 and if you enjoy sharpening and refining your edges, in my use the EEF does add some nice-to-have value for a few tasks.

Tasks I find EEF useful for:
  • As a quick, final polishing step instead of stropping. An example of where I do this is on a few of my kitchen knives where I do a lot of pressure cutting. I'll put a nice coarse or medium toothy edge (say DMT C, or F), then jump straight to the EEF and take a few light edge leading strokes to polish the tooth, which aids with pressure cutting. I found that using the EEF in this type of case was actually faster and more efficient than using stropping to achieve the same outcome.
  • As a way to add a refined micro-bevel. I believe HeavyHanded HeavyHanded sometimes uses this approach with his DMT EEF, perhaps he'll comment here. You put on a coarse or medium grit edge, then raise your angle very slightly (say 2 to 3 dps), and make a few light passes on the EEF to create a micro. This type of 'blended' edge can actually be super effective, giving you some of the attributes of both a coarse/toothy edge, AND a polished/refined edge. For someone who wants to use this approach on their edges, the EEF (or any similar high-grit stone) is going to be the most efficient way to create a micro-bevel.
  • As a way to maintain knives without stropping. Stropping is still the consensus maintenance strategy among most sharpeners that I'm aware of. But some folks think that to maintain a knife efficiently, you really need to do some straight-up edge leading strokes on a real abrasive (and optionally followed by stropping, but only as a final refinement step just as in regular sharpening). In order to do this type of stone-based maintenance, you of course want a higher-grit stone that won't take off too much metal. The EEF can be a good candidate for this role. This is an interesting idea and I haven't used it extensively enough to recommend it or to say that it's 'better' than maintaining with a strop-only approach. But there are folks using this approach, and it does seem plausible.
Last thing: coarse stones. I guess this wasn't the main focus of the OP, but since you mentioned, I would still consider adding a coarse plate in your setup (doesn't have to be the DMT XC/C, but that is an excellent all-round option). Even if you don't let your knives get really dull, having a good coarse stone is really the foundation of your sharpening. Not only for tasks you do less often--like reprofiling or thinning a grind behind the edge--but even for ordinary every day sharpening. A lot of folks have found that for most of their user knives and typical utility tasks, a toothy edge is super effective, and for that you'll want to make your primary sharpening be on the coarse stone. Even for edges that you go on to refine and polish at higher grits, usually you'll want to start with a coarser grit to get best results.
 
maximus83 said:
I use 2 duosharp plates in XC/C and F/EF, as well as other DMT single-grit diasharp plates including the C and the EEF. Checked out the MEF and talked to 3 of the pro sharpeners here on BF about it a while back, but consensus was nobody saw the necessity or value it would add. What I do is use the DMT up thru EF, and after that, either (1) stop and consider the knife done--refining it with very light edge leading strokes, and a super light single edge-trailing strop per side to finish, or (2) use a basswood strop with either 4 micron, or 1 micron cbn compound, or (3) use the EEF to refine in lieu of stropping.

For a basic multipurpose diamond sharpening kit, most people could easily get by with 2 duosharp plates I have, add a strop with some paste in 1 or 2 common grits, and good to go. The EEF is definitely not required to get great edges, and I'd say given what you can do on the EF alone, or EF plus a strop, that should easily suffice for most of your knives. That said, if you don't mind spending around $80 and if you enjoy sharpening and refining your edges, in my use the EEF does add some nice-to-have value for a few tasks.

Tasks I find EEF useful for:
  • As a quick, final polishing step instead of stropping. An example of where I do this is on a few of my kitchen knives where I do a lot of pressure cutting. I'll put a nice coarse or medium toothy edge (say DMT C, or F), then jump straight to the EEF and take a few light edge leading strokes to polish the tooth, which aids with pressure cutting. I found that using the EEF in this type of case was actually faster and more efficient than using stropping to achieve the same outcome.
  • As a way to add a refined micro-bevel. I believe HeavyHanded HeavyHanded sometimes uses this approach with his DMT EEF, perhaps he'll comment here. You put on a coarse or medium grit edge, then raise your angle very slightly (say 2 to 3 dps), and make a few light passes on the EEF to create a micro. This type of 'blended' edge can actually be super effective, giving you some of the attributes of both a coarse/toothy edge, AND a polished/refined edge. For someone who wants to use this approach on their edges, the EEF (or any similar high-grit stone) is going to be the most efficient way to create a micro-bevel.
  • As a way to maintain knives without stropping. Stropping is still the consensus maintenance strategy among most sharpeners that I'm aware of. But some folks think that to maintain a knife efficiently, you really need to do some straight-up edge leading strokes on a real abrasive (and optionally followed by stropping, but only as a final refinement step just as in regular sharpening). In order to do this type of stone-based maintenance, you of course want a higher-grit stone that won't take off too much metal. The EEF can be a good candidate for this role. This is an interesting idea and I haven't used it extensively enough to recommend it or to say that it's 'better' than maintaining with a strop-only approach. But there are folks using this approach, and it does seem plausible.
Last thing: coarse stones. I guess this wasn't the main focus of the OP, but since you mentioned, I would still consider adding a coarse plate in your setup (doesn't have to be the DMT XC/C, but that is an excellent all-round option). Even if you don't let your knives get really dull, having a good coarse stone is really the foundation of your sharpening. Not only for tasks you do less often--like reprofiling or thinning a grind behind the edge--but even for ordinary every day sharpening. A lot of folks have found that for most of their user knives and typical utility tasks, a toothy edge is super effective, and for that you'll want to make your primary sharpening be on the coarse stone. Even for edges that you go on to refine and polish at higher grits, usually you'll want to start with a coarser grit to get best results.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your write up. The price dropped $4 on the DuoSharp Course/Extra Course Stone over on Amazon so I bought it.
 
maximus83 said:
Tasks I find EEF useful for:
  • As a quick, final polishing step instead of stropping. An example of where I do this is on a few of my kitchen knives where I do a lot of pressure cutting. I'll put a nice coarse or medium toothy edge (say DMT C, or F), then jump straight to the EEF and take a few light edge leading strokes to polish the tooth, which aids with pressure cutting. I found that using the EEF in this type of case was actually faster and more efficient than using stropping to achieve the same outcome.
  • As a way to add a refined micro-bevel. I believe HeavyHanded HeavyHanded sometimes uses this approach with his DMT EEF, perhaps he'll comment here. You put on a coarse or medium grit edge, then raise your angle very slightly (say 2 to 3 dps), and make a few light passes on the EEF to create a micro. This type of 'blended' edge can actually be super effective, giving you some of the attributes of both a coarse/toothy edge, AND a polished/refined edge. For someone who wants to use this approach on their edges, the EEF (or any similar high-grit stone) is going to be the most efficient way to create a micro-bevel.
  • As a way to maintain knives without stropping. Stropping is still the consensus maintenance strategy among most sharpeners that I'm aware of. But some folks think that to maintain a knife efficiently, you really need to do some straight-up edge leading strokes on a real abrasive (and optionally followed by stropping, but only as a final refinement step just as in regular sharpening). In order to do this type of stone-based maintenance, you of course want a higher-grit stone that won't take off too much metal. The EEF can be a good candidate for this role. This is an interesting idea and I haven't used it extensively enough to recommend it or to say that it's 'better' than maintaining with a strop-only approach. But there are folks using this approach, and it does seem plausible.
Click to expand...

IMHO the most useful plates to own are XC and EF. All the rest are nice to have. Yes the EEF can be used to do larger area polish such as on a scandi or chisel, but it really is best used to create microbevel. I normally jump at least one full progression, so C to EF, fine to EEF and often will go right from the XC to EF.

Even on high vanadium steel you don't need diamond at the coarse/XC level but they are nice to have for ease of use. Above the EF a piece of 6 micron diamond lapping film is a good item to have around, or some form of diamond or cbn stropping compound.
 
Just received today, my DMT Course/Extra Course DuoSharp Stone and I must say, it gives me a bit more confidence in handling my Super Steels as long as I do my part. I haven't used them yet but perhaps this weekend.
 
Did your coarse / extra-coarse come with the base? When I bought mine (quite a few) years ago it came with the plastic stone holder. It's useful since it's all plastic, so no fear of rust and it's easy to rinse or hose off if you get it messy with water stones or run your diamond plates wet.
 
Blues said:
Did your coarse / extra-coarse come with the base? When I bought mine (quite a few) years ago it came with the plastic stone holder. It's useful since it's all plastic, so no fear of rust and it's easy to rinse or hose off if you get it messy with water stones or run your diamond plates wet.
Click to expand...

Yes, I already had the base when I purchased the fine/extra fine stone a few years ago. You are right, it does make for a nice platform that also gives you enough knuckle clearance.
 
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