Diamond stone set recommendations?

T

tommytman

Joined
Aug 12, 2019
Messages
303
I’ve been thinking of moving onto freehand and I’m looking at the DMT 6 inch double sided kit that comes with two stones that are double sided. Are there any better options?
 
DMT double sided are the bees knees. Buy em and dont look back.

Use a bit of dawn type dish soap while sharpening and dont press hard. You'll have em near forever.
 
Those are great. I used mine, the red/fine (600 grit)/green ultra fine (1200 grit) for 20+ years then gave them to my BIL when I got the 10" DMT in the same grit. Recently added a DuoSharp Extra Coarse (220 grit) DMT, which makes steels like S110V a lot faster.
 
Yes, the DMTs are nice. They cut well, but you do need to use some care with them. Press too hard and you'll strip the diamonds right off of the nickel backer. Ask me how I know. :)

I'm kind of a broken record on some things. Here's my broken record speech #23 on sharpening really dull blades: You need a very coarse stone to sharpen really dull stuff. Your neighbor's kitchen knife that's been used for 10 years and has never been sharpened? It's going to need a really coarse stone to do the job.

The DMT Coarse stone isn't very coarse. It's about 320 grit (mesh) and cuts well. It's actually a really nice stone to end with because it leaves a rather toothy edge and you can get it really nice and deburred fairly easily. But it doesn't grind very fast. I think you need at *least* the XC (220 mesh). But I don't have that stone. I *do* have the XXC (120 mesh). The XXC is a beast. Eats steel like crazy. It's my favorite DMT stone. Unfortunately the XXC is only available in 8x3 and is "expensive". It's worth the money in my opinion, but you may not agree.

Brian.
 
I got set up with Venev 240/400 and 800/1200 1"x6" dual sided stones. I'll be going back for the 80/150 stone soon. The 240 isn't quite aggressive enough for reprofiling, and I don't often want the mirror polish the 1200 achieves, but these 3 dual stones for right around $100 is a heck of a deal.
 
tommytman said:
So 1x6 Venev is better than 2x6 DMT?
Click to expand...

I can't say if they are better, but I recommend them. I guess it depends on your goals. Really well done, toothy, working edges, or mirror polishing? Venev has different grits that achieve different results. Gritomatic (supporting vendor here) has really good information in their site about the different media and binders used.

Yesterday evening I took a K390 Spyderco PM2 in need of a full sharpening from a mediocre edge to a hair whittling edge in less than 30 minutes. I started with the 240 stone and matched the factory bevel, and had a full burr on both sides, then removed it. Next was on the 400 grit side, also to a full burr then removing it. At this point it was easily shaving arm hair. I put a very slight micro bevel on the 1200 grit stone, then stropped it, at which point it would whittle hair. All of this was 20, maybe 30 minutes at most for a 3.5" blade. I say it was a full sharpening (matching factory bevel), but not full reprofile (setting a new bevel).

Spyderco runs their K390 at 63 RHc. It sharpens about like M4 in my limited experience. I consider this pretty good work in 20-30 minutes.

I am not sure the cost of the ones you are looking at, but if you are going to go bigger in size, I think longer (8"?) might be a better move. Might be easier to do larger knives than on a 6" stone?
 
bgentry said:
I *do* have the XXC (120 mesh). The XXC is a beast. Eats steel like crazy.
Click to expand...

I like 120 grit for sharpening, and have the XXC, but I was disappointed with this grit, whether diamond or SiC, for quickly hogging off metal. Fortunately, I eventually found out about the 60 grit Baryonyx Manticore, which is just what I needed to quickly remove metal freehand. I can use more pressure with it than diamonds, too.

tommytman, I agree with TRfromMT that 8" stones are the way to go unless you are just going to be sharpening folders and small knives. I'd also suggest you decide whether you want coarse or smooth edges before you buy fine stones you may not need.
 
Last edited:
The DMT set in 6 inch is about 100$ if I also buy a stone holder. The 8 inch start to get expensive. I wanted a set of diamond stones to use free hand for less than 100$
The venev stone kit 6x1 looks good. Is the 100% coverage of diamond the way to go? And what holder can I use for these for freehand?
 
Last edited:
tommytman said:
The DMT set in 6 inch is about 100$ if I also buy a stone holder. The 8 inch start to get expensive. I wanted a set of diamond stones to use free hand for less than 100$
The venev stone kit 6x1 looks good. Is the 100% coverage of diamond the way to go? And what holder can I use for these for freehand?
Click to expand...

There’s a reason why many people who prefer free hand go for 8inch, and why they’re the traditional size for bench stones. Just be careful you don’t end up costing yourself money in the process of trying to save some
 
DMT extra coarse and fine
Ultrasharp combination plate
Atoma 140 and 600

DMT Duosharps are a good product.

Atoma have great feedback for a diamond plate

Ultrasharp and Sharpal are good products for the $

Emphasize the trailing edge motion on you diamond stones just as you would with wet/dry or a softer waterstone and they'll hold up a lot longer. Use a light leading pass to finish and when deburring.

My only gripe with any of them has been relatively recent purchases of DMT Diasharps. XXC died within months without being used to lapp other stones. The EF is about as coarse as my Fine Duosharp. My XC and EEF have held up well.
 
tommytman said:
I’ve been thinking of moving onto freehand and I’m looking at the DMT 6 inch double sided kit that comes with two stones that are double sided. Are there any better options?
Click to expand...

I started using Atoma plates at the start of this year and have also purchased a DMT DiaSharp set. Once they're broken in, I like both brands, but at first they're a little rough.

For everyday sharpening, I prefer larger plates, especially with larger knives. Smaller plates are certainly less expensive but with each you can use a stone holder and elevate them to whats comfortable under a good light.

Having multiple different grits is very useful.

I have:

Atoma: 400, 600, 1200
DMT DiaSharp: 220, 600, 1200, 4000, 8000

There are pros and cons with each of these but I'm happy with each brand.

DMT by far has a larger selection of grits, plate sizes, and price options. I've only used their DiaSharp models which are the metal plates, I've not tried their plastic ones. For light to medium-light pressure on 600 grit and above, I prefer DMT. They do have noticeable inconsistencies at first which smooth out over time. Using these plates to lap ceramic stones can ruin the plate. DMT makes their DiaFlat plates for that purpose.

Atoma are as much lapping plates as they are sharpening plates. These things can conquer a Spyderco Ultra Fine which is no easy task and they make quick work out of Shapton Glass. Meanwhile for sharpening, they're great as long as you can hold your edge bevel flat. The diamonds are placed in little tiny pods on the plate which helps move swarf out of the way. If you can not hold your edge angle perfectly flat, these plates will scream at you and you'll feel it. Think of it as training wheels if necessary. If you can hold the bevel flat, Atoma plates feel smooth. For medium to medium-high pressure, I like Atoma better because the swarf is less of an issue and the increased pressure helps maintain angle. Like DMT, these are better once broken in but overall Atoma seem to be a little more consistent than DMT in terms of grit size.

DMT DiaSharp plates are less fussy with regard to pressure, speed, and angle of approach but the Atomas more clearly tell you when you're doing it wrong. Atoma plates also have more usefulness because they can be used to flatten and lap ceramic stones.

I cleaned up my Atoma 600 and DMT 600 for the below photo.

PSX_20200824_113850.jpg

I have been tempted by the various bonded, vitrified, and other newer diamond products. Highly credible people claim they are better in some ways.

With the various strop options I have available, so far I have not found the need to experiment with other diamond plates/stones. Maybe I dont know what I'm missing?
 
Craig James said:
There’s a reason why many people who prefer free hand go for 8inch, and why they’re the traditional size for bench stones. Just be careful you don’t end up costing yourself money in the process of trying to save some
Click to expand...

Yes. That's why I keep asking here for help. If I were to buy only two diamond stones at 8 inch length what grits would I be best suited by? I'm not trying to get mirror edges here by hand....at least not yet
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top