DMT Diafold Problems

S

sodak

Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
6,186
I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this. On some of my DMT green/beige (FWEEE) diafolds, the EE side has recessed plastic dots, causing horrible sharpening. Basically, the knife edge catches each of the dot edges, destroying all my work. Talk about frustrating.

I had this problem with their green/white (fine/ceramic) models that they discontinued.

Maybe it's time to move over to a continuous surface diamond stone.
 
Are these Dia-Folds new, or are they ones you've been using for a good while? I'm wondering if some of the 'catching' of the edge on the inside radius of the dots is due to some of the roughness/coarseness seen on new diamond hones (pre-break-in, in essence). In other words, a few particles of diamond abrasive (and/or nickel plating) standing too proud above the surrounding plane of the honing surface. In the few times I've noticed issues like that, I've used a fine/ef ceramic hone to lightly burnish the surface of the diamond hone, and knock those 'high points' off.

To some extent, I've always been aware of the slight recess of the dots in the surface of these (and assumed it's at least partly by design, to collect swarf), but I don't know that it's ever degraded results, so long as pressure was maintained very light (sort of like maintaining lighter pressure on rod-type sharpeners).

(I have three Dia-Folds, including the EF/EEF, and an 8" Duo-Sharp in C/F)


David
 
Brand new, and the first pass on the stone was truly cringe-inducing. I have a different one that I've used a lot, and it's smooth as silk. This really shocked me...
 
Sounds like a return to DMT might be in order, if all the new ones have the same issue. If it was just an isolated spot on an individual hone, I might be inclined to burnish it out. At least the warranty should cover these, I'd hope.


David
 
I've 3 of those 1x4 EE (beige) sticks. Only 1 is super smooth, the other 2 are lousy, kept catching and ruined my edge. I'd tried a few times break them in but still catching or strip diamond almost completely from a few dots/holes and still catching. I think the metal & hard plastic are bad. Well, my 8x3 EE is about perfect so I decided to toss the 2 bad sticks and not whine too loudly.
 
Interesting, I have the EXACT same issue with the ee beige on my diafold. I actually posted about it last month when I got it. Yeah, sounds like I'm running the edge across a tiny washboard...clack clack clack clack. It's hard to believe that something making that much noise and vibration can be a functional way to finish an edge. In all fairness, I will say that I have finished several knives (lightly) on the ee. I'm not sure that they get any sharper, but it doesn't seem to be degrading the edge any. I kind of avoid that side just because I find the noise so disconcerting. I just can't see how that could be normal. I dunno.
 
I have never had any problems like this with the ones I have.

But it doesn't sound like this is a good thing, so returning or exchanging might be the way to go.
 
I have a DMT Fine 4 inch stone with the dimpled finish. I haven't had any issues with the edge catching the divots, but they sure do leave an odd scratch pattern. I get polka dots on my edges, they can be a pain to remove too.
 
Yep, this is typical for the interrupted surface DMTs. They work great on flat edges and surfaces but when you have a knife with a belly a continuous surface stone is far superior.
 
yoda4561 said:
Yep, this is typical for the interrupted surface DMTs. They work great on flat edges and surfaces but when you have a knife with a belly a continuous surface stone is far superior.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, but it seems weird that the op and I had the exact same problem, and only with the eef side.
 
Probably because of how thin the diamond layer is on the eef, I've noticed my coarse DMT isn't as bad as the EF regarding the edge catching.
 
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