DMT Diamond Whetstone Sharpeners

[Confederate]

Thanks to those who left their comments regarding the blue Belgian stones. I'm now looking at the DMT sharpeners and like the small mini-whetstones. The question I have regarding them is, how long do they normally last? Some say they get better the longer one uses them and there are a few people who say they use them with water, though the stones can be used dry.

Now, where's the best place to buy them?

 

[Alberta Ed]

I've used mine for a decade or more and they still work perfectly.

 

[THG]

I think The Mastiff or Yab or someone said that they've had the same ones for 20 years or something, or I might just be hearing things.

I think they should last forever unless you grind with extreme pressure and knock out the diamonds.

You should get some; diamonds seriously eat metal for breakfast. I was surprised at what they did to my ZDP Endura; my XC (black) stone took my angle down a few degrees in about 5-10 minutes. And for sharpening today on my F (red) stone, it took about 15 minutes to get it really sharp again (although I did some overkill as usual).

Get them (the 6x2 stones); you won't be disappointed.

 

[neeman]

They are not stones.
They do not need pressure
Let the diamonds do the cutting
Pressure will wear out the diamonds

I have an Extra Fine for about 15 years and it works well.

I purchased the DMT Aligner jig with the 4", from Extra course to Extra fine.
It works extremely well. Very efficient
Rebeveling my Queen D2 is easy.

 

[THG]

They are not stones.

DMT still calls them "diamond whetstones," though.

I purchased the DMT Aligner jig with the 4", from Extra course to Extra fine.
It works extremely well. Very efficient
Rebeveling my Queen D2 is easy.

What do you do to keep the setting consistent? I find that one day I just finished profiling my knife, and the next day I go to sharpen it again, the angle is now ever so slightly lower, and it's as if I have to reprofile it again... I do have a "sweet spot" on all of my knives for consistency (I get the sides of the clamp to "click" into the first groove on the thumb ramp), but for some reason the angle always changes so slightly.

 

[neeman]

DMT still calls them "diamond whetstones," though.



What do you do to keep the setting consistent? I find that one day I just finished profiling my knife, and the next day I go to sharpen it again, the angle is now ever so slightly lower, and it's as if I have to reprofile it again... I do have a "sweet spot" on all of my knives for consistency (I get the sides of the clamp to "click" into the first groove on the thumb ramp), but for some reason the angle always changes so slightly.

Yes, the same for me.

Once I have rebeveled with the jig,
To touch up the blade, I hand sharpen in Extra Fine

 

[Native Justice]

Once you've sharpened and defined the bevel on both sides and have a good hair splitting edge, take a minute with a ceramic rod held at a 45 deg and gently, using only the weight of the knife, give the blade 3-4 alternating swipes with NO pressure, to put a micro bevel on the edge. All your doing is strengthening the edge. Maintain the edge after you use your knife with a leather or cardboard strop, with or without compound (whichever works for your blade steel with a minimum of effort). With time if the edge starts to dull, pull out the ceramic rod and do the same thing again, still 3-4 swipes alternating per side. You should be able to do this quite a few times before you have to take the blade to the sharpener again. When you do, use a Sharpy black magic marker so you know exactly where the hone is hitting the edge so you don't remove too much metal and use the finest hone you have which should be around 1200 grit. Then take it to the ceramic rod and do the same thing.

Good luck.

Be safe.

NJ