DMT or Atoma for sharpening

C

cap'njake

Joined
Aug 15, 2016
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I am wanting to get a full set of diamond stones and am having trouble finding what most people prefer for sharpening DMT or atoma. All I can find is people talking about lapping waterstones. All I care about is some stones that will quickly sharpen really hard wear resistant steels that have a lot of carbide in them. On this I can find some info on the DMT but not the atoma and nothing comparing the two.

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I have mostly DMT Aligner stones and just 2 larger DMT stones and they work very very well for me.

If I were serious about getting into freehanding, I'd get Atoma.

And the very first one would be the Atoma 140.
 
I actually already am into freehand. I have norton waterstones and a couple of bricks. I just want to be able to sharpen everything and waterstones just don't cut well on wear resistant stuff and high carbide steels.

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cap'njake said:
I actually already am into freehand. I have norton waterstones and a couple of bricks. I just want to be able to sharpen everything and waterstones just don't cut well on wear resistant stuff and high carbide steels.

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You might want to have a look at this thread Sharpening high hardness and wear resistant steels.
The tldr version is that the SPS II Japanese waterstone can even sharpen a ceramic knife!
 
I bought the Atoma 140, 600 and 1200 for the very reason you stated: Freehand sharpening super steels.

The 140 is total overkill for every day use. I still use it to flatten water stones but it doesn't see much other use. Maybe if I had to redo a broken tip I'd break it out. It's just beastly.

If I had to do it all over again I would have just gotten the 1200 and 400 grit Atoma plates and called it a day. I'm actually quite please with my 600 and 1200 combo but I'm confident that I could have made the jump from 400 straight to 1200 and not notice much difference.

Buy with confidence. Now that I've had my Atomas for a while I would say they are worth it.




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Sounds like I need to get some atomas. I sharpen a lot ( like 5-15 knives a week) people bring me chipped and otherwise mangled blades all the time it sounds like the 140 is right up my ally.

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Honestly bro its no 1x30 belt grinder. You can buy 2 of those for the same price as a 140 Atoma. Those diamond loss there aggressiveness fast and are very expensive. I just use mine on waterstones.
 
I would go DMT.

I like my Atoma 140 but I'm on my second one in just over 1 year and its cutting speed is currently around half of what it was new, it has about the same cutting power as my 8 year old DMT XXC.

I still like the Atoma 140 a bit more than the DMT XXC though, it has a little better feel and cuts really clean edges. The XXC can be a bit "rough" on the edge and a little tougher to keep clean lines. However, for actual sharpening I think the DMT easily win. The DMT Coarse for example is capable of producing extremely sharp edges unlike any other stone in its grit range. It's one of my favorite for sharpening highly wear resistant steels or any time a long lasting edge is needed.
 
I prefer the Atomas, and I own the whole DMT Diasharp line as well as the Atoma line. Especially the 1200 stone. The Atoma "feels" way better than the DMT, to me. Feedback better.

What's cool about the Atomas....if you ever wear one out (the way I sharpen that will never happen), they make a replacement diamond pad that is cheaper than buying a new stone. You can, if you like, buy the 140 and 400 stones, buy the 600 and 1200 replacement pads, and put them on the bottom of the 140 and 400, for dual sided diamond hones.
 
Jason B. said:
I would go DMT.

I like my Atoma 140 but I'm on my second one in just over 1 year and its cutting speed is currently around half of what it was new, it has about the same cutting power as my 8 year old DMT XXC.
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Any guess as why that is?
 
Jason B. said:
I would go DMT.

I like my Atoma 140 but I'm on my second one in just over 1 year and its cutting speed is currently around half of what it was new, it has about the same cutting power as my 8 year old DMT XXC.

I still like the Atoma 140 a bit more than the DMT XXC though, it has a little better feel and cuts really clean edges. The XXC can be a bit "rough" on the edge and a little tougher to keep clean lines. However, for actual sharpening I think the DMT easily win. The DMT Coarse for example is capable of producing extremely sharp edges unlike any other stone in its grit range. It's one of my favorite for sharpening highly wear resistant steels or any time a long lasting edge is needed.
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Thanks Jason I was actually hoping to hear your opinion. It sounds like DMT last much longer. Do you have any opinions on the extra extra fine DMT?

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Rey HRH said:
Any guess as why that is?
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Not real sure, it does seem like the DMT's have a stronger bond to the plate though. If anything, my DMT should be destroyed after the abuse it has seen, it's done the work of 10 Atoma plates in its many years of use.
 
Man that's a bummer to hear. I really like the Atoma. At least it'll take me a few years to get to that point compared to the sheer volume that your doing Jason.


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cap'njake said:
Thanks Jason I was actually hoping to hear your opinion. It sounds like DMT last much longer. Do you have any opinions on the extra extra fine DMT?

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At one time I though high grit stones had great value in sharpening, today, I don't go much past the Coarse DMT. Sometimes I will go to the fine or EF if I'm really feeling special but I know they only offer curb appeal and no real performance value.

When sharpening steels with high wear resistance you don't want to refine the bevel, wear resistance greatly favors coarse edges. It's why I sharpen most high wear steels with a DMT Coarse then finish by stropping on balsa loaded with 1-3 micron diamond compound.
 
richwentfishing504 said:
Man that's a bummer to hear. I really like the Atoma. At least it'll take me a few years to get to that point compared to the sheer volume that your doing Jason.


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The Atoma plate are very good and are a much better option if lapping waterstones are of any concern. For most you could simply flip a coin because both brands are at the top and you will not be dissapointed by either. I do feel the DMT stones are better at sharpening while the Atoma are better at setting bevels and lapping stones.
 
Jason B. said:
At one time I though high grit stones had great value in sharpening, today, I don't go much past the Coarse DMT. Sometimes I will go to the fine or EF if I'm really feeling special but I know they only offer curb appeal and no real performance value.

When sharpening steels with high wear resistance you don't want to refine the bevel, wear resistance greatly favors coarse edges. It's why I sharpen most high wear steels with a DMT Coarse then finish by stropping on balsa loaded with 1-3 micron diamond compound.
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That blows my mind a little. I always assumed that a higher polish meant less resistance and drag in a cut thus less dulling. Huh... shows how much I still have to learn thanks a ton[emoji3]

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you can look at eze-lap and vidbrusok.ru also. They both make good diamond hones for reasonable prices
 
bodog said:
you can look at eze-lap and vidbrusok.ru also. They both make good diamond hones for reasonable prices
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Thanks I will look into them. How long lasting are the eze-lap ones. I use the little finger ones on a plastic stick at my work all the time and they don't seem to last but a couple weeks. So do the bigger ones last longer?

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cap'njake said:
Thanks I will look into them. How long lasting are the eze-lap ones. I use the little finger ones on a plastic stick at my work all the time and they don't seem to last but a couple weeks. So do the bigger ones last longer?
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Something ain't right about that. I have a red handle one (fine) that's been used a lot in the past 10+ years. It still cuts the same as it did after initially being broke in.
I have two 6x2's that are 20+ years old that have sharpened hundreds of knives. They still cut like new also.
 
cap'njake said:
Thanks I will look into them. How long lasting are the eze-lap ones. I use the little finger ones on a plastic stick at my work all the time and they don't seem to last but a couple weeks. So do the bigger ones last longer?

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If you use too much pressure no diamond hone will last that long. eze-lap hones are pretty good and shouldn't be wearing down much at all. let the diamonds do the cutting.
 
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