Edge Pro Matrix resin bond diamond stones

The Matrix 4k stone is 5 micron diamond. I found 2.5 micron to be too big for the strop after the 4k stone, 1 micron seems to me about right to a tad small. I have some .1 micron diamond on a leather strop and it doesn't do much after the 1 micron and I am looking at it under a microscope. One big problem with this fine abrasive is contamination on the strop, it doesn't take much and you will find stray scratches on your bevel comming from the strop. Make sure to keep one plain clean leather strop in your kit. It may not be good for eye candy/polished bevels but it is always great at cleaning up the apex to get it just that little bit keener. IMO no need to pay for polycrystaline diamond, as it propbably won't break down on a strop anyway and the monocrystaline won't stay on the strop long enough to dull. The powder is about 10 times the cost of monocrystaline.

I don't think the EP tapes will do anything to Maxamet, I know alox stones don't do squat.

If you get EP polish tape blanks get the hard anodized ones, the extra cost is well worth it. Disclaimer- I don't make anything on the anodizing, just love the performance of HARD anodizing.
 
And the complete set, (minus the 2300 I already own), will be traveling east later today.

Thanks, David, Cody and Ben. My wallet feels lighter already! :p
 
The Matrix 4k stone is 5 micron diamond. I found 2.5 micron to be too big for the strop after the 4k stone, 1 micron seems to me about right to a tad small. I have some .1 micron diamond on a leather strop and it doesn't do much after the 1 micron and I am looking at it under a microscope. One big problem with this fine abrasive is contamination on the strop, it doesn't take much and you will find stray scratches on your bevel comming from the strop. Make sure to keep one plain clean leather strop in your kit. It may not be good for eye candy/polished bevels but it is always great at cleaning up the apex to get it just that little bit keener. IMO no need to pay for polycrystaline diamond, as it propbably won't break down on a strop anyway and the monocrystaline won't stay on the strop long enough to dull. The powder is about 10 times the cost of monocrystaline.

I don't think the EP tapes will do anything to Maxamet, I know alox stones don't do squat.

If you get EP polish tape blanks get the hard anodized ones, the extra cost is well worth it. Disclaimer- I don't make anything on the anodizing, just love the performance of HARD anodizing.

Thank you for the information on the stone, would you list that information here or tell me where I can find it for the rest of the stones? Grit ratings can vary widely from manufacturer to manufacturer and while the micron size of the abrasive doesn't tell you the whole truth of a stone it does help to coming to a idea of how a stone will perform or compare to others.
 
Thank you for the information on the stone, would you list that information here or tell me where I can find it for the rest of the stones? Grit ratings can vary widely from manufacturer to manufacturer and while the micron size of the abrasive doesn't tell you the whole truth of a stone it does help to coming to a idea of how a stone will perform or compare to others.

From the opening post in the thread:

The grits in the kit will be 80-160, 250-80, 600-35, 1100-17, 2300-8, 4000-5, and 6500-4 mesh-micron. They are a .062" resin bond diamond matrix with a .188" thick aluminum back, for a total thickness of .25". The backs are flat within .001" total deviation and the resin surface is flat within about .0003" as molded. The exact thickness of the finished stone can vary by around .004" for the finer stones, and up to .015" for the 80. The larger the grit the more it may vary because diamond crystals can get between the aluminum back and the mold when molding them, just the nature of the process. The diamond is very high quality monocrystaline that is processed here in the US. I have been buying from the same supplier for about 15 years now. I mix about as much diamond into the resin as possible, more just increases the wear rate of the stones without making them any more aggressive.

The 80 grit diamond crystals are around .0062" in size and the 250 are around .0031" for reference.
 
Thanks Blues, didn't see that part. Appreciate it.

My pleasure. We gotcha covered...

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I updated that first page to include the 80 grit stone and correct some wrong information. I will try to keep all the pertinent information on that page so it is complete in one spot. I sure wish we all just used micron rating when talking about grit size, it would make a lot more sense.
 
Quick question, David...Cody mentioned that they dress the 80 before shipping them out...the others, I take it, (250 through 4000), shouldn't require any dressing before being put to use?

Getting pretty psyched since my set is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.
 
EP dresses all the Matrix stones before shipping them so they are ready to go. Remember light pressure, only edge trailing strokes once you reach the apex, keep them wet while in use, and about 10-15 strokes per 3" of blade length after the first stone. Can't wait to hear what you think of them!
 
EP dresses all the Matrix stones before shipping them so they are ready to go. Remember light pressure, only edge trailing strokes once you reach the apex, keep them wet while in use, and about 10-15 strokes per 3" of blade length after the first stone. Can't wait to hear what you think of them!

Thanks, David. The stones have just arrived at Chez Blues and I have to say they are an elegant looking lot. :cool::thumbsup:
 
Spent a few minutes, (not enough time for a full sharpening), with the 650 on a small custom fixed blade of 3V, and a Benchmade folder of M2. The 650 removed steel quite nicely with virtually no downward pressure whatsoever. Impressive.

Used with slightly soapy water...cleaned right up under the tap with just a little friction supplied by my fingers.

Looking forward to having some time to set aside to get acquainted with these hones...both on the Edge Pro and freehand.
 
D Diemaker So in response to the other thread talking about sharpening carbon steel I decided I wanted to give you 80 grit stone some real material to remove and see how it handles it. This is my Ontario Raider bowie in 1095 and it’s going from 21 degrees per side, to 18 degrees per side and the thickness of the blade is .25. Normally I would use my belt grinder or Tormek T7 to re-profile an edge like this then switch to the Edge Pro aluminum oxide stones but I want to only use the Diamond Matrix stones on it.

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Obviously a lot of material to remove relative to a thinner and shorter folder blade. The stone will cut it easily. Will be interesting to see how long it takes you. I'm guessing 15-20 minutes.
 
Around 2 hours in now, I don’t use heavy pressure. Don’t expect this to go fast but I wanted to only use the Diamond matrix stones and Ive wanted to thin out this blade for awhile and never got around to it. I’m about a 1/16th of an inch from apexing the edge, I’ll continue this tomorrow after work.
 
Ocelot85 Ocelot85 I know you're removing a fair amount of metal but that seems really slow. I think I could rip back that bevel with the Edge Pro 120 stone in ten minutes and heavy pressure, though I know the gritty mud would make a mess of the finish, and I'd dish the stone in the process. Surely an 80 grit diamond stone shouldn't take hours to do this job?
 
Not all of that 2 hours was dedicated sharpening, there where breaks so you could probably take 45 minutes off of that. Also this knife has ALOT of material to remove, there was a lot of stone cleaning to do. If I wherent testing this stone set specifically I wouldn’t reprofile this by hand. I estimate the edge will be around .25 tall on the blade when it’s done, it was around .080-.125.
 
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A 1/4" bevel is wider than I thought it would end up, so I guess I would fail to meet my 10 minute claim. That thing really is thick behind the edge, isn't it?
 
I just measured it with my starrett calipers .080-.100 behind the edge, this is more like reprofiling an axe than a typical knife.

Also I double checked myself I was slightly off on my edge bevel height claim, checked it with calipers it’s more like .125 - .187 high though it’ll likely climb higher before it’s finished. Still this is a slow process by hand.
 
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