Quality of DMT Dia-Sharps?

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Ourorboros

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Jan 23, 2017
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I'm thinking of getting some 6" double sided DMT Dia-Sharps for the occasional super steel. Some reading of Amazon reviews shows mixed quality - meaningful nicks, uneven grit distribution, surface bumps, useless fine sides.
Does anybody have experience with recent runs of these? What were your experiences?
 
I have four of them in varying grits. I get great results with them and they are extremely portable.

Couple things to watch out for when using them...

Light pressure strokes will make them last longer. They still sharpen great with light pressure. They just don’t like to be pressed hard as they will wear out prematurely.

Second is be careful with your knife tip. It can catch in the hole if your technique is sloppy.

Overall though I recommend. Works great in my experiences.
 
Ourorboros said:
I'm thinking of getting some 6" double sided DMT Dia-Sharps for the occasional super steel. Some reading of Amazon reviews shows mixed quality - meaningful nicks, uneven grit distribution, surface bumps, useless fine sides.
Does anybody have experience with recent runs of these? What were your experiences?
Click to expand...
I bought some about 6 years ago. If you know how to apply a consistant even pressure, you will get great results with hand sharpening. Most complaints are digging in to deep, even medium light pressure is the key. Spray the Diamond stones with Simple Green soap..... to keep the stones clean, squirt them with the soap and wipe it out with t shirt or towels..
 
These are the DMT products I currently have:

6" Dia-Sharp dual-sided XC/Coarse
6" Dia-Sharp dual-sided F/EF
Dia-Sharp 'credit card' hones in each of C, F, EF grit
4" x 1" Dia-Sharp pocket hone in EF
Dia-Sharp Mini-Hones (paddle sharpeners) in C, F, EF
Diafold hones in C/F (dual-sided); I have two of these
Diafold hone in EF/EEF
Duo-Sharp 8" bench hone in C/F (dual-sided)
Mini-Sharp keychain sharpeners in C & F

In all of that, I've yet to see any issues affecting performance or durability. Sometimes, when the hones are new, they show some extra roughness or bumpiness that, with some use, goes away in time. It's part of the 'break-in' generally expected of them, and it occurs across virtually all brands of diamond hones. And then they just simply work and work, becoming very consistent and stable over time. And as mentioned previously, proper use of pressure and keeping them clean are key to making them work well and last a long time, as in decades.

That being said, DMT has a very good reputation for backing up what they sell. So, if there are issues, they're very good about making them right, either through repair or (more often) replacement under warranty.
 
Don't underestimate the common phrase "use light pressure."

I just used mine like I would any waterstone of the same grit and I ended up scraping bald patches into my EC. I never used particularly heavy pressure, just sort of normal hand-weight pressure.

I still really like the other ones because it is much more natural to have a light hand during that stage of sharpening, but when I am reprofiling an edge I can't be bothered to use a feather-light touch. The good thing is that you really only use the EC occasionally, so if it takes a long time for a reprofile, just be patient and remind yourself that you really only have to do that once per knife anyway

My plates are a little under a year old. Decent coverage, but the coating was weak at the edges. They round the edges off. These two factors made hitting the heel of the blade difficult in some cases
 
I have to say I tried the continous diamond stones first but just never came to like them and on a fellow BF recommendation I tried the polka dot pattern DMTs and for me they are much easier to get a feel for and work great. ...

as mention light pressure ... very light ... and I found some will come bearly feeling broken in and some need a bit more break in time ...
 
I have about 16 different DMT stones, from 8” dia-sharps to the tiny keychain sized ones. The only one I had an issue with was a continuous MXF stone, which has some odd larger bits of grit in it. I bought it knowing that this particular stone is like this, and it leaves an interesting finish with bits of aggression.

Otherwise, once they are broken in, they don’t seem to change after years of use, so long as you watch the pressure.
 
I have used a variety of DMTs for more than three decades (Diafolds, 6" and 8" bench stones, Dia-Sharp Ultra Coarse) and have no complaints. I clean mine with BreakFree CLP when they get loaded up. As others here noted, light pressure works best.
 
MolokaiRider said:
I have four of them in varying grits. I get great results with them and they are extremely portable.

Couple things to watch out for when using them...

Light pressure strokes will make them last longer. They still sharpen great with light pressure. They just don’t like to be pressed hard as they will wear out prematurely.

Second is be careful with your knife tip. It can catch in the hole if your technique is sloppy.

Overall though I recommend. Works great in my experiences.
Click to expand...
The diasharp stones don’t have holes.
I believe the stones you are referring to are the duosharp.
 
I only have one. Baught in 2012 and it does have a slight bump in it, but nothing that would effect edge quality.

Will grab a picture later to show how it looks as it is worn, but still cutts without issue. Coarse/Fine combination and the fine I find to give a nice toothy but polished combination.

Issues with Diamonds stone: they need time to break in. Sharpen a few cheap blades and it will smoothen out with regards to edge finishing
 
So the reported problems are more user error. Not uncommon with Amazon. Thanks for the help and advice.
 
Ourorboros said:
So the reported problems are more user error. Not uncommon with Amazon. Thanks for the help and advice.
Click to expand...

I was looking yesterday, at some of the posted Amazon reviews for these hones. I'd seen one complaining about the hone losing aggression very soon after use (I suspect clogging, especially when used dry with low-alloy stainless; it happens). The thing that bothered me the most though, was that this particular user mentioned using sandpaper to try to clean the hone every time it started slowing down. That made me cringe a little bit, as some sandpapers could do some very bad things to the nickel plating. Some, or maybe quite a lot of folks, just don't know what they're doing and create bigger issues on their own. So, these reviews often need to be taken with a grain of salt, or sometimes a whole shaker full. :eek:
 
9-D5-C7911-0419-416-F-A4-E1-D3-EA01-A3-FEE4.jpg


Above is fine side

Coarse side below

AF31821-E-FB87-4-A41-9-FE4-95214-FC69717.jpg


Still cuts fine. Just sharpened Maxamet.
 
Have you looked at the "Ezelap Diamond Sharpeners" they say there we the first to make diamond sharpeners, They make some large double sided sharpeners and they are a bit cheaper than DMT ones, In many grit sizes.

Have a look at the "Double-sided Diamond Stones"

Check youtube for reviews.
 
I've used almost all of their products from plates to folders to credit card sized sharpeners (except for that oddball Medium Extra Fine). The only issue I've had with DMT is the EF 1200 mesh stones. It has awful feedback because there are what feels like larger diamond particles scattered across the stone. Break in doesn't seem to help much, either. I do prefer the DiaSharp (continuous surface) over the DuoSharp (interrupted surface/polka dot pattern). Overall some of the best diamond plates on the market, and I'll be using them until I die, or they go out of business (not going to happen).
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Some, or maybe quite a lot of folks, just don't know what they're doing and create bigger issues on their own. So, these reviews often need to be taken with a grain of salt, or sometimes a whole shaker full. :eek:
Click to expand...
That's one problem, the other is bought reviews - either outright bought or free testing sample.
 
https://scienceofsharp.wordpress.com
Has some articles where they show close up images of mixed grit dmt stones that have caused some sharpening issues and the need to also break them in to get the very large defects fixed. The other defects likely won't be... If you get a stone with larger grits in it. Not everyone will have these defects but it does happen.

I get bonded diamond stones myself. I have some dmt stones and they work just fine, but I wore them out long ago due to not knowing how to properly use them. The bonded stones don't have this issue because you can refresh them if that happens. I'd say most of the bonded stone brands have more consistent grit sizes too. But some brands will vary. It's difficult to qc these issues when you need microscopes to see any of this.


Links to the specific call outs in dmt stones.
https://scienceofsharp.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/diamond-plate-break-in-part-2/

https://scienceofsharp.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/the-diamond-plate-progression/
 
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