Venev bonded diamond stones

S

Strauss95

Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
161
Tried searching and didn't find much on these stones. Wanted to hear feedback from anyone that has used them.
I'm looking into the dual sided bonded diamond bench stones from Gritomatic. Wondering how they compare to the diasharp DMT's. I know they measure their grit on a different scale. Also curious how well the 80 + 150 grit stone cuts, or if I'm better off picking up a DMT extra course.
 
No experience with venev but an extra course DMT will handle your knife work very well. I use a 325 for all my touchups that I do by hand. Start and finish on one stone. DMT is tried and true although I'm not trying to knock anything. Especially since I never used them.
 
I haven't used the coarser grits (as yet) but they are much less aggressive than plated diamonds. The feel is much more like sharpening on ceramic, or a well worn diamond plate that no longer has a rough (and perhaps uneven) surface texture.

Bonded diamonds, like the Matrix offered via Edge Pro, or the Venev from Gritomatic, are imho, a joy to use...but if you are looking for speed, they will not compete with the plated diamonds such as DMT offers.

I won't be throwing any of my diamond plates away anytime soon. I find uses for all my hones...eventually.
 
Speed isn't a big issue as that's the one thing I know the DMT's do well. I currently have 8x3" Diasharp plates in coarse, fine, and extra fine. But I'm debating between buying the DMT extra course or the Venev 80/150 bonded diamond stone.
I'd take better stone "feel" over speed, and I really do like the feel of Spyderco ceramic bench stones over the feel of my DMT plates. I just wanted to make sure the coarse Venev had the cutting power to match or beat the DMT extra coarse, I don't mind if it's a little slower.
 
Search for venev and you should find alot of threads and posts on the subject.
They are pretty good but better stones have came out that superceed them from other brands. They are currently updating them from feedback given to them to improve them.

Edit. I have a few of the more coarse stones from gen1 venev stock and i like them better than dmt alot better. The future is bonded.
 
Last edited:
I use Venev #150 for most of my knives.
It gives very nice coarse edge, especially when broken in.
To me, it is very similar to DMT coarse.
 
In my experience the Venev 80 is a dud, it doesn't remove metal as fast as the 150. I have heard others say the same. I only played with someone elses stones one time so I have limited experience with them but did like the 150.

Nothing will match plated diamonds for speed of cut but when they do start to lose their edge the bonded diamonds can be dressed so they work like new many many times, can't do this with plated diamonds.
 
Yeah I like the 150 and 400. The 150 removes metal pretty quick, so does the 400 and it leaves a nice toothy edge if you want to stop there. I've found they glaze over similar to aluminum oxide stones, but I usually run them under water and hit them with a 3m scuff pad quick which seems to get them working good again. If they get really clogged, lapping them on a glass plate with loose grit alum oxide or SiC brings them back to like new.
 
Rust eraser is a good option as well. I use mine near a faucet and hit it with the rust eraser every now and again, then rinse it off.
 
Mo2 said:
Search for venev and you should find alot of threads and posts on the subject.
They are pretty good but better stones have came out that superceed them from other brands. They are currently updating them from feedback given to them to improve them.

Edit. I have a few of the more coarse stones from gen1 venev stock and i like them better than dmt alot better. The future is bonded.
Click to expand...

What other stones do you feel are much better? These stones initially caught my eye due to their price (not crazy expensive) and bonded nature of the stone. I am looking for a stone that will cut steels like Maxamet, yet offer better feedback than the DMT plates.

I appreciate the feedback everyone, keep it coming! I was hoping Shawn (Deadboxhero) would chime in...
 
Strauss95 said:
What other stones do you feel are much better? These stones initially caught my eye due to their price (not crazy expensive) and bonded nature of the stone. I am looking for a stone that will cut steels like Maxamet, yet offer better feedback than the DMT plates.

I appreciate the feedback everyone, keep it coming! I was hoping Shawn (Deadboxhero) would chime in...
Click to expand...
@DeadboxHero would be the one to ask. Im using the metallic bonded diamond stones in edge pro / hapstone sizes. 1x6.
They offer them in cbn right now.

He's got alot of videos on the subject.

Check out Michael Christy too, he's also got a few vids.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-cvUqhuR--z1uUAXqMzaw
 
Strauss95 said:
Speed isn't a big issue as that's the one thing I know the DMT's do well. I currently have 8x3" Diasharp plates in coarse, fine, and extra fine. But I'm debating between buying the DMT extra course or the Venev 80/150 bonded diamond stone.
I'd take better stone "feel" over speed, and I really do like the feel of Spyderco ceramic bench stones over the feel of my DMT plates. I just wanted to make sure the coarse Venev had the cutting power to match or beat the DMT extra coarse, I don't mind if it's a little slower.
Click to expand...

Try putting a little dish soap in water and dipping your diamond stones in there when using them. That will make the feel of using them much smoother.

I currently use a coarser diamond to set the edge then a worn coarser diamond stone, then medium spyderco ceramic, fine spyderco ceramic and finally a little ultrafine Spydie ceramic. I can get a pretty good edge with this setup.

The diamonds I use are dmt or spyderco.
 
I use the Venev stone's as well as the Metallic Bonded CBN stones,the Venev will outlast the DMT diamond plate's for sure and the Venev's aren't to slow and the best way to clean the Venev stones is with the powdered version of Bar Keepers Friend and it just takes a very little bit sprinkled over the stones when they are wet and then just rub them for about 15 seconds each stone and then rinse and your done.

If you are getting the 800 and 1200 grit Venev stones get them in the new OCB Matrix they sharpen a bit faster then the normal resin and they also provide a much better scratch pattern and the diamonds stay in the Matrix as well a lot of people complained they diamonds fell out with the normal resin bond.

I tested 2 prototype Venev 1200 grit stones an OCB and a OCK resin bond stone and it was the OCB they choose,I did a small review of them in this section of the forum just search my threads and you'll find if you want to look at.

Strauss95 said:
Tried searching and didn't find much on these stones. Wanted to hear feedback from anyone that has used them.
I'm looking into the dual sided bonded diamond bench stones from Gritomatic. Wondering how they compare to the diasharp DMT's. I know they measure their grit on a different scale. Also curious how well the 80 + 150 grit stone cuts, or if I'm better off picking up a DMT extra course.
Click to expand...
 
On gritomatic's page it say that one should use water with the stones. Can oil be used without damaging the stones? Just a personal preference I have.
 
I ordered the 240/400 and new OCB 800/1200 stones. I'm now debating if I should get the 80/150, or if the DMT extra coarse is better for the heavy work?
 
Update: My Venev stones arrived yesterday and I immediately put them to work last night sharpening my Manix 2 in Maxamet. Absolutely love the feel of them compared to my DMT plates, overall performance is fantastic. Cut right through the Maxamet like butter.

The 240 was the only grit that didn't have load up issues. The 400 was the quickest to load, used a Nagura to clean and dress during use, cleaned up with barkeepers friend when I was finished. Both worked equally well to remove the glazing.

The finished edge after all 4 grits is very polished, although I can see a few random deeper scratches remaining in the bevel which is what I have come to expect from diamonds so I'm not concerned. Stropped with 1 micron diamond spray on balsa to finish and got a hair whittling edge on my very first session with them so I'm impressed!
 
S Strauss95 In the past when I'd discussed the matter with Konstantin via PM, he was not in favor of using a nagura, (which I've not tried so cannot comment further), but did recommend the use of a "rust eraser", which Wade had mentioned using with his own Venev bonded hones in his posts here.

Since I already had a few on hand, I've been using the rust eraser and then a quick run under the faucet to keep mine free of swarf buildup in use. Seems to work well.

Just another option to consider.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top