Sharpening Stones

[WelshWood]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to get a new sharpening stone, have used a waterstone for years, but leaning towards getting a diamond stone, as they seem so much hassle free to use!

Looking for any recommendations; preferably for a double sided stone to save space!

Many thanks,

~WW

 

[flair woodworks]

I've use the DMT DuoSharp for probably 8 or so years and I am still very happy with the investment. It's the perforated style, with 600x on one side and 1200x on the other. I finish with a strop charged with honing compound.

 

[ryanjg117]

DMT is good, Atoma is also great but I don't think they make double-sided "stones" like DMT. The only other knock on diamond plates, IMO, are that they tend to be more aggressive than their grit rating. Doesn't much matter for chisels and other things you'll be burying in wood quick, but my waterstones serve double-duty for sharpening kitchen cutlery as well. For that, I've got stones going up to 5K and then Balsawood loaded with 1 micron diamond paste. Probably sharper than needed for woodworking.

 

[grbmds]

Probably depends on where in the sharpening set of steps the stone lies. If you are replacing a coarser grit stone or a stone used for flattening, I'd say diamond stones are great and worth the money. However, for the last finishing steps 4000, 8000, and up, I'd go with some sort of waterstone like a Sharpton Glass Stone. I'd guess there will be other recommendations, probably equally as good.

I'm not the expert on sharpening, of course, but I think water stones like the Sharpton do a better job for the final honing steps. Diamond stones are great for doing the hard cutting work of the initial steps of flattening the back of a chisel or plane blade and/or cutting a new primary bevel, but don't seem to give quite the same final finish as a water stone.

Just an opinion based on some use of diamond versus water stones in the final steps.

 

[Corwin]

While many like the DMT diamond plates, I have not had good luck with their products. I returned the sharpening plates I initially ordered and was much happier with Shapton Pro stones. Looking into what to flatten the Shapton's with, I then reluctantly purchased the DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate only to find that the diamonds felt very uneven across the plate. After more use, I could see in the plate that the wear was as uneven as I had suspected and in the exact locations that felt different. My Dia-Flat has been a complete waste of $200 to me, so, I can only suggest that you look into some other brand for your diamond plates. I ended up purchasing a much cheaper diamond plate for flattening my Shapton stones, and it has worked out just fine for me.

 

[ear3]

I'm otherwise satisfied with my DMT Duosharp, but just recently I noticed that the coarse side of one of them (the black dot) seems all of a sudden to be less abrading than it has in the past, to the point where two times in a row now I've worked an edge quicker on the blue flipside.  I haven't sat down to do a true test to see if there actually is a problem, or if I was just experiencing some anomalies -- but it seems almost impossible that I've worn out the coarse side of the stone after less than 6 months, and not sharpening anywhere close to on a daily basis.

EDIT: Just a thought, since flattening the Shapton stones has come up -- I've been using the black dot coarse side to flatten my 8000 grit Shapton.  You don't think that could be responsible for degrading the plate, could it?

 

[grbmds]

While many like the DMT diamond plates, I have not had good luck with their products. I returned the sharpening plates I initially ordered and was much happier with Shapton Pro stones. Looking into what to flatten the Shapton's with, I then reluctantly purchased the DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate only to find that the diamonds felt very uneven across the plate. After more use, I could see in the plate that the wear was as uneven as I had suspected and in the exact locations that felt different. My Dia-Flat has been a complete waste of $200 to me, so, I can only suggest that you look into some other brand for your diamond plates. I ended up purchasing a much cheaper diamond plate for flattening my Shapton stones, and it has worked out just fine for me.

Not to move off the thread's topic, but Sharpton makes a flattening stone for their stones; actually 2 different flattening stones. They are guaranteed to be flat within, I believe, .002. However, they are very expensive. DMT also has a flattening diamond stone for use to maintain sharpening stones. It is also guaranteed flat but within slightly less tolerance (I think .005). Either one would work. The Sharpton stone is much more expensive though.

 

[Corwin]

While many like the DMT diamond plates, I have not had good luck with their products. I returned the sharpening plates I initially ordered and was much happier with Shapton Pro stones. Looking into what to flatten the Shapton's with, I then reluctantly purchased the DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate only to find that the diamonds felt very uneven across the plate. After more use, I could see in the plate that the wear was as uneven as I had suspected and in the exact locations that felt different. My Dia-Flat has been a complete waste of $200 to me, so, I can only suggest that you look into some other brand for your diamond plates. I ended up purchasing a much cheaper diamond plate for flattening my Shapton stones, and it has worked out just fine for me.

Not to move off the thread's topic, but Sharpton makes a flattening stone for their stones; actually 2 different flattening stones. They are guaranteed to be flat within, I believe, .002. However, they are very expensive. DMT also has a flattening diamond stone for use to maintain sharpening stones. It is also guaranteed flat but within slightly less tolerance (I think .005). Either one would work. The Sharpton stone is much more expensive though.

Yep, the flattening/lapping products from Shapton are expensive. That's why I went with DMT's lapping plate. So sorry I did, as it is now junk. And I only used it for a short while (a few weeks.) I noticed from the get-go that it wasn't right. Same problem I had with their sharpening plates, but this time I didn't return it -- but, I certainly should have. Hopefully, this is just my bad luck with the products that I received.

 

[ear3]

Much more expensive is a bit of an understatement!  I think if I were fully invested in the Shapton I might do it, but since I only have the 8000 I kind of balked at spending almost as much on the flattening stone as on all my other stones combined.

While many like the DMT diamond plates, I have not had good luck with their products. I returned the sharpening plates I initially ordered and was much happier with Shapton Pro stones. Looking into what to flatten the Shapton's with, I then reluctantly purchased the DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate only to find that the diamonds felt very uneven across the plate. After more use, I could see in the plate that the wear was as uneven as I had suspected and in the exact locations that felt different. My Dia-Flat has been a complete waste of $200 to me, so, I can only suggest that you look into some other brand for your diamond plates. I ended up purchasing a much cheaper diamond plate for flattening my Shapton stones, and it has worked out just fine for me.

Not to move off the thread's topic, but Sharpton makes a flattening stone for their stones; actually 2 different flattening stones. They are guaranteed to be flat within, I believe, .002. However, they are very expensive. DMT also has a flattening diamond stone for use to maintain sharpening stones. It is also guaranteed flat but within slightly less tolerance (I think .005). Either one would work. The Sharpton stone is much more expensive though.