A DMT XXF alternative?

[bubblewhip]

So only having Sharpmaker fine stones I would like to upgrade my edges to something more. I want something hand done since I do sharpen other peoples knives for money and an unguided finishing would make it seem a little more "skilled" than just using UF stones on the sharpmaker. Anyways the grit progression tells me that I should go with the DMT XXF. I was wondering if there were any other alternatives to the XXF?

 

[thombrogan]

The duofold version of the XXF. You can stick it to your Sharpmaker with elastics. Also, since the finish left by the UF hones is already, well, ultra-fine, a piece of paper with the thinnest film of hubcap polish over a hard, flat surface will work great, too.

 

[Any Cal.]

If it is for the look, you might try stropping for your final step. If you did it on leather it could dress up the whole edge, even if you didn't actually do any additional sharpening with it.

I have the Diafold XXF, but IMO, it seems like it is best suited to the guide setup because it is sooooo fine, at least with such a small paddle, that I would have a hard time keeping a steady enough hand for a long enough period of time for it to be effective. Aesthetics wise, I prefer the look of a 1200g edge stropped with white compound on leather, which leaves an even, dull gray shine, to the XXF Diafold, which tends to leave a bit of a streaked polish on my unassisted bevels. It is significantly better when used with a guide, and can be polished out on a strop as well.

If you had the 8" plate, I would expect to have considerably less trouble getting a decent finish with the EEF, though that is just a guess because I can currently only dream about it.

 

[zyhano]

If it is for the look, you might try stropping for your final step. If you did it on leather it could dress up the whole edge, even if you didn't actually do any additional sharpening with it.

I have the Diafold XXF, but IMO, it seems like it is best suited to the guide setup because it is sooooo fine, at least with such a small paddle, that I would have a hard time keeping a steady enough hand for a long enough period of time for it to be effective. Aesthetics wise, I prefer the look of a 1200g edge stropped with white compound on leather, which leaves an even, dull gray shine, to the XXF Diafold, which tends to leave a bit of a streaked polish on my unassisted bevels. It is significantly better when used with a guide, and can be polished out on a strop as well.

If you had the 8" plate, I would expect to have considerably less trouble getting a decent finish with the EEF, though that is just a guess because I can currently only dream about it.

+1 on the stropping.
the XXF is 3 micron, dmt stropping pastes come in 6, 3 and 1 micron. so you could go to the 6 micron after spyderco UF, then progress to 3 and finally 1 and you can brush your teeth in the edges mirror.

I disagree about the xxf diafold being difficult to use, I find it gives an excellent finish if you keep at it and have followed the correct grit progression (xf/f etc before that). I do however guess that a guided use of the xxf gives much better results, but have no experience with that.

 

[Jason B.]

Until the stone becomes well broke-in the finish will be like the brown stones. Once broke-in you get a finish like the UF stone but its a different abrasive and yields a much different scratch pattern. Very similar in scratch size but much different in overall appearance.

The UF bench stone would be your ideal next step followed my a 1 micron strop.