Am I being paranoid?(diamond stones)

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Mmm390

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Jan 26, 2019
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I have an old lansky diamond stone set that I havnt used in years.
I decided to use the coarse diamond stone to do some reprofiling and about 5-10 minutes into the job i realized I wasn't using any water with it.
I wasn't doing any crazy fast filing or anything...should I be worried about any diamond dust entering my lungs using a coarse stone?
I always hear use a mask while using fine or extra fine products so it didn't cross my mind until now.
 
I have never seen that warning listed when reading about these after all the particulate from the process should be mostly steel not diamond if any diamond and maybe cheaper stones with less reliable bonding might lose more diamond particles. For a single knife not something I would worry about if you did many and for long extended periods in an enclosed space them might be a time to worry.
 
The diamonds are bonded to the plate, you're not grinding them away if you are using it correctly. The diamond stone manufacturers typically say that either water or dry is acceptable and they don't have any safety warnings about using masks.
 
Mmm390 said:
...should I be worried about any diamond dust entering my lungs using a coarse stone?....
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i concurr that its mostly fine steel particals
that will be inhaled.
though i must admit i've never figured
about diamonds coming into the picture.
well, it is carbon based after all i presume.
yeah mask on, better safe than sorry ;-)
 
IMO, when it comes to environmental health and safety, there is no such thing as paranoid. I never heard of anybody getting sick or dying because they were inordinately cautious. A friend of mine died of emphysema/COPD a couple years ago and watching him slowly waste away (while toting his little O2 rig around with him) was a horror show for everybody.

If sharpening situations concern you, doing it in front of a nearby open window with a fan blowing over your sharpening operation and directly out the window might not be the worst idea that ever was. Amateurish, low-brow, crude and probably not as effective as more sophisticated, OSHA-approved methods, but it's a cheap method and I don’t see how it could hurt.
 
Like these guys said. All good advice ^
I would add : More than the abrasive dust, if there is any, I would also have one eye on the alloys you are abrading. Cobalt for one.
There are a ton of warnings about nickel as well. I haven't looked in to it . . . I mean we ALL eat out of stainless steel pots after the big Alzheimer's scare from eating out of aluminum pots.
Yeah best not to breath some of the elements of the alloys.
 
The bigger issue, with using the small Lansky diamond hone dry, is that the hone will likely clog very fast and slow down. As small as they are (4" x 1/2"), it doesn't take long for the available surface grit to fill up with metal swarf, especially in reprofiling jobs. With some steels, especially low-alloy stainless, a dry hone can effectively stop working within just a few minutes, due to clogging. Using the hone wet will help with that. I prefer using mineral oil on diamond hones, as it'll do even better at keeping the surface wetted and preventing swarf from sticking to it. But using some water or dish soap + water, at least, could be of some benefit.
 
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I use my dmts for touchup dry. If I had to do any heavy reprofile I would use my belt sander.
 
WD40 also works very well on the coarse Chinese diamond files i use for reprofiling/sharpening machetes etc.
It keeps both the diamond dust & the steel dust bound up in oil, it seems to make the diamonds cut cleaner, and also aids in extra cooling both the diamonds and the newly forming apex.
 
Wowbagger said:
Like these guys said. All good advice ^
I would add : More than the abrasive dust, if there is any, I would also have one eye on the alloys you are abrading. Cobalt for one.
There are a ton of warnings about nickel as well. I haven't looked in to it . . . I mean we ALL eat out of stainless steel pots after the big Alzheimer's scare from eating out of aluminum pots.
Yeah best not to breath some of the elements of the alloys.
Click to expand...

It's worth noting that a causal link hasn't been established. It's not known if accumulation of aluminum compounds in the brain of Alzheimer's patients is because of aluminum consumption or if it's the result of the dynamics of Alzheimer's itself leading to the body generating and depositing those compounds in the brain.
 
Wowbagger said:
I mean we ALL eat out of stainless steel pots after the big Alzheimer's scare from eating out of aluminum pots.
Yeah best not to breath some of the elements of the alloys.
Click to expand...

We still use a ton of aluminum cans.

If you are hand sharpening I would think the dust would be minuscule. Most would be caught in water or oil if you are wet sharpening. Using a belt or other powered tool to sharpen with would be another story. The dust could be thrown a lot farther. In that case you want a mask designed for the particle size and makeup along with eye protection
 
Tjstampa said:
We still use a ton of aluminum cans.
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They are coated on the inside and not subjected to significant heat.
I bet I only drink about ten sodas etc. a year anyway.

I know there is no conclusive evidence about the Alzheimer thing, last I checked back in the late eighties, still . . . I'm pretty darned happy not to be ingesting aluminum as much as I did then. The large aluminum rivets on our stainless pots had eroded to an alarming degree. When I saw that we bought pots with stainless rivets.

I handle aluminum components everyday all day at work as well. It will even rub off if one rubs it with paper. I don't need to chew on it when I get home . . . I'm good.
 
About 15 years ago when I was playing a lot of pool, I met a guy at the pool hall who was obviously very experienced, but he had a lot of trouble sinking balls because his hands shook a lot.

After we played for a bit he told me he was a knife maker and had been grinding out knives in his un-air-conditioned shop out in his back yard for 20+ years. Now he had Alzheimer's and blamed in on grinding various metals and breathing in the dust. I can't prove or disprove his claims, but that story has always stuck with me.

Brian.
 
Another one to watch for is if you use Silicon Carbide Powder,I forget the warning I read but once you get to a certain grit in the finer grit range the warning was that the really fine grit's could become airborne and can cause cancer in your lungs.

If you use really fine SIC powder your best to wear a mask or put a rag over your face until you get it all wet with water and mixed well before trying to refresh or flatten a stone with it.
 
wade7575 said:
Another one to watch for is if you use Silicon Carbide Powder,I forget the warning I read but once you get to a certain grit in the finer grit range the warning was that the really fine grit's could become airborne and can cause cancer in your lungs.

If you use really fine SIC powder your best to wear a mask or put a rag over your face until you get it all wet with water and mixed well before trying to refresh or flatten a stone with it.
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Don’t rely on a rag. Use a properly rated mask. Loose silicone carbide powder has been linked to lung disease. I am much more concerned with the loose diamonds, silica and aluminum than I am with anything coming off a stone. I have not used them yet and will not without the proper mask
 
Mmm390 said:
I have an old lansky diamond stone set that I havnt used in years.
I decided to use the coarse diamond stone to do some reprofiling and about 5-10 minutes into the job i realized I wasn't using any water with it.
I wasn't doing any crazy fast filing or anything...should I be worried about any diamond dust entering my lungs using a coarse stone?
I always hear use a mask while using fine or extra fine products so it didn't cross my mind until now.
Click to expand...

Nooooo way man. You're screwed. Sayonara. Give me your knife collection in the will.

No, you're 100% fine. Although I do personally recommend using water because it retains the dust so you don't get that annoying faint circle of dust after a few knives. Just a few dirty water droplets you can wipe up and bam your workstation is fully clean again
 
Anything that generates any kind of dust should be done while wearing a respirator. Do that, and you'll be fine. Don't, and you'll be damaging your lungs. Not much per session, but over time it does add up. The body is a finite resource, and PPE is important. ANYTHING in your lungs besides clean air isn't great for them, and dosage makes the poison.
 
bgentry said:
About 15 years ago when I was playing a lot of pool, I met a guy at the pool hall who was obviously very experienced, but he had a lot of trouble sinking balls because his hands shook a lot.

After we played for a bit he told me he was a knife maker and had been grinding out knives in his un-air-conditioned shop out in his back yard for 20+ years. Now he had Alzheimer's and blamed in on grinding various metals and breathing in the dust. I can't prove or disprove his claims, but that story has always stuck with me.

Brian.
Click to expand...
In our local pool hall long ago, there was this old (to me) man that would run the table almost every time, if you didn't.
His hands and head shook all the time, even while shooting. It was amazing he would consistently sink balls under those conditions.
He had Parkinson's disease, not Alzheimer.

If you're concerned with abrasive or metal dust when sharpening dry, wipe your stones/plates with a damp cloth occasionally.
 
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