Diamond and Ceramic stones

scsu74

scsu74

Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
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Was curious what everyone's thoughts are about setting the bevel with a course DMT stone and progressing with ceramic stones to 1000 grit? Is it ok to switch between the two types of stones? I'm using a KME sharpener and ill link the DMT and ceramics below. Thanks! For reference I'm mainly sharpening spydercos/benchmades for EDC use. Not trying for mirror edges, just good working edges.

DMT course:
http://www.dmtonlinestore.com/4-Dia-Sharp-Continuous-Diamond-P48.aspx

Kme ceramics (start at medium):
http://www.kmesharp.com/4sexcomefi.html
 
I can't comment on the types of stones concerning the pros and cons of each type. I'm trying to figure that out myself.

As far as going from one type of stone to another, there isn't any problem. You just have to decide upon the various grits you want to use, and the size of the gap between them. The one thing that I would take care to do is that after using one stone and before moving on to the next, I would clean and dry the blade to remove any metal filings that might be left behind on the blade, along with any residue from the surface of that previous stone. Grit from a coarser stone would probably mar the surface of a finer stone.

When I use a steel on my kitchen knives, I do the same type of thing: run some tap water on the blade, rub some dish washing detergent onto the blade, then rinse and dry the blade. I know a steel usually shouldn't remove any metal from the edge, but I don't like the idea of ingesting whatever filings might come off the blade otherwise.
 
I would add the DMT fine stone for after your coarse diamond and medium ceramic :)

Edit: I guess I should have looked at your ceramic grit. But David is correct it's the same grit
 
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The coarse DMT is at 325 grit and your med. ceramic at 320 so one of those you don't need. If you desire to go that high, one should add the fine DMT after the med. ceramic. Just following the number progression. DM
 
David Martin said:
The coarse DMT is at 325 grit and your med. ceramic at 320 so one of those you don't need. If you desire to go that high, one should add the fine DMT after the med. ceramic. Just following the number progression. DM
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Gotcha, I wasn't sure how the grits related between the diamond and ceramic. Could I jump right to the fine ceramic from the coarse DMT or would that be too big of a jump?
 
sure, you can go from diamond to ceramic. When I used my DMT plates more, I'd sometimes finish with the trusty ol' Spyderco 306UF.
 
scsu74 said:
Gotcha, I wasn't sure how the grits related between the diamond and ceramic. Could I jump right to the fine ceramic from the coarse DMT or would that be too big of a jump?
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I'd be willing to bet, the 'medium' 320 ceramic would leave a much finer finish than the 325-grit coarse DMT, which is a much more aggressive cutter than alumina, even if the actual grit size is the same. Diamond is 3X-4X harder, so it'll cut much deeper. Ceramic grits don't generally match up to diamond, in terms of finish, even if the stated numbers are very similar or same.


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I'd be willing to bet, the 'medium' 320 ceramic would leave a much finer finish than the 325-grit coarse DMT, which is a much more aggressive cutter than alumina, even if the actual grit size is the same. Diamond is 3X-4X harder, so it'll cut much deeper. Ceramic grits don't generally match up to diamond, in terms of finish, even if the stated numbers are very similar or same.


David
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That's kind of what I was thinking. Thank you for the reply! I'm just practicing on a shitty gerber so I'll let ya know how it turns out.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I'd be willing to bet, the 'medium' 320 ceramic would leave a much finer finish than the 325-grit coarse DMT, which is a much more aggressive cutter than alumina, even if the actual grit size is the same. Diamond is 3X-4X harder, so it'll cut much deeper. Ceramic grits don't generally match up to diamond, in terms of finish, even if the stated numbers are very similar or same.
David
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Yes, even though this could be done, I'd go with a finer grit ceramic to get more benefit out of the advance. Spyderco offers their med. ceramic at 600grit. Which is a good stone. DM
 
The medium (brown) Spyderco ceramic has really become my most used stone lately. I like the edge that it leaves, both polished "enough" and aggressive "enough". I used to feel that I had to progress to a fine or ultra fine (and sometimes still do), but more often than not, I leave the edge at the medium grit.
 
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sodak said:
The medium (brown) Spyderco ceramic has really become my my used stone lately. I like the edge that it leaves, both polished "enough" and aggressive "enough". I used to feel that I had to progress to a fine or ultra fine (and sometimes still do), but more often than not, I leave the edge at the medium grit.
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That's where I like to leave it as well, when I've used ceramics to touch up or finish an edge. I've always been impressed with the bite left by the brown rods. I've noticed this with a couple or three different sharpeners that use brown ceramics, including Spyderco, A.G. Russell and an old 'Kwik-Sharp' V-crock set I purchased at a gun/knife show back in the early '90s (it was inexpensive, but maybe the best one I've used). There seems to be something unique about whatever grit/binder combination is used for the brown, in many cases.


David
 
sodak said:
The medium (brown) Spyderco ceramic has really become my most used stone lately. I like the edge that it leaves, both polished "enough" and aggressive "enough". I used to feel that I had to progress to a fine or ultra fine (and sometimes still do), but more often than not, I leave the edge at the medium grit.
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I thought I was crazy but I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this to work. I have a knife with elmax that responds better and is sharper after stopping at the medium SM stone. If I go on to the fines and UF's it gets duller, I can't figure that out. When I stop at the medium and put it on a strop it is much sharper than using the finer grits.
 
My quick maintenance method is a diamond "steel" followed by a ceramic stick. Great for touch up and general maintenance. When I need to do more I break out the stones.
 
Falkniven make nice stones with diamond one side and ceramic otherside.
Puts a good working sharp edge on my knives .
 
I recently started to like coarser edges, i was a huge fan of overpolished edges for a long time.
My favorite current regimen for about any knife is a firm leather strop with a strip of wet or dry 220 grit sand paper followed by 600 grit and then a modicum amount of stropping on black compound, it leaves a very nice scratch pattern and an extremely sticky edge yet still capable of treetopping arms hair at about 2 cm above the skin.
I mostly sharpen at about 30 inclusive or slighly less.
I also tried to smear black compound on a used strip of 600 grit wet or dry and it does work wonderfully as a very coarse strop it can even fix small dings and it seems to burnish the edge a little bit more than fresh sandpaper.
I still keep my Spydie ceramics handy but i very seldom use my 306 uf, or uf rods anymore.
I should get myself some low grit cbn or sic for the sake of testing... but as of yet i feel like i hit the sweetspot between agression and push cutting ability.
Ironically its after i spent a lots of cash in various stones and kits that i grew balls enough to use that kind of 'hillbilly-esque' methods and most importantly, i like both the result and the method itself as i always been a strop happy guy.
 
I use mineral oil on my ceramic stones and water on my diamond "stones". I don't go back and forth between the 2 systems because the diamond "stones" grab the oil and hang on to it.
 
tiguy7 said:
I use mineral oil on my ceramic stones and water on my diamond "stones". I don't go back and forth between the 2 systems because the diamond "stones" grab the oil and hang on to it.
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Unless the oil you're using is exceptionally heavy/greasy stuff, dish detergent like Dawn/Ivory/Palmolive and warm/hot water will clean those up very thoroughly. Scrub with a toothbrush (this is more for dislodging swarf) while immersed in the soapy water. That's what I do after each session, if/when using mineral oil on diamond hones, and it keeps them clean as new.


David
 
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