Diamond or CBN.Any difference?

The biggest difference between diamond and CBN doesn't come into play for manual sharpening -- diamonds soften when they get hot; apparently CBN does not, or possibly does so a whole lot less. That's why we sharpeners have CBN to play with, because it's so important in industrial situations when your abrasive heats up.

The other difference is that the shape of the abrasive is different. In theory, CBN should be less pointy, gentler, make scratches of more consistent depth.

Does that make a noticeable difference? I've been using diamond and CBN for a couple of years, and I'm still not sure.
 
From a longevity standpoint, once "diamond" rods wear out, that's all there is, but because they get "finer" over time, it can be easy to just get a new set and then use the older ones for finishing. Ceramic rods and stones can be refreshed by abrading with high quality fine wet/dry sandpaper and a decently flat lapping surface. For most people, this isn't a major factor, but in my case I've had the same gear for long enough that I've still got most of my ceramic stones where as I've killed off a few smaller diamond surfaces. Also keep in mind that this is really down to the "wear area" of a stone. Lansky stones are quite small, so I wore out a couple, but a full sized DMT stone will outlive most people, even if it doesn't become a family relic.
 
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