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Diamond plates for Edge Pro

Orion's Belt

Orion's Belt

Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Messages
1,554
I've been looking at the diamond plates for the Edge Pro from Chef Knives to Go. Does anyone have any experience with them? What grits should I order? Currently, I like about a 600 grit EP edge, sometimes I'll go to the 3k tape.
 
The CKTG plates are made by Ken Schwartz, and seem to be pretty good. There isn't a lot out on them yet because they have only been out for a short time. Your best bet for finding exact grits to use, etc is probably just to contact Ken directly. He's a very good hand with a knife, and all the stuff he sells he has used extensively himself first, so he can definitely give you the low-down on it. :)

Unlike a normal diamond plate, the CKTG plates are made to be used edge-trailing primarily, since they are made of an abrasive media bonded to the plate, instead of a more expensive stone's electroplating method, and an incautious edge-leading stroke could bite into the film.
 
I have also heard from several people that the Atoma 140 grit plates are insane! Wanting to give some a shot on my WE soon =) Kom, you have tried them before... how do those compare to the CKTG plates?
 
The Atoma 140s ARE absolutely insane. I do not own an Atoma, my personal coarse diamond is a DMT XC, but I've used a buddy's on a couple knives. Short of a belt grinder, I can't think of much that would cut faster than the 140. The CKTG 165u might be able to give it a run for its money, though... Grabbing a full set of the CKTG diamonds is on my to-do list, I'd love to give the entire set a good run-down for comparison.
 
I have Kens 6, 3, and 1 micron diamond plates. They work well - just be careful with them.

I will say that I was surprised how fast they work the first time I used them. I used soapy water with them, as I do with the rest of my EP stones. I put about 3 drops of water on them and spread it with my finger. Then I strop with edge-trailing strokes. The water that collects on the blade side of the edge starts to get dark from the grinding quite fast. It took me very little time to go through the 3 levels.

This is on 3V steel too. I couldn't get my EP stones and polish tapes to work worth a crap. I could get a cutting edge on the blade, but it just never got to a real sharp edge. The switch from the 1000 grit EP stone to the 6 micron diamond plate alone is night and day - and they are essentially the same micron level. I don't know if this difference would be present with some lower grade knife steels, in that the lower quality abrasives (aluminum oxide, silicon carbide) can have the same micron level as a diamond abrasive, but the difference I saw is that the diamonds are much better at wearing the hard 3V steel (vanadium carbide in the steel - the aluminum oxide and silicon carbide stones wear down the other elements in 3V OK, but the vanadium carbide stays as it is a much tougher element to wear off - the diamonds will take this at the same time the other elements, so you get a much finer edge).

Depending on what steels you intend to sharpen, and what finishes you expect to get, you might be OK with the EP stones and then switching at the 6 micron level I did. The regular EP stones are adequate for bringing an edge up on the steels I have. I like a real sharp edge so at the 6 micron level where I switch over to the diamonds it works just fine. I just don't have a diamond finish in any more coarse levels.
 
I was planning on getting all of the diamond plates up to 9 micron. That's about as high as I like to go anymore. I find that a more toothy edge works much better for my uses. But, I do plan on getting a kangaroo leather strop with some 0.5 micron diamond spray for final burr removal and quick touch ups.
 
does anyone know why the diamond tapes disapeared from cktg ?

just when i decided to swallow their outrageous international shipping ...:confused:
 
No idea, Pwet. If I had to guess, probably supply issues. Ken makes those himself, and he has quite the plate full of jobs. I'd say he probably just ran out of 'em.

Drop him an email and ask! He's a fun guy to talk to anyway. :)
 
Atoma plates are totally AWESOME! I have the 140, 200, and 400 for the Edge-Pro. I've been using them for several years.

They're the very best that I've ever used for re-bevelling steels like S90V, Elmax, CPM M-4, etc.
 
Since I've only recently picked up an Edge Pro, I've only used Atoma plates and the Ken Schwartz diamond plates. So far they've worked pretty well.

While I might have a few nitpicks (like why isn't the column for the Edge Pro put right in the center) most of it has to do with the system itself. Recently I picked up the 125 micron and the 74 micron Ken Schwartz plates and they weren't "glued" on very well. The diamond paper came off, but it was a pretty quick fix with Gorilla Glue to put them back on--they seem to be permanently bonded now.

My other plates 45 - 9 micron are all bonded well.

I have an Atoma 400 and it works quite well, it's just hard to transition between a "stone" of different thickness to the Ken Schwartz plates. With how much an Atoma costs, I think it would probably be more cost effective to go 100% Ken Schwartz diamond plates. On the other hand, I haven't used them long enough to find out how much longevity they have.
 
i found ken's account i think, but no recent activity here iirc and he havent answered my email yet. wait and see. i'll shoot mark at cktg an email if i can't get ken to answer.
 
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