Diamond stone preparation

miso2

miso2

Joined
Nov 19, 2014
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Hi all,

I am testing a diamond stone and would like to ask experts here how to make it usable.

This particular stone is a Eze-Lap #600 stone. I have used it a couple of times on ELMAX and found that it makes really deep scratches and feels like s #200 stone. I know that diamond stones tend to make deep scratches, and it was also the case for DMT stones. Then, I learned here to do a little prep by rubbing two DMT stones very lightly under running water. It made a huge difference.

I would like to try the same for the Eze-Lap stone. Have anyone tried or know how to do it for this coated diamond stone? I actually tried with a bonded diamond stone (#150), which did not work. Thank you for your help!
 
I remember bluntcut described his way of breaking diamond stones in but I can't find the link anymore. Some others have commented this as well and I think Cliff Stamp has a video touching that topic too. There are interesting SEM pictures on Todd's website "scienceofsharp" that are worth looking at.

My 2c, rub the entire surface very lightly (no pressure) with either a hardened steel or a ceramic rod well lubricated - preferable mineral oil. That's what I do. It can take some time. The diamonds that peak out either break off or are being pulled out of the plating. Some have good results with ceramic waterstones and I have used my XXC DMT plate to flatten JWS and yes, that beast is broken in!
 
I meant rubbing two DMT stones against each other, in case my English was bad enough to evoke some crazy visuals in you.
 
If I had a scratchy new diamond "stone", I would run around and dress every regular stone I could find. Killing 2 + birds with 2 + stones. Putting deep scratches in SiC, Al2O4, and ceramic stones does not hurt anything. Grooves in your stones cannot be transferred to a steel edge.
 
The way to dress your stones is to draw a grid on the stone with a pencil and a ruler (1/2" spacing). Then grind until the lines disappear. Use water as a lubricant. Stay away from oil if you can. It sticks to the diamonds like glue.
 
Yup. Use the plates to lap your oil/waterstones to address irregularity. Or use them to sharpen some garden tools. Rubbing them against one another seems like a waste of abrasive.
 
Lots of water, work on a few inexpensive knives, thin a kitchen knife a bit, that will tame your plate. Some of above suggestions are going to waste your plate needlessly...

Russ
 
Rub vigorously with a piece of hardwood and a little water, and use to flatten some mild steel. I would not rub two of them together. A very light rub down on a silicon carbide stone is the most aggressive I'd get.
 
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miso2 said:
Hi all,

I am testing a diamond stone and would like to ask experts here how to make it usable.

This particular stone is a Eze-Lap #600 stone. I have used it a couple of times on ELMAX and found that it makes really deep scratches and feels like s #200 stone. I know that diamond stones tend to make deep scratches, and it was also the case for DMT stones. Then, I learned here to do a little prep by rubbing two DMT stones very lightly under running water. It made a huge difference.

I would like to try the same for the Eze-Lap stone. Have anyone tried or know how to do it for this coated diamond stone? I actually tried with a bonded diamond stone (#150), which did not work. Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...

EZE-Lap's diamond hones feel rough for a short while; then they'll smooth out. They still cut very well, but that odd roughness in feel will diminish, and it'll happen relatively quickly. It shouldn't take very long at all, in normal use.

Take a beater blade and scrub it on the hone; nothing abnormally heavy, just do it as if regrinding new bevels on the blade. A little water or mineral oil to wet the hone helps with that, in improving feedback and keeping the hone from clogging as you scrub the blade.

I'd NOT waste time rubbing diamond hones against one another, much less risking doing more damage than good and shortening the working life of the hone, for the sake of making them feel a little smoother. Just use the hone for a bit (on less expensive knives, if you want to), and it'll take care of itself. Using the hone is all the prep it should ever need, under normal circumstances.

Even after the unevenness is worked out of the hone, EZE-Lap's diamond tends to be coarser in resulting finish, as compared to similarly-rated hones from DMT (I see this from my own use of the two brands). That won't likely change as quickly (if at all). It's just the nature of their diamond. Trying to scrub the hone to make it feel more like DMT's, or to get the finish around the same ballpark, will likely just ruin the hone and never quite 'fix' that difference in feel & finish.


David
 
Last edited:
Thank you, all, for your comments!
I will use it on kitchen knives and see how it breaks in. If too slow, I will try a silicon carbide stone to dress it.
I will report the result here later.
 
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