Diamond Stones Wearing Out?

mlanghornes

mlanghornes

Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
798
I've heard that diamond sharpening stones, especially cheaper ones, can wear out to the point where they will no longer sharpen effectively. Can anyone give me information one way or the other? I want to get a new bench stone, but I'm not decided between diamond and natural. Natural, at least, I can lap and clean it as needed, which means that as long as there is stone, I can sharpen on it. I'm concerned with diamond stones, though, because if these claims are true, there is only a very thin useable layer on the top, and when that's gone, it's time for a new stone.

Thoughts?
 
make your life simple and get the dc4 from fallkniven. I used to use cheap stones and they are a waste of money, stick with quality, buy once and buy right. Just my 2 cents.
 
They only wear out from abuse also know as too much pressure. Diamond stones will last a long time if you follow the directions.
 
If you buy diamond stones, only go with quality. The Fallkniven one is good (so I'm told) as is anything by DMT. AND only use light pressure when sharpening. Let the diamonds do the work. Greater pressure doesn't really make them work faster, and it can rock the diamonds out of the steel matrix they're embedded in. If you follow that simple rule with a quality stone it SHOULD last forever. :)
 
The diamods are held on the steel with nickel plating. If you break the diamonds down to the surface level of the nickel, the plating will wear through quickly. DMT products seem to hold up better (and cut better) than cheaper brands.
 
Folks say DMT stones last longer, but I've been sharpening knives and tools on the same couple sets of EZE-LAP stones for going on 20 years, and the stones still work well. There is an initial roughness that quickly wears off, but once a stone is broken in, it stays the same "grit". The only EZE-LAP stone I've ever ruined got left in the waterstone bucket for a couple weeks, and it rusted. Even though it was my fault, EZE-Lap still replaced it...YMMV
 
DMT's will last a long time, i have had some cheap diamond rods which did lose a lot of there abrasiveness fairly fast though, fairly fast being after a couple of yrs or so, i have a DMT which is still going strong after 10 yrs in comparison.

the diamond stones are best if ya have a lotta heavy sharpening or reprofiling to do, and i like coarse ones for that, i dont use mine much anymore though, i touch up often and dont need to do such heavy stuff very often anymore,

for day to day use a sharpmaker is hard to beat, for most stuff anyway, that and a 8" norton india stone is about all i use anymore.
 
I don't have any experience with cheap diamond stones but probably the diamonds are breaking off from whatever they are bonded to. I have DMT and EZ-LAP and they are both fine. My favorite is Ultimate Edge. I have a 10" oval rod (they call it cats eye) and its great. I had it for over 10 yrs and its in the same condition as when it was new.
 
All diamond stones wear down. The reason is that the abrasive particles are permanently attached to the backing and are never refreshed with new ones. So you use the same abrasives over and over. Perfectly normal. Diamond stones get less agressive with use. They all do.
 
Knife Outlet said:
All diamond stones wear down. The reason is that the abrasive particles are permanently attached to the backing and are never refreshed with new ones. So you use the same abrasives over and over. Perfectly normal. Diamond stones get less agressive with use. They all do.
Click to expand...

That's been my experience. That being said, my best 12" long chef's rod that is a 600 grit (probably more like 800 now!) is about 6 - 7 years old and just about finished. It may have one more year in it.

I thought it was gone after a couple of years as it didn't sharpen evenly and there were skips on the oval shaped rod when sharpening. Not the case. I was advised by Dexter-Russell that cleaning the rod with a toothbrush and cleanser would get the metal particles off the rod and allow the diamonds to work again. The rod was simply clogged. They told me to NEVER use soap as the residue will clog the rod immedately.

Worked like a champ. I use that rod several times a week in the kitchen, and have used it for years to touch up my work knives. I have even used it to clean up the edges on my large hunting knives, one if which is D2 steel. No problems with performance.

I feel like I got my $30 bucks out of it and then some. When this one is gone I will be buying another.

Robert
 
I've worn my diafold 220 grit ( blue ) down to about 1000 grit , or so it feels like. A good 5 years of steady, almost daily use.
 
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