- Joined
- Aug 12, 2011
- Messages
- 24
I've been sharpening knives and tools on rocks for half a century. Us old dawgs are comfortable in the ways that have served us well, and I'd usually rather "fight than switch". When I ordered my (VERY EXCELLENT) KME sharpener, I ordered the set with stones without thinking twice about it. Then I started paying attention in forums about how course diamond stones remove metal with less work, and how they are kept clean with water instead of oil. I ordered KME's set of DMT Dia-Sharp diamond stones (course, fine, extra fine), and a separate extra course diamond stone. I took to them right away, but couldn't bring myself to finish the job without a fine Arkansas stone. Now I've finally made the entire transition. It's hard to ignore the benefits of diamond sharpening.
The only area where I'm still clinging to my stones is sharpening the inside curve of my beloved Rajah II Kukri style blade. Before I bought my KME Sharpener, I called Ron of KME and asked him how those square rocks could handle sharpening inside curves. He said, "No problem, we'll just round off the edges of the stones before we send them to you". They did, and they've worked perfectly. Even if I could find a diamond stone with rounded edges, sharpening with the edges of the stone would put a lot of wear on a very few diamonds, while a rock would simply wear into the curve and work even better. I'm still sticking with my stones for Kukri sharpening, but everything else is getting the diamond treatment from now on.
Happy sharpening!
The only area where I'm still clinging to my stones is sharpening the inside curve of my beloved Rajah II Kukri style blade. Before I bought my KME Sharpener, I called Ron of KME and asked him how those square rocks could handle sharpening inside curves. He said, "No problem, we'll just round off the edges of the stones before we send them to you". They did, and they've worked perfectly. Even if I could find a diamond stone with rounded edges, sharpening with the edges of the stone would put a lot of wear on a very few diamonds, while a rock would simply wear into the curve and work even better. I'm still sticking with my stones for Kukri sharpening, but everything else is getting the diamond treatment from now on.
Happy sharpening!
