dmt aligner and diamond paste

Heiheit

Heiheit

Joined
Feb 4, 2009
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I've purchased a Dmt aligner with coarse fine and extra fine stones. How well does this system work? I'm not a novice at sharpening by any means and can tree top hairs by freehanding usin the same dmt stones and a strop. I'm looking for more consistent bevels and consistent oolish as that is my main handicap. If I habe good technique will this produce hair whittling edges?

I also purchased 1 micron diamond paste for the final poilish. I've heard to use balsa wood and to apply a very small amount and it will produce good results. What are your guys' experience with this?

finally, it would be really helpful if anyone can post pictures of your edges after using an aligner?

thanks a lot guys!
 
I should also note that i purchased an extra extra fine stone (W4EE) and plan to use a 4" by 2" piece of balsa rubbed with the paste and use it with the aligner as if it were a stone. Should I sand the Balsa first?
 
I think you would get better results using wood with a finer/denser grain than balsa. I've heard of some getting good results on maple. I've used diamond paste on MDF (medium density fibreboard). It can also be used on a leather strop like CrO. If the board you are using isn't flat you should sand it (using a flat backing) and be sure to keep a uniform thickness.
 
Balsa is fine and suggested by DMT, what kind of diamond compound do you have?

Though putting it on the aligner sounds like a good idea if its off in thickness from your stone by even 1mm your going to have problems.
 
I decided to get their 1 micron from dmt. I know you recommend to get the kind from a different manufacturer due to the carat amount, but I only have the dmt and figure it should work fine. I'm ot necessarily trying to get a mirror polish, but am trying to get an edge that is "sticky" and can whittle hair and has consistent bevels.

I'm aware of the issue of thickness and realise it will be pretty hard to get it the exact same thickness,but it is worth a try and I have some balsa cut out already.

maybe I will use a different type of wood if that doesn't work out, or even a strop the size of the stones, that would most likely fix the thickness issue as leather has some give.

knifeknut, I've seen a picture of a manix 2 you sharpened using the aligner and it looks fantatic,do you have any others like that? I would great appreciate it :D
 
You should also get the 6 and 3 micron and use the stones and compounds in proper order. The sticky edge comes with the grit used and your not going to get it unless you have that high polish. Do the stropping on MDF, balsa, hardwood, whatever you like, but I would suggest doing it freehand. You can feel that very straight bevel lock into the surface you are using and the process will go much faster.
 
will do, that's simple enough. In theory would the EEF stone be sufficient to cover the 6 and 3 micron pastes considering it is the 8000 grit varient (as opposed to the 2200 grit). If I do get those compounds, it won't be for a little while. Thanks I always apreciate your great help.
 
I thought that too but when you do it like DMT says it works best. Until the EEF stone breaks-in I would probably just run through the stones then move on to the 6,3,1 micron compounds.

The stones and compound leave different scratch patterns, the stones will always cut deeper into the metal because the diamonds are fix in place. The compounds cut finer (appear finer) because the diamonds are allowed to flow over the surface, instead of hitting one single point like with the stones your hitting multiple points allowing for the finer finish or at least one that looks finer.
 
Fascinating. I hope this works out well! I'm going to email you in hopes of prying out some of those pictures!
 
I talked to and emailed Keith at Handamerican.com he told me he'd be up & running in about a week and it's been about a week. He has diamond strop sprays. He told me to post this if it would help anyone. I've been stropping an a long bare leather strop of 2 weeks and wow does it work ymmv.

I introduced leather bench hones to chefs in NYC. The honing leathers that I used were produced for me by tanners who understood what I was looking for. Leather, tanned and processed in a certain way, has the ability to affect blade steel when used properly.

No one ever had to apply compound to my leather for it to perform.

Over a period of time other people got involved in the leather honing business. The leathers that they used were whatever they could find, and the only way that most of them worked was if you rubbed compound into them.

Is it wrong to apply diamond or chromium oxide to leather? no. What I was trying to tell you is that you don't necessarily need leather to get a quality compound to work.

You can use balsa wood, card stock, and a lot of other surfaces with compounds. What you're looking for is a surface that is dead flat with the ability to suspend the compound particles so they don't move around when you're honing.

I've come to like balsa wood a lot for use with compounds - I'll have that available for people, it's a lot less expensive than my leather.

I hope this helps you a little, if you think other people might benefit you have my permission to post this with my name if you like.

Our site will be up soon, so please stay in touch and thanks for writing,
Keith
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