DMT Aligner hone scratches???

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sharpandsafe

Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
275
Well, I finally got my Aligner delivered - complete with accessory extra, extra fine tan hone - and I have been practicing sharpening a couple of my old crappy knives. As you can see, the tan hone has developed a lot of light scratches after just a couple of uses. Is this normal? Is this to be expected? Did I get a bad hone? What's going on here? The picture below shows the scratches in the tan hone while the green fine hone looks virtually pristine after the same amount of use.

Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated!

hones1.jpg
 
Its okay don't worry, it happens but will not affect anything.
 
I'd thought I'd completely ruined one of my C/F Dia-Folds a while back, when using it to flatten a small ceramic hone. It really left a worn finish on the Dia-Fold, so I just put it away, on the assumption I'd never use it again. Well, I finally picked it up again one day, and gave one of my pocketknives a few passes on it. It works fine. In some respects, I'd even say it cuts more smoothly & evenly now.

As ugly as those scratches might look on the hone, these things can take quite a lot of scratching, and keep on workin'. Those scratches you see on yours are what I'd call the 'initiation' for the hone. It's normal. Don't worry about it.

Edit:
Diamond hones always work best at very light pressure. And at the finer grits, go still lighter. Going too heavy will not help your edge, and will scrub more of the diamond off the hone (and leave deeper scratches).
 
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Mine does the same thing, it's nothing to worry about. From what I understand those EEF stones take a while to break in before they will actually polish a blade.
 
Looking at it again I realized that those are not scratches but the stone surface wearing-in. It will continue and get "worse" until the surface looks slightly polished. You will also loose the gritty feel and eventually will feel like your running the edge over smooth metal. Don't worry this is how you want it to be.

If you regularly use it to keep your blades in tune break-in should be short and you will notice great improvement in sharpness and shine.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Looking at it again I realized that those are not scratches but the stone surface wearing-in. It will continue and get "worse" until the surface looks slightly polished. You will also loose the gritty feel and eventually will feel like your running the edge over smooth metal. Don't worry this is how you want it to be.

If you regularly use it to keep your blades in tune break-in should be short and you will notice great improvement in sharpness and shine.
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Interesting. Although I notice a better edge than I have been able to achieve in the past, I am still a bit disappointed with the edge I have been able to achieve with these stones. i.e. though I can get an edge *smoother* than my Kershaw Skyline factory edge, I cannot get an edge *sharper* than this knife came from the factory. In other words, I can shave arm hair, but not as easily as the Skyline out-of-box.

For the record, I would consider neither of these edges (Skyline new/Skyline resharpened) as *razor* sharp. What do you folks mean when you say "razor sharp"?
 
sharpandsafe said:
Interesting. Although I notice a better edge than I have been able to achieve in the past, I am still a bit disappointed with the edge I have been able to achieve with these stones. i.e. though I can get an edge *smoother* than my Kershaw Skyline factory edge, I cannot get an edge *sharper* than this knife came from the factory. In other words, I can shave arm hair, but not as easily as the Skyline out-of-box.

For the record, I would consider neither of these edges (Skyline new/Skyline resharpened) as *razor* sharp. What do you folks mean when you say "razor sharp"?
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On average by the time you are finished with the coarse/blue stone it should be sharper than most factory edges.
 
knifenut1013 said:
On average by the time you are finished with the coarse/blue stone it should be sharper than most factory edges.
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Okay, I think the edge *feels* sharper after the blue stone because of the micro-serrations, but feels smoother when I am finished. I cannot tell if the smoother edge is sharper or duller than it was after finishing with the blue stone.

Maybe I should test the edge somehow after finishing with the blue stone, and then again after finishing with the tan stone to see if I am actually dulling the edge with the finer stones due to an improper technique or something. Any suggestions?
 
If you seem to be getting a duller edge after the xxf hone something is not right. As stated above, when you are finishing up your sharpening you should be using not much more pressure than the weight of the blade, especially if you are micro-bevelling. Otherwise you can easily roll your fresh sharpened edge, as well as cause a burr to develop.
 
It really shouldn't be that hard to tell. The coarse stone should get you to a shaving or almost shaving edge depending on how much it has broke in. Each stone after should take you to ever greater sharpness, at least 2x sharper with each finer stone.

I'm guessing that your not giving the stones enough credit, the EF and EEF stones take a edge to a point most have never seen in a edge. From my experience when people come to me for sharpening they are often left shaking their head in disbelief when shown the edge after the EF hone. Regardless of age or experience most have simply never seen a edge with that kind of sharpness.

From what you describe I'd say you need to start with your coarsest stone and get the bevel set better. It should feel sharp from the very beginning and only get sharper with each stone.
 
knifenut1013 said:
From what you describe I'd say you need to start with your coarsest stone and get the bevel set better. It should feel sharp from the very beginning and only get sharper with each stone.
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I'll give that a shot. I may not be spending enough time with each stone. I haven't noticed a burr develop at all, so maybe I am not spending enough time with the coarse stone to begin with? Or maybe my stones aren't properly broken-in yet?

I started with factory edges on two knives and a sloppily resharpened third knife. In each case, I colored the bevels with sharpie and switched off to the medium hone as soon as all the black sharpie ink was scratched off. I don't think too much pressure was the problem. I am using very light pressure with the final stones.
 
Not using the stones long enough its without doubt the issue. You must pay very close attention to the bevel while sharpening and the scratches you are making. Using a tool that sets a selected angle also adds a twist, you must set a bevel and completely replace the existing bevel. If a coarse/blue hone is all you have for this expect at least 30min-1 hour of use before being able to move to the next stone. Once this bevel is set the following stones only refine the scratch pattern to make the edge sharper. This should take far less time, maybe 5 minutes with each following grit.

DON'T grind one side until you have a burr then switch. Grind each side evenly until the bevel slopes meet in the middle. When they meet a burr should form then you can steadily reduce pressure and the burr will almost go away, once reduced the edge even at the coarest grit will feel sharp. This is the point when you can switch stones, if you switch early your edge will struggle to become any sharper.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Not using the stones long enough its without doubt the issue. You must pay very close attention to the bevel while sharpening and the scratches you are making. Using a tool that sets a selected angle also adds a twist, you must set a bevel and completely replace the existing bevel. If a coarse/blue hone is all you have for this expect at least 30min-1 hour of use before being able to move to the next stone.
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Yikes. It sounds like it may be worth investing in a black stone.
 
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