DMT aligner: Tips?

singularity35

singularity35

Joined
Mar 1, 2010
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I just got my DMT aligner kit and I got my endura and my military really dull. What's the trick to this?
 
First put a piece of masking tape on the spine, this will keep the clamp from moving. Place the clamp at about 1/2 way down the blade. Follow directions.

For a flat ground blade like the millie you will need to pinch the clamp on the blade with your fingers allowing the clamp to take the angle of the flat grind. Then tighten the brass screw a 1/4 turn before setting the clamp in place with the plastic set screw.

that's the basics, do you have any specific questions?
 
Still can't get good results. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I used a sharpie and I could see that at first I was hitting just the shoulders then I started hitting the edges. I still got an edge that could barely cut leghair.
 
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Got any pics?

Your probably not working each grit long enough.
 
Sorry, I don't have a good camera. I actually wound up re-profiling both my endura and military. Since I only have the coarse, fine, and extra fine, I taped some 120 grit wet/dry on a stone and worked on the edges till I could get all of the marker off. Then I started with the coarse, and then the fine, and extra fine. I got really dull edges. I can't even get them back sharp with the sharpmaker. About how many strokes would be ideal from the other grits?
 
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singularity35 said:
I taped some 120 grit wet/dry on a stone and worked on the edges till I could get all of the marker off. Then I started with the coarse, and then the fine, and extra fine. I got really dull edges. I can't even get them back sharp with the sharpmaker. About how many strokes would be ideal from the other grits?
Click to expand...

Did you raise a burr on any of those stages?

Before I got my XX Course & X Course I used the Course to reprofile an edge - took a lot of work but I got it done. I usually have the knife 'shaving sharp' by the time I have finished with the course stone, then I go finer to polish the edge.
 
Make sure you are raising a burr. I have XC through XF stones and I can usually shave leg hair after just the XC stone. It doesn't shave great but it definitely does.

Once you have a burr, alternate single strokes on each side until it starts to go away. Then just keep working your way through the grits being sure to check the edge as you go.

Sometimes, I will go up one angle setting and do 1 EXTREMELY light pass on both sides. This usually gets the burr off and leaves a nice sharp edge.
 
Yes, I thought of going up one angle to remove the burr. Thanks. i had a hard time getting rid of the burr on my military. How do you match the angles if you don't want to reprofile?
 
singularity35 said:
Yes, I thought of going up one angle to remove the burr. Thanks.
Click to expand...

That's what I usually do when I'm using a clamp system. Go up one angle, do a light pass or two (1 on each side, whatever you do), and then go back to my original angle and do 1 pass per side to get rid of the microbevel.

singularity35 said:
How do you match the angles if you don't want to reprofile?
Click to expand...

Are you talking about sharpening by hand thereafter?
 
No, I mean how do you match the bevel of a knife to just sharpen it? for instance. I just wanted to sharpen my military but I wound up reprofiling it with the aligner kit because I did not know how to match the bevel angle. Do you just sharpen it with the angle nearest to the actual angle on the knife?
 
I'm assuming you mean that you haven't sharpened that particular knife with the Aligner yet. Chances are that your factory angle isn't going to match one of the preset angles on the Aligner. You can either use a higher angle and grind right into the edge, sharpening it right away, or you can go at the next lower angle (in relation to your factory angle) and then grind away metal until you hit the edge. The former will create a secondary bevel, and the latter method will give you a single bevel. It's your choice.

Also note that due to minor variations in the way you clamp the knife, the angle you had last time on the same knife might not be the exact same the next time around.
 
Can stropping after using XF remove all burs or should I always give one pass with a higher angle?
 
By the time your done with the EF you should have no burrs, light pressure is the key here.
 
Clamp the Aligner as knifenut explained.

Diamonds cut without pressure
Let the diamonds do the work

Use a sharpie
Work the course stone till there is no sharpie marks
Run your thumb nail against the edge to feel for a burr (opposite of cutting)
Lightly work off the burr

Change to fine
Sharpie
Work the fine till you see even scratch marks from the fine
sharpie
Run your thumb nail against the edge to feel for a burr (opposite of cutting)
Work off the burr

Change to extra fine
Then lightly use the extra fine for a hone
Run your thumb nail against the edge to feel for a burr (opposite of cutting)
Lightly work off the burr
Then do a couple of passes on each side a few times
 
Sorry for the newbie question, but I assume the burr shows up on the opposite side that is being worked on the diamond stone. To work off the burr, do you put the side with the burr on the diamond stone and do roughly an equal number of strokes (or until its gone)?

About how many strokes create a burr?

Thanks
 
gus68 said:
Sorry for the newbie question, but I assume the burr shows up on the opposite side that is being worked on the diamond stone. To work off the burr, do you put the side with the burr on the diamond stone and do roughly an equal number of strokes (or until its gone)?
Click to expand...

You alternate sides doing one pass per side to get rid of the burr. But when you're working at getting the burr, do an even number of passes per side so that you don't move the edge off to one side by grinding too much on the left or right. For example, do 20 passes on one side, then do 20 on the other side, etc.

gus68 said:
About how many strokes create a burr?
Click to expand...

It's over when it's over. There is no number. Mark with a sharpie, and grind until you've reached the edge. After you reach the edge, you will start to form a burr. That could be 10 passes, 50 passes, 100 passes, 300 passes, or even thousands of passes. It depends on what angle your bevels started at and what angle you're taking it to.
 
I think my problem is with the burr. I rolled a cotton swab over it and had some resisitance, threads were left on the blade. I tried alternate at different grits for a bit, better but still there. I assume I just continue to alternating strokes but whats the best grit to use?

Thanks
 
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