DMT Dia-Sharp/nicks and scratches in new stone

B

Brad9660

Joined
Nov 26, 2012
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I recently bough a double sided Dia-Sharp stone, it is the fine/extra-fine stone. On the extra-fine side there were a lot of small nicks in the metal beneath the diamond, there were also pretty deep gouges as well. I didn't think this was right so I exchanged for another with the online store I ordered from, I got the second one today, and it has the same issues, just not quite as bad. Is this just to be expected with DMT stones? I really don't like the idea of nicks and scratches that can be felt when sharpening, especially on a smooth extra-fine stone. I am going to call DMT tomorrow, but was wondering if anyone else has seen this with DMT Dia-Sharp stones.
 
I had the same issue with the same stone, and the edges came already stripped of diamond. The xc/c had ripples in it but no nicks that i could see. I think they're just lacking in the finish of the metal substrate. I returned the ef/f stone to dmt, waited a little over a month for the new, and had the same issue still. I can feel the blade jump around as it hits odd spots. It looks awful at 100x mag. It really bugs me cause the harbor freight $15 ones had no problems, but they are a bit coarser. And i didn't see these problems with the dia-folds i had bought years ago.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103299096945919349437/albums/5855347983694047745?authkey=COTIlsWrhqDOAQ
 
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Use the hones for a while. The uneven bumps will smooth out with the usual 'breaking in' of the hones. This isn't exclusive to DMT; I have diamond hones from Lansky & Gatco as well, and all of them have some unevenness when new. None of them have presented any issues after some use; they all become more consistent in finish over time. As always with diamond hones, use LIGHT pressure. Grinding too heavily will strip diamond from the surface, gouge the substrate, and it's no good for finished edges either.


David
 
i have used diamonds before and i do use light pressure. Usually the first thing i do is completely re-profile a junk knife and that includes the flats. The thing is, the stones came already stripped before i used them both times.
 
Here are some pictures. This is how it came out of the package.
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This is normal?
 
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Have you attempted sharpening anything with that EF hone? I'm asking mainly to verify if it actually removes swarf or not. May sound strange, but in the pics, it looks as if that stone has little/no diamond on it at all. Almost looks like bare nickel. I'm comparing to a small 4" EF Dia-Sharp I have, and with mine, there's a certain 'glitter' or sparkle of diamond seen on the surface, even at this fine grit. I also have an EF 'credit card' Dia-Sharp, which looks the same. I'm not seeing that on yours. Maybe it's just the lighting in the pic, but it doesn't look right to me. And what does the 2nd side look like (assuming it's not already pictured)?


David
 
Not normal! It sure looks like an QC issue.

6 months ago DMT replaced my 8E since the store bought was defected (very uneven). The replacement has the same swirls in the upper-left-hand corner as yours. The rest of the surface is flat & high density of diamond (seem denser than other plates I own) and no long&deep scratches. Along with the replacement, DMT (super nice of them) included/gifted a creditcard X; diafold F/E and mini C. After that nice gesture :thumbup: I bought a new 8EE to replace my brain-fogged attempt to turn a spyderco 306UF into a Shapton 30K :rolleyes: The new 8EE was factory pre-flatten so no protruding high spots, almost a spec-ed perfect surface.
 
There is a whole lot more scratching on that than on mine. But the surface finish looks the same as mine before sharpening with it. The diamonds will give it a matte finish compared to the bare metal underneath.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Have you attempted sharpening anything with that EF hone? I'm asking mainly to verify if it actually removes swarf or not. May sound strange, but in the pics, it looks as if that stone has little/no diamond on it at all. Almost looks like bare nickel. I'm comparing to a small 4" EF Dia-Sharp I have, and with mine, there's a certain 'glitter' or sparkle of diamond seen on the surface, even at this fine grit. I also have an EF 'credit card' Dia-Sharp, which looks the same. I'm not seeing that on yours. Maybe it's just the lighting in the pic, but it doesn't look right to me. And what does the 2nd side look like (assuming it's not already pictured)?


David
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The stone looks the same in person as it does in these pictures. My first thought after seeing all the scratches was that it was bare metal. It is not bare, but the nickle does shine through the diamond that is there. I did not try sharpening with it, it is gone now, I returned it in exchange for another. The new one doesn't have as many scratches, but looks like the density of diamond at one corner thins out to almost nothing, and overall looks like the one pictured here, except the bad scratches. The other side of this stone, and the replacement look pretty good, there are two little spots that look like there is no diamond at all, but they are tiny, and it's only two specs.
 
Looks like a coarser stone scrapped across the surface, no, not normal.
 
Brad9660 said:
The stone looks the same in person as it does in these pictures. My first thought after seeing all the scratches was that it was bare metal. It is not bare, but the nickle does shine through the diamond that is there. I did not try sharpening with it, it is gone now, I returned it in exchange for another. The new one doesn't have as many scratches, but looks like the density of diamond at one corner thins out to almost nothing, and overall looks like the one pictured here, except the bad scratches. The other side of this stone, and the replacement look pretty good, there are two little spots that look like there is no diamond at all, but they are tiny, and it's only two specs.
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OK, good. I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed in the pics. The lateral scratches don't look good to me though, so returning it seems appropriate.

Sometimes, even the thin-looking spots are deceptive, in how much diamond is really there. I sometimes take an old tarnished penny or something similar and rub a single pass edgewise on a hone or strop to test for presence of abrasive (this works great on strops using white/diamond compound, especially, if you're not sure how much is there). A penny will always leave a dark streak of swarf on the hone, and a shiny spot on the penny, if there's any abrasive at all. I have a Dia-Fold (C/F) that I'd sworn was worn bare in spots, after using it to lap a ceramic hone. Looked pretty bad, but it still produced significant swarf when sharpening on it afterwards.


David
 
Thanks guys for all the input, or to anyone else who responds. My question now is do I keep the stone I was sent, after sending this one in. It looks much better than the one pictured, but still has lots of little nicks and scratches in it. But from what some of you guys are telling me, small imperfections seem to be normal, so maybe I will try out the replacement stone.
 
Did You get these from DMT or from another source? If from DMT, then maybe they are the way they should be. If not, then I would suspect used and abused stones. Just guessing here as I don't have one to compare to.

If you bought from a third party source, then I would be suspect that they were pushing some returned and mis used stones on to you. Sometimes a bargain is not a bargain.

Blessings,

Omar
 
My replacement directly from dmt had the same basic defects, just not to that level. And the ef looks a lot different after first use. That one didn't look used at all. I ended up keeping the last one they sent just cause i didn't want to deal with they're customer service again. courteous but forgetful.
 
Brad9660 said:
Thanks guys for all the input, or to anyone else who responds. My question now is do I keep the stone I was sent, after sending this one in. It looks much better than the one pictured, but still has lots of little nicks and scratches in it. But from what some of you guys are telling me, small imperfections seem to be normal, so maybe I will try out the replacement stone.
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Might use it for a bit. A lot of visible marks on the hone's surface won't create issues in sharpening, and many of those visible marks will change or go away with use. If it is so irregular that it's consistently creating problems on your edges, then I'd send it back to DMT (not the dealer). DMT should make it right, one way or another. Sometimes dealers won't back 'em as well (like Omar, I also wondered if the dealer had sent you one that'd been returned by somebody else, after some 'use').


David
 
OHALLUM said:
Did You get these from DMT or from another source? If from DMT, then maybe they are the way they should be. If not, then I would suspect used and abused stones. Just guessing here as I don't have one to compare to.

If you bought from a third party source, then I would be suspect that they were pushing some returned and mis used stones on to you. Sometimes a bargain is not a bargain.

Blessings,

Omar
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I did buy this from a third party, so who know what happened to it before I got it. I called DMT today and explained the situation and was told what I described was normal, they said it was markings from the grinder. Then I told her that I posted some pictures on a forum and people agreed my stone was not normal. Then she paused for a second, and said "well just go ahead and send it in". I don't have the best feeling about sending it in, plus they said nothing about a prepaid shipping label so i would have to pay the shipping. I might just keep it or return it for another exchange with the site I bought it from.
 
Things do not always need to look pretty to work and if the defect is only cosmetic and does not affect the sharpening then I see no need to seek replacement.
 
I agree, but the replacement stone I have has a fairly large portion near one of the corners that clearly has much less diamond on it. I tested surface with a penny, and the metal removal on the penny, and the feel of it grinding on the stone was much different in the thin spot. I guess I just expected more from the self proclaimed "leader in diamond sharpening technology".
 
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