DMT extra course for lapping 4K/8K?

WolfSpring

WolfSpring

Joined
Feb 25, 2015
Messages
126
I bought a DMT D8X(extra course) on ebay accidentally to lap my 4000/8000 Nortons for honing my straight razor my first question is will this be to course or should I be ok? I guess it's 220 as opposed to the 325 that everyone recommends for lapping. I'd think it would be okay if I take it slow and pay attention.

My next question is can I use this to sharpen/reprofile knives? Or will sharpening knives cause the DMT to be uneven and therefor not flatten the nortons?
 
WolfSpring said:
I bought a DMT D8X(extra course) on ebay accidentally to lap my 4000/8000 Nortons for honing my straight razor my first question is will this be to course or should I be ok? I guess it's 220 as opposed to the 325 that everyone recommends for lapping. I'd think it would be okay if I take it slow and pay attention.

My next question is can I use this to sharpen/reprofile knives? Or will sharpening knives cause the DMT to be uneven and therefor not flatten the nortons?
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You can definitely use it to sharpen and reprofile regular cutlery. For lapping Nortons I currently use the side of an inexpensive 8" grinder wheel with the labeling soaked off. The XC should handle it, but it will wear the diamond plate over time and maybe only use it for the 8k - better an XXC for everything else. Nortons being fairly soft the XC will work but is a better tool for sharpening than flattening.
 
I have the X coarse DMT stone and I would not use it to level any stone. As the plate is expensive and this breaks the diamond teeth off and reduces it's life. I'd use something else like a coarse SiC stone purchase from a hardware store. They're far more economical. You can use the DMT to reprofile only be very careful and use light pressure as that will also break the teeth off. Diamond stones are too fragile to use for much more than light sharpening. DM
 
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Only the XXC and Dia-flat plates are made to lap other stones. DMT strictly states you use all other DMT plates at your own risk.
 
Ok now I am confused, everywhere I have read it says use a DMT-325 when I do a search it says the DMT-325 is a diamond plate with 325 grit so am I misunderstanding that from the start? The plate was "only" 50 bucks so money wasn't the huge issue in getting this, I can still make use of it, and it's an eBay purchase so it's not like I can exchange it. Can some one shoot me a current link of what the DMT-325 is supposed to be, or correct me on why the DMT-325 which I believe to be the diamond plate 325 is wrong? And if it is not wrong why is a 220 going to be bad to use vs a 325, I understand a higher grit will work towards a smoother lap and I've heard 600 grit sandpaper before but I'm trying to find a long term stone that I can put in the box with the nortons. Thank you all for helping, if I've learned nothing else from this it just reinforces do not use eBay after midnight, even though I work mids it's seems I like to order things I don't need.
 
If I lap waterstones with my DMT Coarse 325 mesh stone I can literally watch as the diamonds are ripped from the plate. Very obvious on bright white waterstones. The XC 220 plate is better but not recommended, it sticks a lot and you still have diamonds being pulled from the plate. These problems will be amplified when you lap the 8000 grit waterstone.

As I mentioned, DMT specifically says what stones can be used for lapping and the XC or C are not among them. Why do others use them? That's simple, no one reads directions.

The DMT Coarse is an excellent general maintenance stone, it's coarse enough to set bevels but also fine enough to finish an edge. I use my DMT coarse in conjunction with a strop to sharpen many of my personal blades and those of my customers. I have grown to like this edge over the finer DMT offerings for its performance and ease of maintenance.

The only plates besides the DMT that are finer and can be used for lapping are the 320 mesh Shapton Diamond Glass Lapping Plate or the Atoma 400.
 
Thank you Jason I went back and read the part about 220 grit sandpaper and finishing on 400-600 guess I wasn't seeing the stone itself as everything else out there with a surface that needs to be worked, why I don't know, ignorance maybe. So I will run off to the store and get some sandpaper. I was at work reading another site about lapping and figured I'd look into a DMT325 that several suggested read eBay wrong and ordered the wrong and got the 220, but it's not a waist it will add well to my sharpmaker and nortons(which I bought mainly for use with a straight razor). Maybe as i go along will add some actual stones. I have gotten really good at getting things sharp and feel I have a good understanding of progression using multiple "grits" along the way.

Thank you all for the guidance as always, good thing I always double check before I execute, well not with my money but with my toys.
 
WolfSpring said:
Thank you Jason I went back and read the part about 220 grit sandpaper and finishing on 400-600 guess I wasn't seeing the stone itself as everything else out there with a surface that needs to be worked, why I don't know, ignorance maybe. So I will run off to the store and get some sandpaper. I was at work reading another site about lapping and figured I'd look into a DMT325 that several suggested read eBay wrong and ordered the wrong and got the 220, but it's not a waist it will add well to my sharpmaker and nortons(which I bought mainly for use with a straight razor). Maybe as i go along will add some actual stones. I have gotten really good at getting things sharp and feel I have a good understanding of progression using multiple "grits" along the way.

Thank you all for the guidance as always, good thing I always double check before I execute, well not with my money but with my toys.
Click to expand...

I think the Atoma 400 sounds like it would be perfect for your needs.
 
I had gotten the DMT XXC couple of years ago(regular diasharp version, not the dia-flat) for flattening stones, and it was great for my 220 and 320 Shaptons, but found it left noticeable scratches on my 1000 (so didn't even try using it for finer stones). BUT, it's still one of my favorite sharpeners, great for quickly re-profiling CPM steels. In the end, I got the Atoma 400 (one of the ones Jason mentioned) and have like the results very much up to 5k and 8k (I rub the atoma against the finer stones for most of the work, which really isn't much since I do it before every sharpening, then rub one stone against the next level down or up for a nicer finish). Now as for my 120, that's I'm still trying to figure out.....
 
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