DMT - How good? How reliable.....

G

general38

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Nov 13, 2007
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I was wondering if anybody can comment on the effectiveness of DMT diamond stones over time. Aluminium Oxide on the coarser grades wear out. I need reliable fast cutting stones but i dont really want to use water stones (too much preperation and mess). Having a DMT coarse stone already, i was contemplating buying the DMT fine/superfine stone. The coarse stone removes lots of metal fast, however I have not used this stone enough to comment on its durability. My usage is typically once perday on 56 to 60 rockwell knives. Could any Longtime users of DMT comment please?

Also I was contemplating a slowspeed bench grinder with angle guides and finishing off with fine stones. Any comments on how good the knife grinder is in comparison to hand sharpening?
 
I've used my DMT hones (coarse, medium (red) and fine (green) at least weekly, and probably more often on average, for 10 years and they still work fine.
 
My oldest DMT Coarse is about twenty years old now. It has lost a bit of its bite, due mostly to me using too much pressure in an effort to hurry the process of sharpening hard steels like 440V/S60V. In spite of my efforts to ruin it, it is still usable. My Fine and Extra-fine hones are newer, but holding up at least as well so far.
 
My DMT D8XX (the 120 grit one) has been used very hard over the past two years and shows no signs of slowing down (maybe it knows I have a spare) and I don't use light pressure with it at all (if you're already using a 120 grit plate, finesse should be the least of your worries). I don't like the 600 and 1200 grit stones as much as the 120 and 325 grit stones, but only because they require more care to keep from loading up and clogging with steel dust (people who actually sharpen versus regrind usually don't have that problem).
 
I used my X-coarse to flatten my spyderco medium ceramic and noticed no wear of the DMT. If it can do that I don't think blade steel will wear it out.:thumbup:
 
It could. Lapping more brittle materials is less likely to pull diamonds from their bonding. t1mpani used to talk about a study that showed diamond grinding wheels wore out faster on metal (can't remember if it was iron or steel) than ceramics.
 
It is possible in theory, but in practice it if even exist is at very low unnoticable level - I am talking about DMT Diasharp steel plates for steel knives, I am not talking about full range of diamond cutting, grinding etc tools for ceramic or concrete etc...

And for sure it wear out way way slower then any other sharpening solution I know.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I'm happy with my blue coarse DMT for reprofiling.

Thom;

Do you have the dotted versions Green/red = etra fine /fine.

Or do you have the continued surface ones; I think they are called the Duosharp ones?

I might pick up a fine extra fine DMT but are in dubio about which ones the dotted traditional ones or the new continues surface ones.

Might be the newer ones without the dot pattern might clog up easier?

:thumbup:
 
I've had a D6F and a D6XF (I think those are the p/n's) for two years now. The XF gets used about once a week to touch up my S30V Native, but the F sees much less frequent use. Just when things get out of hand on the egde. For light touch ups I use them dry, but for more involved sharpening I use good old water.

They work beautifully.
 
I found that my continous surface E-Z Lap hones loaded up faster than the perforated surface DMT hones. YMMV.
 
Maarten,

I have the contiunous surface Dia-Sharps (and a few dotted ones on pocketsized sharpeners). The XXC and C don't clog when I overdo it; the F and EF are fine when I don't overdo it.
 
I have a dmt six inch fine (red) and I have used it one heck of a lot in the last twelve years. It is still going strong.
 
i only have the DMT credit card sharpeners, and haven't used them that much, but i noticed they lost that initial bite, but they still seem to be working fine.

i can answer you question on a grinder vs stones-
i haven't used a blade-specific grinder, but i have use a bench grinder fitted with a sharpening wheel, and found that it really works best on wood working tools like chisels and plane blades far more than on knife blades.

i strongly suggest getting a 1x30 or 1x42 belt sander (i have a 1x30) and getting some high-quality belts from leevalley to thin out and reprofile your blades. i use mine all the way out to very finish sharpening before a strop (looking to get the leather powerstrop belt soon) to a 9 micron belt. if you prefer, you could leave it at a courser grit and polish with stones. even when using the platen, the belt sander tends to convex a bevel, i notice moreso at higher grits. if that's a concern, i would suggest using course belts to thin/straighten an edge and then polish on your stones.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48040&cat=1,43072
 
I love my continuous-surface hones, but I often wonder about the difference between the dotted and continuous-surface hones. I think I will pose that question in a separate thread.
 
My DMT Coarse, Fine and super fine wore out within a week of use. I was re profiling a SOG Tech Bowie
 
You just have to be careful not to use much pressure. If you bear down on the stone you end up rocking the diamonds out of the metal matrix. Besides, using pressure doesn't make it cut much faster. Diamond stones are fast cutters, but you still need to be patient.
 
Bushman5 said:
My DMT Coarse, Fine and super fine wore out within a week of use. I was re profiling a SOG Tech Bowie
Click to expand...

You might want to clean those out with a scrub brush. They don't wear out anywhere near as often as they get impacted with steel dust.
 
Thom,

I agree i highly doubt he will wear out the stones from reprofiling one single knive. I guess the stones got clogged with metal dust. If serious reprofiling is needed you have to clean the stones between sessions. I also use it moisterized with water when serious reprofiling is needed.
If i see to much gray stuff and i HEAR no actual grinding off i'll take it to a hard brush with dishwasher tablets powdered and hot water. lol.

I have my Blue Dmt for over 6 years now and did stuff on chisels and other tools next to knives. The trick is let the diamonds do the work and no elbow grease force applied. Light strokes the diamonds are hard enough to do the work. Just my 2c.
;)

Patience is the trick in nowadays society..
 
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