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- May 16, 2006
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Based upon some recommendations in this thread I bought two DMT Mini-sharps, fine and extra fine, from Amazon. Total cost $21.25 with shipping. Well, the fine one showed up today and I'm very happy with it. The fine is 25 micron / 600 mesh and the extra fine is 9 micron / 1200 mesh. I used the fine on a dull BM530 in 440C and it restored it to shaving sharpness in about 6 or 7 strokes per side. I was pretty surprised how aggressive it felt and the edge it left was very toothy. Frankly this was a bit more aggressive than I expected but assume from reading other threads that this kind of aggressive cutting will subside after more use. Now I'm very eager to see just what kind of final edge the extra fine will leave, my guess is that it will get close to hair-whittling sharp once it is broken in.
If you're not a stickler for a more polished edge I believe you could survive quite nicely with just the fine one. Seems aggressive enough to sharpen a very dull knife without undue work. I used it on an 9 inch chefs knife and found that it had to be done in two sections. A 6 - 7 inch blade length seems to be about the maximum that can comfortably be sharpened in just one pass.
The design is excellent, a nice balance in size and usefulness, and it weighs under an ounce.
If you're not a stickler for a more polished edge I believe you could survive quite nicely with just the fine one. Seems aggressive enough to sharpen a very dull knife without undue work. I used it on an 9 inch chefs knife and found that it had to be done in two sections. A 6 - 7 inch blade length seems to be about the maximum that can comfortably be sharpened in just one pass.
The design is excellent, a nice balance in size and usefulness, and it weighs under an ounce.
