Dmt plates

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Slim7

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Oct 11, 2015
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Has anyone noticed a decline in QC in the dmt stones?(especially the finer ones) I was thinking about trying the eze lap diamond stones. Does anyone have any experience with these? I read that they are much coarser than their grit rating.
 
The EZE-Lap hone I've tried (double-sided 400/1200) has started out seemingly coarser than similarly-rated hones from DMT. For example, the '1200' side ('Super Fine', I think is what they call it) produced a finish more like DMT's 600 (Fine) hone, in what I've seen.

EZE-Laps are still pretty good though, and fast-cutting. Good deal for the money. EZE-Lap claims their hones will start out working more aggressively initially, then settling into a more refined performance down the road. Maybe takes a while, as I haven't seen mine fully 'settle' to that degree yet.

I don't know about any decline in quality of DMT's products lately. All of mine were purchased maybe 3-4 or more years ago. I haven't had any complaints about those. DMT is still my favorite, in terms of the cleanliness of finish left on edges sharpened with them. The noticeable effect of this is, the DMT-finished edges seldom need much stropping or additional refinement. Other brands I've tried, like EZE-Lap, usually need a little more cleanup of burrs & such. Each time I've used my EZE-Lap to reset an edge, I've always done the finishing work on one of my DMTs.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
The EZE-Lap hone I've tried (double-sided 400/1200) has started out seemingly coarser than similarly-rated hones from DMT. For example, the '1200' side ('Super Fine', I think is what they call it) produced a finish more like DMT's 600 (Fine) hone, in what I've seen.

EZE-Laps are still pretty good though, and fast-cutting. Good deal for the money. EZE-Lap claims their hones will start out working more aggressively initially, then settling into a more refined performance down the road. Maybe takes a while, as I haven't seen mine fully 'settle' to that degree yet.

I don't know about any decline in quality of DMT's products lately. All of mine were purchased maybe 3-4 or more years ago. I haven't had any complaints about those. DMT is still my favorite, in terms of the cleanliness of finish left on edges sharpened with them. The noticeable effect of this is, the DMT-finished edges seldom need much stropping or additional refinement. Other brands I've tried, like EZE-Lap, usually need a little more cleanup of burrs & such. Each time I've used my EZE-Lap to reset an edge, I've always done the finishing work on one of my DMTs.
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I may give eze lap a try.
I wish the company Smith's would produce a continious full size bench stone, just like the little 3"x1" sharpener they make, with the little fishhook groove in it. I have one and I have literally used and abused that little sucker, and it's still cutting strong. I have used that thing to sharpen, and chamfered a many of edges on Arkansas stones, and diamonds don't shed on this stone. What ever or how ever they bonded those diamond on the substrate - they very well intended it to last!!
 
I had the DMT set and Gold Series set for my KME when I had the KME system.The Gold Series stones cut faster and are a great long lasting stone,the DMT's I feel are terrible stones,to the touch the DMT stones all feel like the same grit and also are very slow cutting from what I have and the only way I'd ever own DMT's again is if someone gave them to me and I would use them as a slurry stone.
 
I had problems with a diasharp ef a few years back (had contaminants in the plating bath that screwed up the surface). The replacement was better plated but still seemed to leave a very rough inconsistent finish even after much use.

The interrupted surface plates I bought around the same time were 110%.
 
I have three of the dia grade DMT 11 1/2" stones which cost me 80$ each delivered. The x-coarse and coarse shed a lot of grit on the first few uses. Thus, I began using them Only sparingly. The fine grit I use as a finishing stone with vanadium steels. Had I kept using them I would have had to replace them by now. So, it matters how much you sharpen, what steels you sharpen and how you sharpen. I mostly shy away
from them. And those extra hard and Gold series stones I've not found in the size I use. I'm sure they would cost me a pretty penny. DM
 
I have a diasharp xfine that has a spot that keeps catching on edge leading strokes. The keep telling me I need to break the stone in. I have followed their instructions to no avail. I just need to find the time to call in again. My dua sharp interrupted hones cut fast for me. The only other diamond hones that I have experience with are Harbor Freight which probably goes without saying are not worth the little money I spent on them.
 
I've got the 10" XXC, C, F in continuous surface, and 10" EC/C, F/EF interrupted surface stones, and I prefer the interrupted for all sharpening. Only issue I had with any of them is the XXC felt as porous as concrete and shed grit at first. Only use for waterstone flattening now. All bought within 5 years or so.
 
What about the surface durability of DMT vs eze lap? Does the eze-lap shed large amount of unnecessary grit?
 
Slim7 said:
What about the surface durability of DMT vs eze lap? Does the eze-lap shed large amount of unnecessary grit?
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I haven't had the impression my EZE-Lap sheds too much grit.

Keep in mind, ALL nickel-plated diamond hones will shed a little bit while they break in. When they're brand new, some of the factory grit will be loosely bound, so it'll come out early on. But after a point, they should settle into a steady pattern of consistent performance, without giving up much more grit; not enough to notice anyway.
 
I have dmts for going on 7 years. I always went to town on them with a chisel to get the loose grit knocked off at first. Having said that they last a loooooong time.
 
While on diamond stones subject, if you measure out the actual diamond surface of the duo stones vs the dia stones you'll realize the diamond
portion of the duo is very near only 1/2 the surface for the stone. Thus, are these stones 1/2 the price of the dia stones? Nope, they are the same price in many cases.? To me that just doesn't add up to value. DM
 
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I am a DMT guy,they serve me well. I have a coarse and a fine 8" that are older than some of the posters in this thread.
They still cut steel, as do my ultra sharp, my atoma, and my eze lap.
In essence "diamonds are a guy's best friend"...
 
David Martin said:
While on diamond stones subject, if you measure out the actual diamond surface of the duo stones vs the dia stones you'll realize the diamond
portion of the duo is very near only 1/2 the surface for the stone. Thus, are these stones 1/2 the price of the dia stones? Nope, the are the same in many cases.? To me that just doesn't add up to value. DM
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Definitely true about the surface area, though I find the plate quality to be a lot higher on the interrupted surface plates and they seem to grind every bit as quickly. They do sometimes create patterns in whatever I'm working on if I can't move around the stone surface for whatever reason.

To be honest I mostly use my Ultrasharp coarse/fine as its double sided and the coarse side is a good finish for resetting edges, the fine side is good for microbevel. This plate has proven its durability to me the hard way, both sides. I don't baby it at all.

If I had a DMT XC/EF 2 sided it would probably become my go-to.
 
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