DMT question

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FlyingKiwi

Joined
May 9, 2010
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Over the past year, I have become somewhat proficient at putting sharp (not always pretty) edges on knives, and after running out of things to sharpen, I branched out and charged a small fee to sharpen the knives of family/friends.
I had just been using an old India stone which my father picked up at a garage sale years ago. It isn't flat, and I haven't been able to flatten it so far. Also, upon sharpening 10" kitchen knives, I have found the stone to cut very slowly. This has resulted in me spending 2 hours on one knife, and only achieving a sharp, but convex edge, due to the loss of concentration and speed/pressure I had to use to cut the metal.

I can get a full set of 6 8" DMT Dia-sharp's to my door for $415 (I live in New Zealand). I decided upon the DMT's because of their speed of removing metal (as you can imagine, the knives I get are usually 'Walmart' quality and blunt as a spoon).

Will the DMT's be able to cut the softer 440A, XCr14Mo etc. type steels that I sharpen, and will it damage the diamonds? I remember reading that a diamond file should never be used on un-hardened steel because it may catch and rip out the diamonds form their bedding. Will the softer crappy knives damage the stones?

P.S I also want DMT's simply as a hobby tool, for my own blades, although they are not S30V because of the crazy price of higher end knives over here.

Thanks.
 
FlyingKiwi said:
Over the past year, I have become somewhat proficient at putting sharp (not always pretty) edges on knives, and after running out of things to sharpen, I branched out and charged a small fee to sharpen the knives of family/friends.
I had just been using an old India stone which my father picked up at a garage sale years ago. It isn't flat, and I haven't been able to flatten it so far. Also, upon sharpening 10" kitchen knives, I have found the stone to cut very slowly. This has resulted in me spending 2 hours on one knife, and only achieving a sharp, but convex edge, due to the loss of concentration and speed/pressure I had to use to cut the metal.

I can get a full set of 6 8" DMT Dia-sharp's to my door for $415 (I live in New Zealand). I decided upon the DMT's because of their speed of removing metal (as you can imagine, the knives I get are usually 'Walmart' quality and blunt as a spoon).

Will the DMT's be able to cut the softer 440A, XCr14Mo etc. type steels that I sharpen, and will it damage the diamonds? I remember reading that a diamond file should never be used on un-hardened steel because it may catch and rip out the diamonds form their bedding. Will the softer crappy knives damage the stones?

P.S I also want DMT's simply as a hobby tool, for my own blades, although they are not S30V because of the crazy price of higher end knives over here.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Its a set you will not regret getting :thumbup:

The only thing to really worry about is forceful grinding, pressing the knife too hard into the stone can be damaging. Besides that just keep them clean and follow the directions.

With average kitchen knives you will laugh at how quickly you can sharpen them no matter how beat the edge is. You could grind the edge into the stone until it looked like the spine and it might take you 10-15 minutes to completely sharpen it.

The speed is nice but the consistent results with a broad range of steels is what has impressed me the most. You will be able to take several knives and if YOU do your job correctly it will be very difficult to tell any sharpness difference between them. The only steels that I have found issue with on diamond stones is carbon steels, those simply sharpen better on either waterstones or sandpaper.
 
knifenut1013 said:
The only steels that I have found issue with on diamond stones is carbon steels, those simply sharpen better on either waterstones or sandpaper.
Click to expand...

Of what nature is the issue with carbon steel on DMTs? I have not experienced any problems, so I ask for clarification. Are you stating that DMT is slower than the other two methods, or that the resulting sharpness or edge retention is inferior?

Thanks for the insight,
Ken
 
I haven't noticed anything unusual about carbon steel on my DMTs either. Where should we be looking? On which blades are speaking of?
 
Its basically overkill for the steel, I've found the speed of the diamond stone on most carbon steels to be no more than sandpaper, waterstones, or my $5 norton aluminum oxide stone. Its more apparent at coarse grits but I've also noticed at the higher end with the EEF stone that its simply not getting the edge as sharp as it should. Its been one of the main reasons I've been adding waterstones to my sharpening line-up.

They work but on carbon steels but other abrasives produce a superior edge.
 
That the stone wont be damaged or have it's life shortened by use on soft steels (44A and varients). Also whether it will be a worth while investment or not at this stage. I a student and all the money from my holiday job will be going towards the stone if I get them.

I guess that because of the cost, I am cautious to make the purchase on the DMT's while there may be other alternatives that will sharpen with adaquate speed, and less cost (Japanese waterstones, Arkansas stones, new India stone, files for reprofiling etc.)
I know I will have the DMT's one day, but with alot of things grabing for my limited cash at the moment, is it worth the large layout?
:(:confused::o
Thanks.
 
Softer steels will not hurt the stone they will just sharpen very fast.

The only stones that will come close are waterstones but you will still be spending as much if not more to cover a similar grit range. You also loose speed and the learning curve will be much larger.

It is a lot of money but its a purchase you'll only need to make once. I have no regrets with mine except that I didn't get them sooner, you can buy a bunch of cheap tools or you can by quality the first time. From experience I can tell you its cheaper to buy right once than buy wrong many times.
 
Yes, thanks, I expect I WILL purchase them now after you talked me into them. :D:D:eek:
BUT! You still have water stones! And there does seem to be something intriguing about sharpening on a more 'organic' material that responds to the touch of the knife, not just the knife responding to the stone, but alas, I must go with the most practical option for now, one that will provide me a good and reliable base for many years.

Thanks Knifenut!
 
FlyingKiwi said:
Yes, thanks, I expect I WILL purchase them now after you talked me into them. :D:D:eek:
BUT! You still have water stones! And there does seem to be something intriguing about sharpening on a more 'organic' material that responds to the touch of the knife, not just the knife responding to the stone, but alas, I must go with the most practical option for now, one that will provide me a good and reliable base for many years.

Thanks Knifenut!
Click to expand...

Nope, just eased your worries about spending hard earned money on quality tools :)

Water stones are something I've worked my way into over several years, the selection is vast and the learning experience is complex but very fascinating. Its something you would like if you enjoy the hand sharpening experience as they simply give a amazing feel to the whole process but they are not forgiving. You make a mistake like gouge the stone and you have now damaged the edge and will need to return to a coarser stone to fix it. Water stones are also known to work best on carbon steels and tend to glaze over with stainless steels, the you have modern alloys like the CPM "S" class or M4 that almost don't even seem to be effected by water stones. So what I've learned is there is no "one" stone or system that does everything but different sets to cover different needs. Knives are individual like people, you can't treat them all the same.
 
Thanks, that is very interesting. So I guess DMT's just work very well but perhaps lack some of the complexity as they yield very regular results, all the time. The only water stone I have ever seen on sale in my country is a King 6000 grit :)
 
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