How can I know if I'm stripping diamonds?

ThinkOfTheChildren

ThinkOfTheChildren

Joined
Jul 7, 2000
Messages
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I've been using my diamond sharpmaker rods to reprofile some old (and dull) knives that have been sitting around and I've been churning up a ton of steel! In a couple threads it's been mentioned that too much pressure on the diamond rods will strip the diamonds from the steel triangles. I might be paranoid, but when I look down at a pile of steel dust I can't help but think that the shiny grains contain diamonds and that I'm ruining my expensive new sticks.

So what's the deal? Is there any way to really know how much pressure is too much? How can I tell if I'm starting to strip the diamonds off of the rods?

Also, what's the best way to clean these babies? They're not smooth like the ceramics so a brillo pad doesn't really work so well.
 
I've been wondering about that myself. I love the diamond rods and have been using them extensively to reprofile some older knives. There's always a lot of grit in the Sharpmaker slots and on the counter when I'm done that I don't think is steel dust. I'm especially concerned about the corners because of the much narrower contact area and greater stress on whatever's sticking the diamonds to the rods.

Anybody (Sal?) know the expected lifespan of the diamond rods?

Chad
 
Originally posted by ThinkOfTheChildren
Also, what's the best way to clean these babies? They're not smooth like the ceramics so a brillo pad doesn't really work so well.
Click to expand...

I used to have a set of diamond stones on my Lansky sharpening kit, and after use I cleaned them with a magnet, by attracting the steel shavings. Don't know how well it'd work with the Sharpmaker rods though.
 
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