- Joined
- Dec 28, 2003
- Messages
- 4,793
Interesting to me anyway! FYI, I have always bought DMT sharpening stuff. I got one of their 6" fine red benchstones in a cedar box as a gift 15 years ago. Over time I have acquired one of just about everything they make. The tapered sharpeners, the continuous diamond credit card sharpeners, the diamond files, the diafolds, all of the the new ceramic line, even the mini-keychain sharpeners.
A couple of years ago I finished it off by getting the big Duosharp diamond bench stones with two of the duobases. Along with a set of inherited Smith's Arkansas stones, a Spyderco triangle sharpmaker, an AG Russell's crock stick, Spyderco ceramic stones (thanks Yvsa!), an EZ Lap portable diamond and Buck diamond tapered sharpeners, I probably have slightly more than I need.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is I had always assumed DMT was the best, as they are the market leader, until I wore out a brand new unused Diafold in less than an hour on an AK. I used the blue coarse side and when I was done it was as smooth as a baby's butt. It would not even score glass. I was amazed at this, and couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. I sent it back to DMT with a letter, but it's been 12 weeks and no feedback as yet. (Just called again today and they are sending a new one.)
Today I was reading in the June Blade and they had an article on page 56 about diamond sharpeners. They listed the Edgecrafter model 420 as being among the best, so I called them and spent an interesting 10 minutes talking to the guy.
He explained that just like jewelry diamonds, industrial diamonds also have different grades. That one of the reasons DMT has the holes in their sharpeners is to reduce the amount of diamonds on the surface to save $, which makes sense. He is a competitor, but says they also use lower quality diamonds. (However I have had good luck with them overall.)
Finally he mentioned that there is a very careful process that has to be followed in binding the diamonds to the metal surface. Too much bond, and the diamonds are covered too much and won't cut properly. Too little, and they are like a loose tooth and will become easily dislodged. That immediately explained to me what had happened with my new DMT blue/black.
The Edgecraft product uses up to 20% more diamonds because it is a continuous surface, and they use the best quality industrial diamonds available. They also bond them in a proprietary fashion to the surface. Unlike the DMT's, they can be used on concrete, ceramic tile, glass, hardened steel, etc.
The huge kicker is that their 12" long model 420, which can be used as a file, has an edge guard, and comes with 3 continuous (interchangeble via magnets) diamond surfaces in 3 different grits is $24.95 retail! To get the same 3 grits with DMT I would have to spend over $60 for 2 diafolds, that each have about 4" of non-contiguous surface length.
I still think the DMT's are some of the best out there, and their Duosharps with base are the best there is. Their diafolds are extremely handy and compact, and come with two grits that can be carried afield in your pocket. I have only experienced this failure of the diamond bond to the steel once.
But this is a great deal, and just the thing for shop use, although too big to carry with you at 12" long.. In retrospect, maybe I should have done it the way my Dad used to do, and tried to set the edge with a file first, but I figured the DMT should have been able to handle that. BTW, before I knew enough not to stress it that way, I sharpened several very dull hatchets on that old DMT Fine/red 6" bench stone, which was not intended for such rough work, and it still is holding up.
Anyway, Edgecraft also makes other sharpeners, including bench stones and kitchen stuff. Here is a link to the sharpener I saw in Blade. Scroll down to the Model 420 to get a look.
http://www.edgecraft.com/page2b.html
P.S.: Just found this old BF thread in the Knife reviews & testing forum. Didn't realize this had been around that long...
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2796348#post2796348
Norm
A couple of years ago I finished it off by getting the big Duosharp diamond bench stones with two of the duobases. Along with a set of inherited Smith's Arkansas stones, a Spyderco triangle sharpmaker, an AG Russell's crock stick, Spyderco ceramic stones (thanks Yvsa!), an EZ Lap portable diamond and Buck diamond tapered sharpeners, I probably have slightly more than I need.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is I had always assumed DMT was the best, as they are the market leader, until I wore out a brand new unused Diafold in less than an hour on an AK. I used the blue coarse side and when I was done it was as smooth as a baby's butt. It would not even score glass. I was amazed at this, and couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. I sent it back to DMT with a letter, but it's been 12 weeks and no feedback as yet. (Just called again today and they are sending a new one.)
Today I was reading in the June Blade and they had an article on page 56 about diamond sharpeners. They listed the Edgecrafter model 420 as being among the best, so I called them and spent an interesting 10 minutes talking to the guy.
He explained that just like jewelry diamonds, industrial diamonds also have different grades. That one of the reasons DMT has the holes in their sharpeners is to reduce the amount of diamonds on the surface to save $, which makes sense. He is a competitor, but says they also use lower quality diamonds. (However I have had good luck with them overall.)
Finally he mentioned that there is a very careful process that has to be followed in binding the diamonds to the metal surface. Too much bond, and the diamonds are covered too much and won't cut properly. Too little, and they are like a loose tooth and will become easily dislodged. That immediately explained to me what had happened with my new DMT blue/black.
The Edgecraft product uses up to 20% more diamonds because it is a continuous surface, and they use the best quality industrial diamonds available. They also bond them in a proprietary fashion to the surface. Unlike the DMT's, they can be used on concrete, ceramic tile, glass, hardened steel, etc.
The huge kicker is that their 12" long model 420, which can be used as a file, has an edge guard, and comes with 3 continuous (interchangeble via magnets) diamond surfaces in 3 different grits is $24.95 retail! To get the same 3 grits with DMT I would have to spend over $60 for 2 diafolds, that each have about 4" of non-contiguous surface length.
I still think the DMT's are some of the best out there, and their Duosharps with base are the best there is. Their diafolds are extremely handy and compact, and come with two grits that can be carried afield in your pocket. I have only experienced this failure of the diamond bond to the steel once.
But this is a great deal, and just the thing for shop use, although too big to carry with you at 12" long.. In retrospect, maybe I should have done it the way my Dad used to do, and tried to set the edge with a file first, but I figured the DMT should have been able to handle that. BTW, before I knew enough not to stress it that way, I sharpened several very dull hatchets on that old DMT Fine/red 6" bench stone, which was not intended for such rough work, and it still is holding up.
Anyway, Edgecraft also makes other sharpeners, including bench stones and kitchen stuff. Here is a link to the sharpener I saw in Blade. Scroll down to the Model 420 to get a look.
http://www.edgecraft.com/page2b.html
P.S.: Just found this old BF thread in the Knife reviews & testing forum. Didn't realize this had been around that long...
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2796348#post2796348
Norm
