KME Diamond Stones

[jfindon]

I just got my set of the diamond stones after using the old stock set for years, and I'm just wondering what kind of life I can expect out of these? I posted awhile ago about something else and it seemed like the silicon carbide ones could be "brought back to life" whereas the diamond ones can't because once the diamond coating is gone, it's gone. About how long do they last though?

 

[wade7575]

Look at Gritomatic's website they have stones there called Venev Industrial Diamonds,I have a set for my K02 and they great the only thing that cut's faster then them are the Metallic Bonded CBN but they are not made for the KME as of yet and I don't know if they will be,the Venev stones are rated in a different grit scale as well their 2000K stone is equal to a 15K Japanese water stone,the Venev stones will also out last a diamond late because the diamonds are not soldered on like a diamond plate and with the Venev they have more anchor point's holding them in place.

The Venev stones will last a good while and cut S110v very fast as well,when you are talking about Silicon Carbide stones you have and if they are the ones that came with your KME they are Ceramic from what I understand.The Venev stones are the real deal and Konstatin is a good guy to deal with and I have purchased from him 4 times and I have never had any problems at all.

You may also want to look at the Congress tool's they sell sharpening stones the Mold Masters are the fastest cutting stones and for higher grit's you may want to get their Super Fine stones in the higher grits the Mold Masters do not come in.

As far as bringing the stock KME Ceramic stones back to life if that's what they are I wouldn't bother unless you are sharpening soft steels with them,but as far as what to use you could try a diamond plate.

https://www.congresstools.com/catalog/categories/get-subcategory/?id=27
https://www.congresstools.com/catalog/categories/get-subcategory/?id=23

https://www.gritomatic.com/collecti...s/venev-bonded-diamond-stone-for-kme-full-set

 

[cbwx34]

I just got my set of the diamond stones after using the old stock set for years, and I'm just wondering what kind of life I can expect out of these? I posted awhile ago about something else and it seemed like the silicon carbide ones could be "brought back to life" whereas the diamond ones can't because once the diamond coating is gone, it's gone. About how long do they last though?

Treat ‘em right, they may outlast you. Usually, the coarse ones over time may “wear out” to the point of replacing... even then, unless you use too much pressure and strip out the stones, you can still use them as a “finer” stone. But all the stones should last many many sharpenings.

Too much pressure is the enemy of diamond stones, that’s what will “strip” the diamonds off, and make them no longer work. Often, if a diamond stone quits cutting, and it’s not damaged... cleaning will restore it.

 

[jfindon]

I just used my stones last night on my 710 in D2 and it was insane how fast it took metal off, though as mentioned I'm coming from worn out ceramic stones.

I have another question though, I know it says the finest stone will still make a toothier edge, but am I correct in assuming that even the finest diamond stones aren't really meant for finishing? Should I still be using the finer aluminum oxide stone and finishing off with the Arkansas stone? To be clear, this is the set I just bought:

https://www.kmesharp.com/gose3set.html

This is the one that came with my sharpener back in the day:

https://www.kmesharp.com/4sexcomefi.html

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I just used my stones last night on my 710 in D2 and it was insane how fast it took metal off, though as mentioned I'm coming from worn out ceramic stones.

I have another question though, I know it says the finest stone will still make a toothier edge, but am I correct in assuming that even the finest diamond stones aren't really meant for finishing? Should I still be using the finer aluminum oxide stone and finishing off with the Arkansas stone? To be clear, this is the set I just bought:

https://www.kmesharp.com/gose3set.html

This is the one that came with my sharpener back in the day:

https://www.kmesharp.com/4sexcomefi.html

You can finish with virtually anything in diamond, from XC to EEF. It just depends on what type of finish you prefer for your uses.

Fine, EF and EEF diamond hones will leave some 'tooth' in the edge, and won't fully polish the bevels (though EEF gets close); but, it doesn't mean they're not suitable for finishing. In those grits in particular, they're very popular for finished edges, among those using diamond hones (including myself).

For D2, I'd avoid the Arkansas stone entirely. It's nowhere close to being hard enough to cut or shape any of the hard carbides in D2, and the Ark stone will get glazed over in the process.

 

[jfindon]

You can finish with virtually anything in diamond, from XC to EEF. It just depends on what type of finish you prefer for your uses.

Fine, EF and EEF diamond hones will leave some 'tooth' in the edge, and won't fully polish the bevels (though EEF gets close); but, it doesn't mean they're not suitable for finishing. In those grits in particular, they're very popular for finished edges, among those using diamond hones (including myself).

For D2, I'd avoid the Arkansas stone entirely. It's nowhere close to being hard enough to cut or shape any of the hard carbides in D2, and the Ark stone will get glazed over in the process.

Interesting on the Arkansas stone. I noticed after I finished with the 1500 grit it was still quite toothy. It slices paper and feels very sharp on my finger, but shaving takes more effort than I'm used to. I've never gotten an edge sharper than shaving, but even with the 1500 grit diamond stone it didn't seem too "finished", like I need one even finer but they don't carry one like that. Is that due to the D2 or just how diamond stones are? Most of my new knives are M390 so I'm wondering how that will react with the diamond stones.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Interesting on the Arkansas stone. I noticed after I finished with the 1500 grit it was still quite toothy. It slices paper and feels very sharp on my finger, but shaving takes more effort than I'm used to. I've never gotten an edge sharper than shaving, but even with the 1500 grit diamond stone it didn't seem too "finished", like I need one even finer but they don't carry one like that. Is that due to the D2 or just how diamond stones are? Most of my new knives are M390 so I'm wondering how that will react with the diamond stones.

If you're looking for 'comfortable' shaving with D2, I'd stick with either Fine/UF or finer ceramics, or continue with diamond compounds on hard strops of wood (basswood, etc). With diamond polishing compounds, something like 3 micron or finer, on a smooth wood strop, will bring up a high polish fast.

1500-grit diamond hones will still be quite toothy; especially for shaving. With skill, anything from maybe ~XC diamond or finer is capable of 'shaving' hair, but obviously wouldn't be best for doing it comfortably. Something like DMT's EEF diamond (8000-mesh/3 micron) starts getting fairly close to polished, and adequate for shaving, in the true sense. But anything coarser really wouldn't be so good for shaving comfortably.

 

[jfindon]

If you're looking for 'comfortable' shaving with D2, I'd stick with either Fine/UF or finer ceramics, or continue with diamond compounds on hard strops of wood (basswood, etc). With diamond polishing compounds, something like 3 micron or finer, on a smooth wood strop, will bring up a high polish fast.

1500-grit diamond hones will still be quite toothy; especially for shaving. With skill, anything from maybe ~XC diamond or finer is capable of 'shaving' hair, but obviously wouldn't be best for doing it comfortably. Something like DMT's EEF diamond (8000-mesh/3 micron) starts getting fairly close to polished, and adequate for shaving, in the true sense. But anything coarser really wouldn't be so good for shaving comfortably.

I don't really care so much about the D2, I was just using that as a test knife but I forgot D2 is more finicky. I'm worried about trying to sharpen my Olamic 247 in M390 though because I want it to have a much less toothy finish than what I achieved with the D2 steel. I do also have a strop from KME with one of their compounds (I forget which micron). What would be the best way to go about sharpening my Olamic given my equipment listed above?

The edge on my 710 does look pretty nice, at least to me. Not polished at all, but decent.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I'd recommend essentially the same for M390, maybe more so. It's got more vanadium carbide content, which is harder than D2's chromium carbides and in larger amounts than in D2's vanadium carbide content. That means diamond will handle it best. If you're still looking for true shaving edges from it, the diamond stropping compounds would do that best. But, to some degree, your existing stropping setup with something like white compound may do OK for a while; but it's abrasive (probably aluminum oxide for most 'white' compounds) still wouldn't be quite hard enough to maintain it shaving-sharp indefinitely.

 

[jfindon]

Well, I sharpened my Spyderco Gayle Bradley tonight, I noticed there was a chip and rolled edge in the middle. I started with the Fine diamond stone because I saw how fast they removed material in general and it took care of the chip in no time. I also produce one of my sharpest blades in a fraction of the time. Mind you it's still not polished at all and has visible scratch patterns, but it shaves very easy and slices receipts. That's about as sharp as I can manage, not sure what I do wrong or what else I need but I'm mostly fine with that.

 

[tonymp]

with the equipment you have there is no reason you could not get a hair whittling edge, make sure you are using light pressure, keep practicing and it you'll get better, make sure your are using light pressure, keep practicing, use light pressure, practice, light pressure.
PS, make sure your are using light pressure.