I was looking at those Venev plates in particular, but after reading up on them it sounds like maybe they are still working out some of the kinks with the bond, feedback, and whatnot?
To me, yes, the Atoma 140 is worth the extra $. I have the Ultrasharp 300/1200 and both sides have held up very well. In fact it was somewhat used and gifted to me from another forum member, so at first I thought of it as a "backup" plate. But now its the first one I grab - have a done hours of work with both sides and with a bit of Barkeepers Friend it it is still "like new".
A DMT Coarse/EF duosharp would be a strong contender but cost a lot more.
Ceramics will work great on a lot of steels, but for high carbide or even very high Rockwell I'm not a fan. I don't think I'd sell it though. On a lot of steels they work great.
It looks like that Atoma 140 is going to be the winner for reprofiling. It's name keeps popping up and it looks to have absolutely glowing reviews.
As far as the Ultra Sharp goes... It looks like I have two options for 300/1200 grit plates. I can either go with a dual sided plate, or two separate plates. The two separate plates are only about $8 more. Any advantages to the separate plates other than less chance of abrasive pullout? Also... It looks like my local, mom and pop outdoors shop (one of the best in the state!) has the DMT Coarse/Extra-Fine Duo Sharp interrupted plates and the Ultra Sharp plates for basically the same price. With the price being equal, would either stand out above the other?
I'm a HUGE fan of simple carbon steels as well as traditional knives, so I think I will keep that Spyderco extra fine around. It might be fun to have some stones that provide different sorts of feedback. And after watching some videos of Jdavis882, maybe I can use it to refine different freehand techniques without doing too much damage to my blade.
On the note of having different stones... I have the opportunity to purchase a brand new 10" x 2" hard arkansas and 6" x 2" surgical black arkansas stone for under $60 and I'm having a hard time resisting, even though I already have a 8" x 2" soft and 8" x 2" translucent. Talk me out of it, tell me I'm crazy!
I've used the brown (medium) Spyderco bench stone to touch up edge imperfections on a Maxamet folder I purchased from a friend here on the forums a year or two back. Certainly wouldn't try to do any serious sharpening or reprofiling, but it is remarkably versatile for those occasions where I don't opt for diamond (plated or bonded)...or, occasionally, a water stone.
I have way more hones than I need...but I've grown attached to them all and find I (seem to) enjoy owning them as much as the knives they service.
Yea... I think I'm starting to realize that one can never have too many stones! This could end up being an expensive (but fun) endeavor, lol.
It's good to know that ceramics can have some use even on the hardest of steels.
I like my DoubleStuffs and SharpMaker so much, I doubt I would have been able to get rid of the Spyderco Ultra Fine benchstone anyway. My wife calls me a pack rat, but I do at least occasionally get the last laugh when the doodad from five years ago that I put in storage comes in handy.
I recommend Atoma Diamond Plates over DMT. I prefer the feedback from the Atoma, it's more consistent, absolutely flat, and they scream at you if you're holding the angle wrong.
For bench stones/plates DMT has their DuoSharp and DiaSharp.
DuoSharp are the plasticky polka dot pattern. DiaSharp use the same abrasive but give a continuous metal surface. Both get the job done, I prefer a continuous surface.
I have a DiaSharp 600. After purchasing an Atoma 600, and comparing them, I also got the Atoma 400 and 1200.
Atoma does not offer a higher grit, so I also got the DMT Extra Extra Fine.
If Atoma were to make a higher grit, I would buy it immediately, if the price was reasonable.
Going higher in price, there are various Bonded Diamond stones on the market. My problem with these is that they're using a formaldehyde based resin. I make a point to not purchase formaldehyde products when possible. I will say that some people prefer these above everything.
Beyond that, I also got a Spyderco Ultra Fine and modified it. I made it absolutely flat and converted it to a dual stone. I ran a progression on each side and finished one more coarse than the other.
I have a lot of diamond strops and highly recommend these.
I also have a small Shapton Glass progression and simply use my Atoma plates to lap my Shapton stones.
Another vote for Atoma. I'm going to pick up their 120 at the very least. The finer grit stones are a bit more than double the price of the DMT and Ultra Sharp plates, so I'll have to think on that. They definitely sound super high quality though!
Do you avoid the formaldehyde resin based stones because of the chances of inhalation or another reason (if you don't mind me asking)? I think I've read somewhere that the majority of the formaldehyde based resin stones are water soluble... Which sounds like a bit of a negative to me.
I completely forgot that the Spyderco Fine and Ultra Fine were the same stones just finished differently! I wonder how easily an amateur like me could refinish one side to make it slightly coarser...
The Spyderco Ultrafine is a classic and has a place in every sharpener's arsenal. As popularized by YouTuber Michael Christy it is a great finisher for diamond plate progressions. The Spyderco UF gave me my first hair whittling edges, and I still use it to help pop off a burr a good amount of the time. There is something to be said for an ultra hard ultra flat stones ability to align and refine your final edge.
I was actually JUST watching a video by him (and Jdavis) and came to that same conclusion. The UF isn't going anywhere, lol.
