sharpmaker diamond stones?

[fatherhudson]

So i recently got the sharpmaker and while i was able to put a good shaving micro bevel on a leek i have i've so far been unable to get a phonebook paper slicing edge on any of the cheaper knives i've been practicing with. I think it's because the knives have greater than 20 degree edge angles. or else SAK's just have terrible steel and won't take a good edge? but anyways, i'm wondering about the diamond stones for the sharpmaker. will i really be able to set a new bevel in a reasonable amount of time? it'd be nice to hear from some people that own them.

 

[hunter s thompson]

They are better for removing steel than the ceramic stones are but they still are not what I would call "fast". The one piece of advice I can give you is use very light pressure, let the diamonds do the work, if not you can really screw up your rods by ripping the diamonds out of the metal they are clad too.