Spyderco Sharpmaker: Diamond Sleeves

Lenny

Lenny

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 15, 1998
Messages
2,500
Has anybody used these?
I'd like to use them to set the back bevel quickly.
However, I'm afraid that the diamond coating will wear off the substrate in a relatively short
period of time, rendering the stones useless.
Your input please?
Lenny
 
You can get extra-coarse (220) grit Dia-Fold hones from DMT for less money if you look around the various online knife dealers.

Or Norton combo stones for even less than that, but they require oil.
 
$ isn't my main concern.
I want to use them with my Sharpmaker so I can use those same angles.
I really want to know if they hold up.
Lenny
 
I have had mine a couple of years and they seem to hold up fine, if you use VERY LIGHT PRESSURE. Mine were pretty slow when I first got them and don't seem to have gotten any slower. I have used mine several quite a bit to re-profile several knives they do a fine job but even with them be prepared to be there a while.
 
Anecdotally I've read that the SM diamond rods are sort of "slow" for diamonds and are considered kind of a "medium" grit on the diamond scale. I've also read that with heavy pressure the diamonds scrape off, which is true of all diamond systems that I'm aware of. They'll certainly be way faster than the medium ceramic the SM comes with.

If I *had* to do it all with the SM, I'd either buy wet/dry sandpaper in various grits and wrap/clip it to the SM stones. Or perhaps I'd get some of the Congress Tools ruby stones (aluminum oxide). They (CT) make triangle shaped stones that fit the SM perfectly and work WAY faster than the stock rods/stones. Do a search here and you should find a lot of info about them.

Good luck.

Brian.
 
I have used 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around the regular stones to reprofile and it works great. Obviously the sandpaper wears out pretty quickly but its so cheap it really doesn't matter.
 
I lay my DMT bench stone on top of the sharpmaker rod. I have to hold it in place with my left hand.
 
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