Which diamond stone to get?

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fatcat55

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Jan 1, 2010
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Over the years, I have tried ceramics and regular stones and other systems with mixed results.
I have decided to try sharpening with a diamond stone and want to know which to get as far as coarse,medium and fine.

I am looking at Lansky and Smith's and they are in the $15-25 range depending on size and whether one or two sided.

Given these choices which is better; medium only, medium and fine or coarse and fine?

These will be used on Moras, SAKs, Bucks, CS bushman, et al., Condor Rodan, Ka-
Bar Dozier. Ontario and Marble machetes and other knives of this general quality and price range. These knives are all in pretty good shape. None of them are dull or in need of serious help.

Some of them are just not as sharp as they were originally or as sharp as I believe they can be.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm getting along with just a fine, but I don't let my knives get very dull. A medium and fine combo might be a better choice.
 
DMT or Ez-lap, buy high quality and you will get better results. The Fine stone would be a good starting point its about 600 grit.
 
i'd suggest a Fallkniven DC3 or DC4.

the diamond side is as abrasive as all hell while the ceramic does a lovely finishing job.
 
I have a Lansky and DMT, and the DMT provides better results. Not sure of the technical differences between the two, but DMT makes a great product. The medium and fine versions should work, as long as you do not let your knives get too dull. The DMT medium will restore even a dull knife, but expect to put in a little more work if you wait too long.
 
I've used DMT hones for well over a decade, and they all still work as well as when they were brand new. I use the extra coarse DMT occasionally for re-profiling, a coarse (blue) for when I stupidly let a blade get really dull, a regular (red) and a fine (green). I use the latter two most often.
 
Based on all my experience keeping things sharp a medium and fine is what you want. I use both ceramic and diamond sticks but go med and fine with both setups. Be sure to ensure you're getting monocrystalline diamonds as opposed to polycrystalline.

For honing or stropping compound it's the reverse.
 
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I have coarse, fine, extra fine DMT stones. I use the fine the most. The large reversable DMT's are fairly expensive, but they sure are handly. I will sometimes use the coarse side for just a few licks on a dull knife. I use the coarse for machetes and axes a lot where I am not trying to get such a fine edge.
 
For me the Spyderco sharpmaker has worked best, i've ruined a few blades in the past using a fallkniven DC3 and DC4, it's a great stone if you're good at freehand sharpening but i was not the greatest at freehand sharpening, i'm much better now but an ocassional slip up can still happen causing me to scratch the blade. That's why i really like the Sharpmaker, it's very user friendly and hard to mess up your knife with scratches, there are diamond rods available too if you need to take off more steel. I would love to get me an edgepro, that is my dream sharpening system.
 
Get a "Hewlett JewelStik 1-2-3" three sided diamond steel (coarse, medium, fine). I've been using one for several years, and I love it! It will zip through sharpening chores on the knives you've mentioned.:thumbup:
 
fionafa said:
Based on all my experience keeping things sharp a medium and fine is what you want. I use both ceramic and diamond sticks but go med and fine with both setups. Be sure to ensure you're getting polycrystalline diamonds as opposed to monocrystaline.
Click to expand...

Actually you want monocrystalline, not polycrystalline.
 
I just received a set of the diamond rods for my Spyderco Sharpmaker. I haven't had a chance to use them yet, but i expect them to do a great job based on the earlier set I had that slid down on the ceramic stone.
 
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