Three years ago I wrote this post on diamond sharpening stones here. After 3 years I've formed an opinion on them that some may like and others may not. Although I am no expert on sharpening, I have improved my technique and results noticeably. My shavings are cleaner, more wispy if I need them to be, and the effort to push my tools is perceptibly easier. I can feel and see a difference between a somewhat sharp tool and one that has been freshly sharpened on my diamond stones. The ease of control is measurably different with a sharp tool too. Sharp does cure a lot of ills.
I read other posts about sharpening whenever I see one. I have read about dead simple set ups to what I consider to be insanely anal. Simple as in two stones - a soft and hard Arkansas to super anal as in using 9 stones to just touch up an edge. And the 9 stones are all different. They were a mix of natural and synthetic but no diamond stones.
I still use a honing guide and I will continue to use one until it is pried from my cold dead hands. I tried the free hand thing for a couple of years but I never achieved the results I wanted. I got acceptable results but never a warm and fuzzy with them. With a honing guide I get a square edge of which I admit I am incredibly anal about. I just accept that my DNA has been programmed to accept nothing less. Another aspect of sharpening that I do is a shiny finish. Is this necessary and is it really super duper sharper that way? No I don't, but again, for me it's a DNA thing. It is something that I got when I finally got my first sharp edge that also happened to be shiny. It worked then and I'll continue with it.
There are a couple things with diamond stones that haven't changed in the 3+ years I've been using them. You can use the wet (I just use water) or dry, but I have never used them dry. They also don't require any flattening at all. I think based on the wear I have after 3 years, I can probably expect to get another 8-10 years of use with them. Hows that for longevity?
These stones are still dead flat with almost no appreciable wear at all. My stones sharpen my mix of O1 and A2 steel tools with no problems at all. O1 sharpens faster then A2 but not by much. My next victim for the stones is going to be a PM-V11 plane iron. What I have read about them has piqued my interest and it's supposed to last longer between sharpenings.
These are the stones I use to do all of my sharpening. 3 diamond stones and 1 japanese stone on my crowded sharpening bench. Making this this bench and having it to use has been a big advantage for me in the shop. But that is another post for later.
I have a coarse stone that I had bought to flatten my water stones. I now use it to remove chips and to re-square edges on my irons/chisels. But it does not always work well with any speed. I think I expect it to remove more metal than it's capable of. Or more importantly, designed to do. (A coarse DMT diamond stone is on the back burner waiting to be ordered.)
The stone on the left I bought for flattening water stones. It's 4"x11" and my coarse diamond stone to right of it is 3"x8". I wish all my stones were the 4x11 size. There is a lot of real estate there and the length allows for a long stroke. The coarseness of each stone is easily seen too. I don't know the grit of the 4x11 one but the 3x8 one is about 325. I use the big one now for removing knicks and squaring up the ends of my tools.
Which brings me to my second only hiccup with these stones. The first is that they are heavy but I rarely move or carry all 3 at once. The second one is the 'grit' on them changed. My flattening stone doesn't feel as coarse as it was when I first got it. It still cuts but not as fast nor does it seem to remove as much with each stroke. The same is applicable to my 3 main sharpening diamond stones. All 3 still cut well but they seem to have a lesser grit now. It doesn't seem to have effected their ability to sharpen anything I throw at them.
Three years have past and would I buy the same stones again? Yes I would without any hesitation at all. I thought my water stones gave a slightly better finish but the diamond stones are very close behind them. With the water stones in storage I don't have the headaches associated with sharpening with them.
The #1 problem with water stones is the mess and constant flatting of the stones after each use. Not having a water source in the shop didn't help matters neither. My sources of water were 2 five gallon buckets hauled to the shop. All and all water stones were too maintenance intensive, very messy, and time consuming to use. What I sharpened in one day with the water stones I now do in 30-45 minutes with my diamond stones.
My current sharpening regimen is 3 stones following by stropping. For touching up/honing I use the fine and extra fine diamond stones, with a polishing on a Japanese 8000 water stone followed by stropping. For the past 3 years this has worked very well for me. I am satisfied with the sharpness of my tools and I've settled into this routine with no wasted motions now.
There are other ways of sharpening and each of us has a favorite way of doing it. The medium used to sharpen with is just as diverse. It is very easy to start a sharpening argument which I think would be as quick as starting a pins or tails first argument. My method/stones is one way that is working for me and one that I like. My take on this is that sharpening is a personal choice and the methods and materials are yours to decide. The end result of that is sharp tools and isn't that what really matters?
I plan on making one more change to my sharpening setup. I want to retire the 8K Japanese water stone and replace it with a 8K DMT diamond stone. I'm also on the fence with getting the 4K DMT diamond stone. If this wasn't xmas time I would have one of them on order right now. But I've been designated as Santa's helper so maybe next year. If there is still OT available then.
accidental woodworker
trivia corner
What was the given name of Doc Holiday from the O.K. Corral gunfight?
answer - John Henry
I read other posts about sharpening whenever I see one. I have read about dead simple set ups to what I consider to be insanely anal. Simple as in two stones - a soft and hard Arkansas to super anal as in using 9 stones to just touch up an edge. And the 9 stones are all different. They were a mix of natural and synthetic but no diamond stones.
I still use a honing guide and I will continue to use one until it is pried from my cold dead hands. I tried the free hand thing for a couple of years but I never achieved the results I wanted. I got acceptable results but never a warm and fuzzy with them. With a honing guide I get a square edge of which I admit I am incredibly anal about. I just accept that my DNA has been programmed to accept nothing less. Another aspect of sharpening that I do is a shiny finish. Is this necessary and is it really super duper sharper that way? No I don't, but again, for me it's a DNA thing. It is something that I got when I finally got my first sharp edge that also happened to be shiny. It worked then and I'll continue with it.
There are a couple things with diamond stones that haven't changed in the 3+ years I've been using them. You can use the wet (I just use water) or dry, but I have never used them dry. They also don't require any flattening at all. I think based on the wear I have after 3 years, I can probably expect to get another 8-10 years of use with them. Hows that for longevity?
These stones are still dead flat with almost no appreciable wear at all. My stones sharpen my mix of O1 and A2 steel tools with no problems at all. O1 sharpens faster then A2 but not by much. My next victim for the stones is going to be a PM-V11 plane iron. What I have read about them has piqued my interest and it's supposed to last longer between sharpenings.
 |
| my sharpening toys |
I have a coarse stone that I had bought to flatten my water stones. I now use it to remove chips and to re-square edges on my irons/chisels. But it does not always work well with any speed. I think I expect it to remove more metal than it's capable of. Or more importantly, designed to do. (A coarse DMT diamond stone is on the back burner waiting to be ordered.)
 |
| flattening stone on the left |
Which brings me to my second only hiccup with these stones. The first is that they are heavy but I rarely move or carry all 3 at once. The second one is the 'grit' on them changed. My flattening stone doesn't feel as coarse as it was when I first got it. It still cuts but not as fast nor does it seem to remove as much with each stroke. The same is applicable to my 3 main sharpening diamond stones. All 3 still cut well but they seem to have a lesser grit now. It doesn't seem to have effected their ability to sharpen anything I throw at them.
Three years have past and would I buy the same stones again? Yes I would without any hesitation at all. I thought my water stones gave a slightly better finish but the diamond stones are very close behind them. With the water stones in storage I don't have the headaches associated with sharpening with them.
The #1 problem with water stones is the mess and constant flatting of the stones after each use. Not having a water source in the shop didn't help matters neither. My sources of water were 2 five gallon buckets hauled to the shop. All and all water stones were too maintenance intensive, very messy, and time consuming to use. What I sharpened in one day with the water stones I now do in 30-45 minutes with my diamond stones.
My current sharpening regimen is 3 stones following by stropping. For touching up/honing I use the fine and extra fine diamond stones, with a polishing on a Japanese 8000 water stone followed by stropping. For the past 3 years this has worked very well for me. I am satisfied with the sharpness of my tools and I've settled into this routine with no wasted motions now.
There are other ways of sharpening and each of us has a favorite way of doing it. The medium used to sharpen with is just as diverse. It is very easy to start a sharpening argument which I think would be as quick as starting a pins or tails first argument. My method/stones is one way that is working for me and one that I like. My take on this is that sharpening is a personal choice and the methods and materials are yours to decide. The end result of that is sharp tools and isn't that what really matters?
I plan on making one more change to my sharpening setup. I want to retire the 8K Japanese water stone and replace it with a 8K DMT diamond stone. I'm also on the fence with getting the 4K DMT diamond stone. If this wasn't xmas time I would have one of them on order right now. But I've been designated as Santa's helper so maybe next year. If there is still OT available then.
accidental woodworker
trivia corner
What was the given name of Doc Holiday from the O.K. Corral gunfight?
answer - John Henry
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