Reply To: Sharpening for luthiers
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Myself, my son & his father-in-law are also hobbyist luthiers & we have built a number of solid body electric guitars (easy) & a couple of acoustic instruments (a steel string guitar, a mandolin & soon a classical nylon string guitar) which are more difficult than solid body instruments.
Particle size in microns is the only reliable way to compare abrasives from different sources. Note that the “DMT® Diamond Grit Size – Color Coding” chart from the DMT website gives measurements in terms of “mesh” NOT “grit” whereas the Eze-Lap website gives measurements in terms of “grit” NOT “mesh”.
It is immediately obvious from a side by side comparison that DMT’s 1200 mesh diamond stone is NOT equivalent to Eze-Lap’s 1200 grit diamond stone. Helpfully, DMT publishes their mesh sizes in microns whereas unfortunately, Eze-Lap does not.
However, as noted in my post https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/discussions/topic/ezy-lap-vs-dmt-diamond-plate-particle-sizes/ one of the Eds on this site contacted Eze-Lap & obtained the micron sizes of their grits. If the info he obtained is correct (& my experience with both DMT & Eze-Lap diamond stones would indicate that it is) then the following would seem to be the order of increasing fineness:-
Micron order
DMT XXC…..120 mesh..120 microns
EZL XC……….150 grit…….60 to 65 microns
DMT XC…..…220 mesh…60 microns
EZL C…………250 grit…….50 to 55 microns
DMT C……….325 mesh…45 microns
EZL M………..400 grit…….40 to 45 microns
EZL F…………600 grit…….30 to 35 microns
DMT F……….600 mesh…25 microns
EZL SF…..…1200 grit…….15 to 20 microns
DMT XF…..1200 mesh……9 microns
DMT MXF..4000 mesh……6 microns
DMT XXF…8000 mesh……3 microns
The “sharpeningsupplies” site that Larry refers to above recommends that to get to less than 2 microns, Diamond Paste, Green Honing Compound or Abrasive Powder should be used.
So, my current freehand sharpening regime for well maintained chisels & blades for both lutherie & general woodwork consists of:-
EZL F to EZL SF to DMT XF to Green Honing Compound
If a second hand tool requires the re-establishment of its bevel then I may have to resort to a grind wheel followed by DMT XXC to EZL C to EZL M or starting anywhere along this sequence depending on how out of shape it is.
I don’t have any preference for either DMT or Eze-Lap, they all seem to work adequately, it’s just that these are my current 8 inch long stones. I also have DMT XC, DMT C, DMT F & DMT XF in 6 inch long stones but have found that they’re limited in their ability to comfortably sharpen wide blades & there is a restriction on the length of stroke.