Diamond grits
Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Diamond grits
- This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 8 months ago by Ed.
-
AuthorPosts
-
Who makes Diamond plates that fine?
I don’t know offhand what the Great Man has recommended on the way of Diamond plates, but 1200 is the finest I have and even though it is a good make, it is a bit on the delicate side in terms of wear.
Water stones of those fineness will constantly renew themselves as you re-dress them which Diamond plates cannot do………..
So yes, you answered your own question.
I bought the DMT 3 micron plate a few weeks ago. This is probably the “4000 grit” plate. It is unclear whether it was worth the cost and whether it adds anything, but it is too soon to say. Right now, it is leaving a heavy scratch pattern even though I have lapped a fair bit on it. DMT did not respond to my query about how long it takes for the scratch pattern to settle down.
Ed, I had the same problem with a DMT 8000 grit. Lee Valley exchanged it but there is no improvement. I went back to finishing using 2000 grit emery paper from an auto paint supplier in the area. Leaves a beautiful mirror finish. One sheet lasts a long time using short strokes. I lay it on a flat piece of granite.
16 August 2016 at 10:07 pm #139380Paul uses Eze – Lap and with the strop I don’t think you need to go any higher, I have been getting great results and sharpness with mine.
Steve
@smassiesr I tried the 3 micron plate because I find that the strop does not give me as much as I get from my old waterstones. In other words, if I go from the EZE lap coarse/fine/superfine sequence to my 6000 or 10000 Japanese stones, I have better cutting than when I just go to the strop with green Lee Valley compound. Usually, this extra refinement does not matter, but sometimes it does. I had noticed that a ceramic stone that I use for chip carving, which is supposed to be around 3 microns, brought me to a better edge after the superfine then when I just went to the strop, but that stone is only about 2″x4″. So, I tried the DMT 3 micron plate.
I find the strop does not give me a mirror finish unless I put in a lot of work on the strop. Maybe I’m not getting the scratches out from the coarser grits? Not sure. Personally, I think the jump from superfine (around 10 micron) to compound (0.5 micron) is a big jump. For pine and oak, it does not matter and I can just use the strop, but as I play with maple and some trickier things, it does seem to matter.
Right now, if it weren’t for the need to flatten the stone (which I have little patience for), I’d go from the superfine to the 10000 grit waterstone. The stone is faster than the strop and gives a better edge. The grit size is a bit under a micron, which is comparable to the Lee Valley green compound. The only reason to flatten the waterstone is that I still put the back of the iron on it. Paper could be used for that, but then the whole thing is getting to be a bit fussy.
It’s funny…I used to sharpen without fuss and was happy. Then I started playing with maple and wasn’t happy with my sharpening, so I adjusted my technique, and now am turning most things into screwdrivers. It will get better than what I was doing originally, I’m sure, but it may take a blood sacrifice to appease the sharpening gods.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.