Diamond Plates – how long do they last?
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- This topic has 9 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 5 months ago by Ricardo R.
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Hi,
I’ve relatively recently started out on my woodworking journey, and I’m a complete novice right now.
I’ve bought some EZE-LAP diamond plates, and have been having a good go at sharpening up old chisels and planes. I think it’s going okay so far.
How long do diamond plates last, and how do I know when they need replacing, other than sharpening starts to be ineffective or takes ages?
I’m hoping the answer to the first question is “years”, given how much they cost! 🙂
Thanks
Darren.
13 September 2016 at 9:50 pm #140137I’ve had three DMT diamond stones for about three years and the coarse one is almost useless now. The fine stone is still good and the extra fine I never know if it’s doing anything. I think there is a reason Paul’s diamond plates last so long – he’s good at it and all he needs to do is sharpen an edge. I unfortunately used mine to grind a bevel on some badly shaped irons and/or chisels. I don’t have a grinder. I’ve realized lately that the better choice would have been to grind on coarse sandpaper to remove a lot of metal and then sharpen with the diamond stones.
Ive got a double sided diamond plate, one side has 400 grit and the other side has 1000. Like Matt I also used it to grind bevels and flatten badly warped chisel backs. The 400 side I suspect is much finer now than when I bought it but it still works well enough. The 1000 has been subject to much more reasonable use however and is still going strong after quite a while.
Hi Matt,
That’s basically why I asked the question: when I first got the stones I ground an old chisel flat on the coarse stone over a couple of hours (hadn’t seen the sharpening video then), and I’m concerned I’ve messed up the plate.
I seem to have to grind on the coarse stone for ages now to get a burr, even when I’m sharpening an already good iron.
Might be my technique of course, as Paul hardly works his plane irons on the coarse stone and gets a burr.
Darren.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by Darren.
Diamond stones are much like sandpaper (but with a lot longer lifespan). At the beginning, the stones are very sharp. But that stops quickly and you will have a long periode of medium sharpens. It sounds like you entered the periode of medium sharpness on your stones.
To speed up your sharping, it is a good idea to sharpen very often. If you sharpen often (like maybe once every 1-2 working hours depending on what you are doing) you should be able to sharpen in less than a minute.
On an end note, you might consider moving to water stones. While a big initial investment and require flatting, and are more messy, water stones stay sharp all trough the it’s life and sharpens faster.
Thanks Rud. I’ve thought about water stones, but it’s another thing to buy and learn, and as a new woodworker the hill of things to learn is already very high!
I might look at those later, once I can get a repeatable sharpness (to a degree) from my diamond stones.
Regard
Darren.
Every time I get the inclination to use my coarse DMT, I turn on my slow grinder. In my conversations with DMT, they are not too strong on either the coarsest or finest of their pantheon. I believe the rep said they made the finest to assuage patrons who wanted them. Paul’s technique is the best.
15 September 2016 at 3:05 am #140180Actually I moved from water stones to diamond plates and find that the diamond plates sharpen more quickly than water stones. Also for best results the water stones need to be flattened quite often. This took about 10 minutes every 3 or 4 sharpening sessions.
I believe that results may vary depending on the type of stone and the type of steel. I used the King water stones and almost everything I use for hand tool work is high carbon (O1) steel. I don’t have much experience with any of the more exotic steels or more exotic water stones so your mileage may vary.
I’m really happy with my diamond plates. I been using them both free hand and with a guide for over two years. They haven’t got noticeably slower cutting since the “break-in” period finished. This may be because I use a grinder for any major reshaping. The diamond plates are the quickest and easiest sharpening method I’ve used.
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