Durability difference between Eze-lap and DMT?
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Tagged: comparison, diamond, DMT, Eze-lap
- This topic has 29 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 3 years, 11 months ago by Stephen Sherry.
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22 August 2013 at 9:18 pm #16909
[quote quote=16854]
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>John Purser wrote:</div>
and then follow up using Paul’s by hand method across all three stones. My results when I go by hand for the whole process are just too variable for meI had the same experience, and then remembers something from a golf lesson I took several years ago. The lesson was about how important the grip was.
[/quote]I agree grip is a big part of the story. But I’ve also got some carpal tunnel stuff going on in my hands. I noticed a few years ago that knives, which I’ve always sharpened on a bench stone by hand, were coming off the stone with multiple facets on them. Not a big deal but clearly I wasn’t as rock steady as I used to be. So for most chisels and plane irons I start with jig but of course I can’t get the results Paul does simply by using a jig. So I take what he knows and compensate for what I can do and come out with a fair approximation of his results with repeatability that gives me confidence.
23 August 2013 at 4:19 am #16919I have both DMT and Atoma plates. I am pleased with both brands. I use few drops from a bottle of Simple Green diluted in 1 litre of water. At this rate,one bottle of Simple Green will last a while, and is completely environmentally friendly. I too have been getting rust spots on my courser plates. And concluded that it is not the plates themselves but residual swarf. Dabbing with paper towel has remedied this issue for me. I have found that the rust spots do not effect the plate’s performance as it has occurred on the substrate, and not the cutting surface. Using highly concentrated detergent undiluted does effect the plates performance. Then I flushed them with water and they worked well. DMT recommends that you only use water (and a very minimal amount) on their product. There is a video by DMT out there in cyberland showing this technique. I thought about trying the glass cleaner but I am going to wait until I require replacements.
Hi,
First post!
I recently purchased the trio of Eze-Lap 3×8’s (coarse, fine, super fine). I’m pretty new to woodworking, and I was using sandpaper on float glass before that.
When I put my #4 iron to the coarse stone (I used a guide for this), I noticed right away that the outer ends of the bevel were hitting the stone while the center was not. It turns out the stone was pretty severely dished down the middle. I used 2 different combination square to check for this as well as a few other straightedges (steel ruler, so on). They all showed the same thing (I guess I should have a taken a photo…).
I was pretty disappointed since I liked the stones just fine otherwise. It’s a good set-up I think. The other 2 stones were not dished but they did have a few spots where the surface tapered off as you approach the edges.
I’ve already sent the Eze-Lap’s back to Amazon. Naturally I was going to ask for replacements but I thought about it and I think I’m going to try the DMT’s (extra coarse, fine, extra fine) even though they cost more.
By the way, I got to wondering if there is such a thing as “flat enough”? I’m starting to get the feeling that none of these stones are completely flat, edge-to-edge. Does anyone have any thoughts about that?
I know this thread is a bit old but had a question about the glass cleaner. I was trying some out today on a diamond plate and noticed that the first ingredient in the glass cleaner was water. Is that the same type everyone is using to avoid rust? I noticed it does have the ammonia in it.
1 January 2014 at 11:44 pm #25017Jay I wondered about that too but so far no problems. For the record, once in a while I take my stones, spray the glass cleaner on them so loosen up the crud, and scrub them with my hand in a bucket of water. Then I towel them off and prop them up so the air can get at them.
No rust yet from doing this with EZE-lap stones. Very little with DMT and I think that was from some metal that didn’t get cleaned off.
This is almost certainly way more maintenance than the stones actually NEED but it makes me feel like I’m taking good care of them.
John
1 January 2014 at 11:59 pm #25021Another trick to clean diamond plate is to use a pencil eraser rubber. Rub over surface of plate and all the crud is removed in the left over bits of rubber.
For the last year I have used eze-lap stones. They were cheaper and have worked very well but after a year of moderate use the course does need replaceing. I’ve decided to replace them all. Mainly because last time I bought 2″ wide stones. Which was very stupid of me because my favourate plane is a 4.5. So sharpening has been difficult. I ordered 3 new DMT 8″ by 3″ stones from Amazon the other day. So I’ll be able to see what the difference is for myself. But apart from the fact that I had the wrong width stones eze-lap served perfectly well. Buying a new course stone every year is not a bad price to pay. I would buy them again but I’m curious ato see how DMT differ.
I thought I would add this link to this thread since I didn’t see it mentioned. I’m sorry if I missed it somewhere.
http://paulsellers.com/2013/11/questions-answered-sharpening-diamonds-forever/
3 January 2014 at 6:19 am #25106Fbjoey if you read Paul’s notes Jay shows above it should not be necessary to buy new stones every year Paul expects 10 years of use in the school stones
28 May 2020 at 4:24 pm #663226[postquote quote=16905]
Sorry to revive an old thread. So does it matter that the cleaner contains ammonia or not Paul? My stones are showing rust with a household glass cleaner.
I might try some 99% IPA and mix with 30% water with some fairy liquid to allow the tools to be sharpened to slide instead.
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