A necessary chore before getting started on the next project. I recently upgraded from sandpaper on granite tile...aka scary sharp..to a diamond plate and water stone combo. So far it is a huge improvement in both ease of use and results.
After hours of reading about other people's systems and agonizing over which dubbed to start with I decided that I just need to get something and start experimenting.I ended up buying a DMT Duosharp coarse/extra fine and the Norton 4000/8000 combo.
First the DMT... I am really liking how quickly it cuts for the respective grit size and how even of a scratch pattern I am getting. I do think that I will likely pick up an extra course plate to speed up the grinding as I do not have a grinder. It does seem to cut much better if it is kept nice and wet to help the swarf flow out of the way.
My main reservation with the Norton stone was that the 4000 grit needed to be soaked prior to use. This hasn't turned it to be much of an issue as I seem to do quite a bit of sharpening whenever I get set up. Being able to just throw some water on the 8000 and go to work is nice for a little touch up while working. The only complaint so far is that the 8000 grit side of the stone had a pretty bad crown to it. 10 minutes with some sandpaper and the DMT and it is mostly flat but the corners are still a bit low. This is visible in the pictures. Since the lowest spots are almost 1/32 low I am just living with it and not using the corners. I figure I will eventually wear down the middle of the stone enough that it will be truly flat across the whole face.
That is pretty much exactly the same setup I have used for years. I find it works good when I throw the stone in a bucket of water when I walk in the shop, and it is ready to go pretty much whenever I need it.
ReplyDeleteI would have returned that stone with the crown, though. I don't think one should have to settle with such a defect nowadays. Luckily, it looks like you pretty much have it sorted out now.
Just about every stone is going to dish or go out of flat. Part of the sharpening process is getting and using a lapping plate for the stone. I actually make it a habit to run the stone over a lapping plate before every use.
ReplyDeleteThe coarse side of the DMT plate works great for lapping the stones. An even more coarse plate might be a bit faster but I find that if I give the stones a couple swipes after every time I use them they stay more than flat enough.
ReplyDelete