A thinner's toolkit

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chobint

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I need some suggestions for filling out the bottom end of my sharpening kit. I have most of the Chosera stones starting at 400 grit. I wore out a 120x diamond plate thinning out my Takeda and I find that the 400 stone takes quite a long time to get the scratches out. I am specifically interested in how ultra-low grit stones compare to diamond stones. I'd also be interested in what might be a good transition between an ultra-low grit and my 400.
 
They make 220 diamond plates that would be a good step between a 120 and 400
 
What diamond plate did you have? I've thinned quite a few on my atoma and it's still going strong. Soft steel (like cladding) may actually wear some diamond plates faster as it's the diamonds getting pulled out by the soft, gummy steel that wears it; not the diamonds wearing down.

Light(er) pressure is also your friend with diamond plate as they don't need much force to cut and beyond a certain point all you're doing is wearing the plate more.

Jon at JKI mentioned something about potentially getting some diamond STONES which I'm assuming would have the diamond grit incorporated into the synthetic stone material. They sound pretty interesting to me.
 
What diamond plate did you have? I've thinned quite a few on my atoma and it's still going strong. Soft steel (like cladding) may actually wear some diamond plates faster as it's the diamonds getting pulled out by the soft, gummy steel that wears it; not the diamonds wearing down.

Light(er) pressure is also your friend with diamond plate as they don't need much force to cut and beyond a certain point all you're doing is wearing the plate more.

Jon at JKI mentioned something about potentially getting some diamond STONES which I'm assuming would have the diamond grit incorporated into the synthetic stone material. They sound pretty interesting to me.

I don't recall. To be fair I have been using it to flatten my stones for the last few years. The thin job definitely knocked it down a few notches though.

What kind of blades are being involved?
Anything from virgin Shirogami #2 to clad Aogami Super. In the short term I'm thinning an old white #2 nakiri to give to a friend for Xmas.

Still curious if anyone has an opinion on whether there are trade offs between low grit stones and course diamond plates.
 
Low grit stones generally dish quickly and wear out faster.
Diamond plates generally leave deeper scratches. Light pressure helps some but adds to working time.
 
I would recommend a 3 set of diamond stones, I use 150/300/800. Aint nothing like a diamond stone to get diamond stone marks out, then go to a really fast cutting soft 600-1000 grit. I have a sigma 1000 designed to work hard steel, its soft and dishy and the feel is horrid for sharpening but it cuts like a beast.
I have the cheaper slightly smaller iwood stones and so far they have outlasted my dead atoma. You shouldn't need to press hard with diamond stones, and until they wear in you get the odd extra deep mark which is a pain to get out.
 
WillC, are you referring to the sigma select II or the sigma ceramic 'soft'? They both seems to be advertised as having superior cutting speed.
 
The one I have was sent as a sample piece in the form a double stone, grey 1k on one side and a pinky 8k on the other. Im pretty sure its a sigma select 2. But it is very soft so it could be the ceramic soft. I reckon the 2 will cut faster as its designed to work with super hard steels. Just ask Stu from tools from Japan which one is the fastest for bevel work.
 
Jon recently posted a diamond plate in his subforum that sounds like just what you are looking for. It ain't cheap, but cant be much more than a set of 3 other plates to do the same thing.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
I bought a cheap 180/320 combo Chinese stone from my local asian grocery store. It's huge and works well considering how cheap it was. I thin stuff with ruthless abandon before hitting the beston 500.
 
Thanks to all for the input. I have ordered a set of iWood plates 150,300,800,1000 as well as sigma II 120x and 1000x. The vendor warned that the sigma 120 looks and feels like a cinder block... so we'll see.

I did check up Jon's diamond 'stone'. I was daunted by the fact that it can't be flattened.
 
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