DMT diamond stones

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

welshstar

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
563
Reaction score
2
If you were starting from scratch would you consider using the DMT stones instead of other material ?

It just seems from a technical viwpoint they look superior, im asking because nobody seems to be big fans of them from what ive seen

Alan
 
I have DMT plates for sharpening but I tend to use waterstones, in general. Diamonds tend to be broken or dislodged from the plates so they lose their aggression fairly quickly. They also leave deep scratches that seem to weaken edges. I will occasionally use a diamond plate if I need to keep a bevel as flat as possible but I think waterstones do a better job overall on most steels. The grit size is consistant due to wear, they are plenty aggressive enough for most applications and they don't seem to chew up an edge as much. I recommend them when space and convenience is at a premium (They also do not need to be flattened.). If you do go that route, get finer plates than you expect. The coarse ones waste a lot of steel. There are much better diamond plates for sharpening, if you really want to spend some big bucks. :spiteful:
 
they are great for when you need to take serious amounts of steel off a blade, but that's all i use them for (other than for flattening water stones).
 
It's an interesting thought, given that you wouldn't have to flatten them. I've only used the XX (120 mesh) and C (325 mesh) on edges, not the E (1200 mesh) or the EE (8000 mesh), so I couldn't say what the edges from the higher mesh plates would be like. I know the razor honers sometimes use the EF to set a bevel, so the scratch pattern can't be that bad.

Food for thought and experimentation. Thanks for the idea.
 
I use the fine (600) all the time for setting up a bevel. Needs no soaking, feels decent, cuts fast, leaves an even scratch pattern that an aoto or green brick will deal with easily. I have six of these stones (XX through EE), and haven't seen any issues of diamonds coming loose or premature wear. Granted, I haven't thinned an Aritsugu A Type yet......
 
One more thing about DMT's... Don't get the interrupted plates. I've had some bad experiences with them gouging bevels on softer steel like there is a big chunk of something very hard and abrasive stuck somewhere and I can't ever find it or wash it off... I haven't had any such problems with the regular plates. As for the grit, you won't need anything coarser than fine.

I used to advocate diamond plates in some cases and generally got a lot of people disagreeing. I can't remember the rational though...
 
Don't get the interrupted plates.

i have a large (10 inch) coarse/fine interrupted plate that is brilliant for flattening water stones, as it does't stick too much. not quite as flat as the regular plates, but flat enough! anyway, it definitely isn't great on steel, for the exact reason you gave.
 
i use the DMT XXC for flattening and repair work. it can be used to fix chips and takes a lot less time than a beston 500. somebody will inevitably come to me with large chips out of their crappy shun knives and make some excuse why they were hacking up lobster shells with it or even that someone else did it to their knife while they were not looking. as much as i feel like telling them what i really think of their knife and attitude towards taking care of their tools, i usually bite my tongue and fix their mistakes. i also use the DMT when i have to fix a broken tip as i dont want to put ridges into my waterstones.

they are very useful for that stuff but i would never get anything above the XXC as waterstones are so much better
 
I have written to DMT asking if they would be willing to send us a set of plates for a pass-around and review.

I will keep you guys posted.

M
 
Back
Top