Questions about the maintenance and care of Venev diamond plates

[KingShapton]

A few questions for the owners of the Venev stones...

The background is that I'm toying with the idea of possibly getting one of them as a test.

1. What is the best way to clean the diamond plate when it has become clogged?

So far I'm either running water on a King Nagura, possibly a soft bond Sic-Nagura (FEPA 180 or FEPA 320) or soapy water and a brush to remove the metal debris from the stone surface.

Am I right with these ideas or should I not do it this way and there is another, much better way?!


2. How to flatten the Venev Plate?

First of all, I'm not sure if I should flatten the plate before using it for the first time. I would do it with a normal stone, but with these plates the wear layer is very thin and I don't want to waste any of it unnecessarily. So what is the experience of owners of these plates - is flattening necessary before first use or not?

And how do you flatten the plates? Gritomatic strongly advises against using a normal diamond plate for this, I understand that too because rubbing diamond against diamond cannot be good for either surface.

So my way would be loose sic-powder on glass, but which grit? Ultimately it's just a matter of removing the resign binder a bit to get the Venev stone flat again, it's not about conditioning the surface.

Do I understand all this correctly?! Any opinion and experience from Venev-plates owners is welcome.

Thanks in advance

And of course I forgot one more question...sorry guys, it's early in Germany and I just had a coffee...

How often do you flatten the Venev-plates? I flatten normal synthetic water stones with the Atoma after each use, how do you feel about the Venev plates?

In theory, flattening after each use would be nonsense, the wear layer is far too thin for that and it shouldn't be necessary for the plates after everything I've read in advance......

How are your experiences there?

 

[natto]

I only flatten when needed. The thin layer 400-1000 was ok ootb, without opening. I carry it to friends, just in case. 400 ist fast, great for frinds knives. 1k felt a little glazed after some low pressure work. No idea wether these plates need initial opening. A shop mentioned the thin layer series needing intial openening/flattenig.

Second cup of tea here, but mine is not straight, like my mind. that might be wear. Idk. Sorry, need a hairline ruler first. I promise to stop cheating myself with rulers not beeing straight.

The plate is about 100€. That should make a reliable tool. And I like my tools to support my work, not me caring for the tools. But of course I am in need of a maintenence strategie too.

With a razor nasty grit contamination showed up. So far that might be contamination or "diamond clusters". Got to clean the corners better and give that a closer look. What else can be done in that department? I was lapping my lapping stones that day, rough sic.

Let me note the width of my plate here, to check after some wear.
Arrow up corner: 11.2
down: 11.2
V: 11.2
s: 11.2
middle: 11.5

I didn't expect that. The sides show different width of the abrasive. And Naniwa's nagura was used on the fine side.

 

[Troopah_Knives]

1. I use a 320 Nagura to clean mine out. It is probably best to find one of a similar grit to the stone itself.

2. You are correct with the SiC powder. Your goal is to remove the binder to reveal fresh grit.

3. You really don't need to lap often to keep it flat. I lap mine once every 3 months or so but at that point I can't see or even really measure the dishing. but I do see some unevenness that is removed during the lapping

 

[M1k3]

I use my Glass 4k. Very convenient. I use it maybe once every month or two. Once I feel like the speed has deteriorated enough to notice or just feeling like cleaning the black surface. I don't completely flatten it 100%, just enough to get the majority of the surface flat and back in action.

 

[natto]

Mine is a phoenix 400/1000. Used it a little to get a feel. The ends are 11.2mm wide, the middle is 11.5mm. The thin ends show how I'm used to use a nagura, keeping the ends at level. Which was'nt the best idea.

 

[KingShapton]

Mine is a phoenix 400/1000. Used it a little to get a feel. The ends are 11.2mm wide, the middle is 11.5mm. The thin ends show how I'm used to use a nagura, keeping the ends at level. Which was'nt the best idea.

Do I understand that correctly, you have worn off the ends of the plate too much with a nagura?!

What kind of nagura did you use?

And did you want to flatten the plate with the Nagura or did you just want to clean the plate with the Nagura? Was the current result almost an accident?;

 

[natto]

Yup, the usual Naniwa. Maybe once on the rough side that was a little hydrophobic. And about three times on the other side, looking for some bite.

 

[captaincaed]

Anything harder than the binder will let you flatten the venev.

I say flatten out of the box. It's expensive but knives are expensiver. The goal is a good edge, not to keep as much stone as possible sitting in a cupboard. Inconsistencies will transfer onto the knife.

It's painful to lose stone life, though. I feel it.