Thread: Do diamonds wear

Thread closed for cool down period.

Thread is now open with a warning that there will be repercussions for any further unseemly behaviour.

I...uh... have several DMT 325 plates with different stages of 'wear'. The one the most worn is used strictly to lap my waterstones and has been for years. It got that way lapping hard, natural stones and barber's hones.
I have always assumed the bigger diamonds got knocked-off over a period of time doing silly things like blade restoration, sharpening chisels, lapping hard stones. Just figure it is down to the small level of diamonds there.

I mean, how DO they adhere the diamonds to the steel plate?
As getting a new DMT 325, it is widely recommended to use a screwdriver shaft to knock off offending large diamonds in order to use for flattening stones.

Anyhoo, I just love my worn one for maintaining waterstones, Nice, smooth job, no deep scratches.

I'm done with the debate. I apologize for offending anyone, or contributing to the temporary closing of the thread. My research and prior knowledge of diamonds led to the following conclusion. They do break, quite easily in fact, I never said they dont. Due to the crystalline structures they simply can't become "rounded". When I think rounded, I think river rocks, smooth and round. If they are slightly rounded, it will only make them more susceptible to braking along a plane. The reason dmt plates lose effect, as well as other diamond cutting tools, is that the diamonds are fracturing or coming loose from whatever they are bonded too. The peaks and valleys become more linear, resulting in less cutting effect.

Might be fracturing, indeed. Even though my worn plate is smooth as compared to a new one, it still seems to have an even coat of diamonds on it.

As I mentioned the screwdriver shaft, a diamond is much harder, yet as repeated striking of the high diamonds with it, perhaps they are being fractured down to the level of the others over time,
Making the plate smoother?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Might be fracturing, indeed. Even though my worn plate is smooth as compared to a new one, it still seems to have an even coat of diamonds on it.

As I mentioned the screwdriver shaft, a diamond is much harder, yet as repeated striking of the high diamonds with it, perhaps they are being fractured down to the level of the others over time,
Making the plate smoother?

There was a post earlier that showed new vs used dmt plates at like 1000x magnification. What I took away from it was that some diamonds get completely removed, some heavily fracture, and some stay pretty much untouched. The more fractured/removed they get, the less aggressive the cutting action.

I missed that, but it sounds about right. The tough diamonds which resist fracture will go.
Wreaking havok as they do? The ones which will fracture shall. Down to a level, I suppose, which gets smoother as the tips get rounded OR fractured to round?
So HOW are the diamonds affixed to the plate on a DMT325?

Somebody find it. I am just lazy!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I missed that, but it sounds about right. The tough diamonds which resist fracture will go.
Wreaking havok as they do? The ones which will fracture shall. Down to a level, I suppose, which gets smoother as the tips get rounded OR fractured to round?
So HOW are the diamonds affixed to the plate on a DMT325?

Somebody find it. I am just lazy!

Garrett, aka jnats, from japanese-whetstones.com makes his own. I'm not sure exactly how the process works but the steel plate is the base, then nickel is used to adhere them to the steel. Not sure if that helps, but that's the extent of what I know.

I think folks misunderstand what hardness means Geologically speaking that is. It just means if you take a mineral with a Mohs hardness of 6 and slide it across a mineral with a Mohs hardness of 7 the mineral with the 6 hardness will leave a streak of itself on the harder stone. However if you slide the 6 over the 7 over and over for many many years it will erode the 7 mineral.

The next time you are outside take a look at the moon. If we didn't have an atmosphere we would look the same probably far worse because we are larger. Erosion has shaped this planet and nothing stands in it's way. The earth is being continually recycled be it from erosion or subduction or tectonic and volcanic forces.

Are diamonds subject to destruction by natural forces? You bet they are. On our planet running water is the greatest shaper of the planet.

Add to that the internal cracks and flaws in individual diamonds and actually some diamonds (probably most) are really fragile. Combine that with chance cleavage and pressure during honing and you wind up with diamond dust.