Thread: A History And Justification For My Diamond Plates

In the last few years, there have been a lot of good Diamond Plates on the market. I have several, Atoma, DMT, Ezlap, I Wood and lots of no name… they all work.

A couple years ago, I met a guy who was using a worn Harbor Freight diamond plate cube to bevel set and finishing with a barber hone. He had been honing razors for many years and the edge he put on the two Sheffield razors I bought from him were very nice.

Now, I don’t recommend the HF plates for honing, but there are inexpensive diamond plates available, that work very well.
I recently bought a 2.75 x 8 in IWood, 300 diamond plate that has a diamond pattern grit and works very well, I have been abusing it since the first of the year with no stiction…

Chef Knives to Go has a heavy, 2.75 x 8 in, 140 grit, $30 plate, that I have also grossly abused for, over a year now and lapped countless stones with, it is still going strong.

Recently I bought a $35, 400/1000 dual grit Diamond Plate from CNTG, this weekend it lapped several new stones very well and quickly. It has the same diamond patterns the IWood plate and looks just like it. The 1k side is great for high grit stones.
There is also a guy on EBay (Diamondtools30) selling 8X3 in diamond plates that work very well for as little as $12-15.

So for Diamond Plates there are a lot of options and they all work well. I do agree, we/I do abuse most plates (and it’s not just stones that will ruin plates, some steels will grab and rip out diamonds, as well).

If you use common sense most plates will last a long time. Loose Silicone Carbide makes quick work of the hardest stones, and is very inexpensive. I collect and lap a lot of stones, most naturals, repair and shape steel and admittedly I do abuse and have ruined some.

But for the average guy who is maintaining, 4-5 stones a $35 dollar plate is a lifetime purchase that will give stellar performance.