Thread: small review: flattening hard hones relativly easy and cheap

problem:
good quality diamond plates like atomas are not a bargain. if you have/buy hard hones that are also concave/need a lot of lapping, the plates are unnecessarily worn out. personally i don t like sic powder very much because it s not only lapping your hone but also the glass/granite/whatever plate you lap on.

i tried various cheap diamond plates for heavy lapping. i don t know if i am allowed to link to ebay here, so:
i can NOT recomment the cheap 400/1000 grid combination plates. mine lost diamonds as fast as a dog his hair in summer. plus: it was not flat but to thick to back it up with something straight.
i can recommend the very cheap THIN diamond plates from china that you ll find f.e. on ebay usa. they are around $3-5 a piece including shipping. look for the ad that sells them with grid from 80-3000.

they are really thin so it worksif you use them with a piece of floatglass as backup to get them straight. as i said, the grid rating starts at 80, so they bite! i lapped several hard hones that where really concave, doing the flattening with the cheap plates, 80/150/240. they hold their diamonds quite good.
once "flat" i switched to atomas.

works good and prolongs the life of the atomas/whatever expensive plate you use or prepares the hones for finishing on w/d sandpaper.

thank you and have a good one

Yes, some inexpensive eBay plates work very well but mileage will vary. Flatness is really not an issue for the initial flattening because you are just hogging off material, much like dimensioning lumber for a project.

Flattening will come in the finer grits. Silicone Oxide is best used on a metal cookie sheet on a flat surface and it will contain the mess. You won’t burn through a dollar steel cookie sheet and can quickly and inexpensively get to flat with low grits, then move to Wet & Dry on the cookie sheet and finish on diamond plates or high grit W&D.

No question hard stones like Noviculites, will trash any diamond plate quickly by ripping the diamonds from the substrate. Got Grit.com is a great source that sells in smaller quantities, $15 will get you a good progression that will do several stones and get you flat.

Once flat-ish, smoothing goes quickly. Grid mark your stone with a sharpie, slurry will wash off pencil in a few laps.

Diamond plates are the only way to go, for slurry and stone maintenance. A perfectly flat plate is a non-issue, as the stone rides on the high spots and you are not honing on the exact same grit each lap.

Originally Posted by heiopei

personally i don t like sic powder very much because it s not only lapping your hone but also the glass/granite/whatever plate you lap on.

Yes & no. The glass won't wear a lot as it's very hard by nature . Think of a crankshaft running in sintered bronze bushes . The bushes wear but the shaft may only lose a few thou over it's lifetime.
Whatever the wear it's no big deal at the grinding stage where a lot of stone needs to go.

When finishing using wetndri papers also, one must be mindful that the "play" from paper compressing & moving can yield less than flat results without a well educated hand.

Those cheap harbor freight diamond plates work pretty well for the roughing in.

My driveway is a nice flat poured concrete. That’s what I use to get a tough stone started, then I bring it to the DMT.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yes, some inexpensive eBay plates work very well but mileage will vary. Flatness is really not an issue for the initial flattening because you are just hogging off material, much like dimensioning lumber for a project.

Flattening will come in the finer grits. Silicone Oxide is best used on a metal cookie sheet on a flat surface and it will contain the mess. You won’t burn through a dollar steel cookie sheet and can quickly and inexpensively get to flat with low grits, then move to Wet & Dry on the cookie sheet and finish on diamond plates or high grit W&D.

No question hard stones like Noviculites, will trash any diamond plate quickly by ripping the diamonds from the substrate. Got Grit.com is a great source that sells in smaller quantities, $15 will get you a good progression that will do several stones and get you flat.

Once flat-ish, smoothing goes quickly. Grid mark your stone with a sharpie, slurry will wash off pencil in a few laps.

Diamond plates are the only way to go, for slurry and stone maintenance. A perfectly flat plate is a non-issue, as the stone rides on the high spots and you are not honing on the exact same grit each lap.

Well-said and good to see you, Marty!
This is from someone who has trashed DMT's worth more than the hones I am flattening!
I DO like the ones I have worn to use as refreshing my synthetics.
They work awesome for that.

At some point you ask yourself if the DMT is gonna last through the flattening. ....WHAT?
Out to the driveway!

Originally Posted by earcutter

My driveway is a nice flat poured concrete. That’s what I use to get a tough stone started, then I bring it to the DMT.

Yup ~ Been there done that

I've used the backside of ceramic tile to flatten all my Arkansas stones. Initially they cut fast then smooth out. Takes a while but they are only a couple bucks apiece and are flat. Lots of folks have a few in the garage from the last remodel. Re-purposed!
Paul

For extra heavy damage or dishing, I use silica sand on concrete or ceramic tile. I've actually lapped box damage off the bottom of Washitas. White silica sand ...not play sand. If you have something really out of whack, give it a try. It really gets the party started!