Thread: Atoma diamond plates for lapping

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Unless you see obvious high spots evidenced by scratches in your stone there is no need to break in an Atoma for stone lapping.

Yes, I've had to break in all my DMT's, especially the 325 grit, and they can really screw up the surface of a stone if not broken in properly. Figured the Atoma also needed to be broken in, but didn't want to do anything to it if not necessary. I'll play around with it and look closely for scratches, then go from there.

I've only seen 1 out of 6 Atoma that had a small high spot. The design is very different to the DMT .

All of my DMT stones needed to be broken in (about 6 or 7), my Atoma was fine out of the box.

I'm now using the Atoma 400 and the Atoma 1200 for my lapping needs, and I'm loving them both. The 400 seems more aggressive than my DMT 325 grit, but it does not leave scratching on my 1k stones. The Atoma 1200 is also more aggressive than I expected, but I love it. It makes quick work of lapping. The 1200 did have one tiny cluster of diamonds that was leaving scratches on my 8k, but it was easily removed, so it's leaving super smooth finishes. After 3 weeks of using them both continuously, both look brand new, and show no wear whatsoever. There is basically zero suction between the hones & Atomas, so that is an added bonus. I did notice right away that the Atomas are only about half the weight of the DMT's, but this was no problem for me since I mainly hold my lapping plate in one hand, hone in the other when lapping. I do wish the Atomas came with rubber feet like the DMT's, but they don't. Overall, I'm very pleased with my new Atomas, and don't see myself needing a DMT anytime in the near future.

And you can replace the abrasive sheet if you ever wear one out.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

And you can replace the abrasive sheet if you ever wear one out.

Oh yeah, thanks, I'd forgotten about the replaceable sheets. Sounds like an all around winner to me!

Attention: Re the Atoma #1200 diamond plate. After consultation with the manufacturer of the Atoma 1200, it is the unavoidable fact that the Atoma 1200 has no place in lapping/cleaning or anything at all to do with waterstones. In fact the Manufacturer Tsuboman and Tools from Japan, have made it abundantly clear that if you use a 1200 Atoma on any waterstone they (Tools from Japan sell) will immediately revoke and make null and void all warranties/guarantees due to the damage that will be caused to both the plate and the waterstone. The Atoma 1200 is best used with steel. Using it on waterstones, will degrade the plate rapidly, and the nickel that the fine diamonds adhere to lose the diamonds which become embedded in the stone causing significant damage. Especially if you then push your favourite blade over a stone with the peak of a diamond in it's path!

The Atoma 400 however is suitable for lapping waterstones and is recommended by the manufacturer, taking care not to gouge into the waterstone.

This is not from me fellas, I was intending to buy a 1200 Atoma, and The boss of Tools from Japan basically wouldn't sell it to me if it were to have anything to do with waterstones. And went on to, in detail to make it absolutely clear to anyone who uses synthetic waterstones with this plate, they will wreck the stone and the plate, losing the warranties.

Good enough for me. (any doubts . store@toolsfromjapan.com -)

Bobski.

Originally Posted by bobski

Attention: Re the Atoma #1200 diamond plate. After consultation with the manufacturer of the Atoma 1200, it is the unavoidable fact that the Atoma 1200 has no place in lapping/cleaning or anything at all to do with waterstones. In fact the Manufacturer Tsuboman and Tools from Japan, have made it abundantly clear that if you use a 1200 Atoma on any waterstone they (Tools from Japan sell) will immediately revoke and make null and void all warranties/guarantees due to the damage that will be caused to both the plate and the waterstone. The Atoma 1200 is best used with steel. Using it on waterstones, will degrade the plate rapidly, and the nickel that the fine diamonds adhere to lose the diamonds which become embedded in the stone causing significant damage. Especially if you then push your favourite blade over a stone with the peak of a diamond in it's path!

The Atoma 400 however is suitable for lapping waterstones and is recommended by the manufacturer, taking care not to gouge into the waterstone.

This is not from me fellas, I was intending to buy a 1200 Atoma, and The boss of Tools from Japan basically wouldn't sell it to me if it were to have anything to do with waterstones. And went on to, in detail to make it absolutely clear to anyone who uses synthetic waterstones with this plate, they will wreck the stone and the plate, losing the warranties.

Good enough for me. (any doubts . store@toolsfromjapan.com -)

Bobski.

I am not 100% sure, but this might have been mentioned in a thread somewhere. My 1200 got stripped by lapping various hones, the 20k Suehiro did particularly good job at that .

My Atoma 1200 is toast too, but I was lapping everything under the sun. Big mistake. Live and learn.

Just my 2 cents, but I've used my Atoma 1200 for 2.5 years now for lapping 8k and above waterstones, (mainly an 8k and a couple of Eschers), and I use it several times per week for this purpose. I've never used it for much of anything else, except to touch up a kitchen knife from time to time, and mine is still in perfect working order, with no wear to the nickel plating, and almost no visible wear to the diamonds. Perhaps it is fine with higher grit stones, but not so much with lower grit stones.....I'm not sure. I expect to get many years of use from mine yet though, and it has given me no reason to doubt it's capabilities of delivering. I especially like how fast it laps my stones - within a matter of seconds it has my stones ready to go again.