Thread: Informal Diamond Plate Comparison

Josh at the Wyomissing Barber Shop recently bought a beautiful Revisor razor. I checked it out Thursday and found that it had an issue scratching the strop on the towards me stroke when stropping. There was a sharp edge on the point (back side) so I took it home , sanded and buffed the point. Problem solved there.


Then I found that the edge was warped because the front center bevel was very thin and the front point and heel bevel was very wide. Corrected the warp in the usual manner. 8k shave was very respectable but wanted to go to the 20k. I noticed that the 20k needed a good lapping. I started lapping the 20k on my DMT 220. This was going too slow to suit me. Changed to the Atoma 400 for lapping the 20k. Much improved speed on the 400.

So I will deem this an informal comparison test between the DMT 220 and the Atoma 400 Diamond plate. As things stand at the moment, the Atoma gets a better evaluation that the DMT 220.

Has anyone done a similar comparison???

Atomas lap much faster than dmts. Not even close.I have the atoma 140,400,600 and 1200. Well worth the money IMO. I only use dmts for steel if I have to. I used an atoma for steel a few times, no good, looked like it went through a wood chipper. Even the 1200. So IMO dmts for steel, and atomas for lapping.

Same findings as you and Bill - I also have the plates Bill has, plus coarse, xtra coarse, fine and xtra fine DMTs (can't remember the grit ratings, but pretty sure at least 325, 600 and 1200 are covered). Also have the ridiculously priced shapton lapping plate.

I sell on a lot of the hones I buy, after lapping and photographing them, and it seems to me that the scratch pattern left by the Atomas is more apparent than that left by the DMTs of equivalent grit (but see below) and the shapton.

I do find it a bit of an irritation that my 600 DMT leaves a finer scratch pattern than the Atoma 1200. I have had both and have used both for a long time on many stones, natural and synthetics, and am not against lapping hard stones like novaculites with them (plenty of water and frequent flushing or you risk 'killing' the plate), but still it seems that the DMT is finer than the Atoma.

Maybe it is a bit like sandpaper where you have the american Cami grit and the European ISO/Fepa grit or 'P' grading: they start off about the same at 20 grit, but by the time you reach Cami 1000 the P grit has wandered off to P2000! Then there is the Japanese JIS system... which at P2000 is somewhere between JIS1200 and JIS15000. Confusing - for me, at least!

Regards,
Neil

Definitely getting an Atoma for my synthetics (my well worn DMT 325 is now solely for raising a slurry on my asagi & does a great job there). Going to use it on a Chosera 1k & Shapton GS. Wondering if I should get the 400 or 600. Any thoughts?

I would get the 600 for light lapping and it leaves a nice surface. Heavy lapping on hard stones I use wet/dry even though I have the atomas down to 140. One day in a million years they will say what a rich culture we had, flushing diamonds down the drain! DIamonds are forever, but not forever on your plate. A hard stone like a cnat or hard jnat or coticule, I would use 100 wet/dry to get it flat, then everything else to remove the scratches from the 100 and subsequent grits. Ive used as low as 60 grit for some stones that had a long way to go.

Rather interesting thread, thanks for the information guys!

Same impression as Jerry, BIll and Neil. I've got the DMT D-8C 325, and the Shapton GDLP as the workhorse lapping plates. For those who have them, you know what to expect out of them. I bit the bullet and went for the Atoma 1200 and was blown away by how much faster it worked. My routine now is to use the D8C or the GDLP for the initial lapping, and once the pencil grid is 3/4 of the way gone, I go to the Atoma and make short shrift of the balance. More steps, but I want to make the Atoma last as long as I can.

I also have the DMT XX 120, the 600, 1200, and "8000". The 120 is too much of a good thing. The scratches are such that I don't bother with it because whatever advantage it gives in coarseness, it gives up in my having to work harder to smooth out the results with the 325. Dia-Sharp, the maker of DMT will not warranty plates above 325 that are used for lapping waterstones, or oil stones for that matter. As far as taking razors to them, I have taken a razor or two to the DMTs but I don't anymore. My quotation marks around the 8000 are to illustrate my serious doubt that it is anywhere close to that. YMMV.

Originally Posted by PA23-250

Definitely getting an Atoma for my synthetics (my well worn DMT 325 is now solely for raising a slurry on my asagi & does a great job there). Going to use it on a Chosera 1k & Shapton GS. Wondering if I should get the 400 or 600. Any thoughts?

Thought....
I see multiple threads above.
Abrading steel.
Lapping hones.
Lapping naturals.

Diamonds in my limited experience are hard on steel except at the sub-micron bits on a strop case.
If you need a diamond hone to shape badly warped or recover/ rescue an old razor be gentle
and expect to need to remove the diamond induced problems with a regular hone from 1k and
finer. Owners of 8K DMT hones tell me more please.

Lapping hones. The important part is that the surface is flat. I do not mind the minor gouges
from an extra extra coarse lap because they are shallow and work as tattle tales to let me
know if the hone has dished. When the lines are gone the hone has dished.

I find that slurry is best built from a slurry stone or from the a previous grit.

DMT to lap a 1K flat
Use the 1K to build a slurry and lap on the 4K and perhaps the 8K, 4K on the 10K ....
Combo hones like the Norton 4K/8K I use a DMT and the tattle tale lines on the 8K side are gold.

The slurry from an extra extra coarse DMT can be too coarse (lumpy) so I dilute it quickly.
I rinse it off from 4K on down and rely on a slurry stone if I want slurry.

Lapping naturals... use what works... they can be hard as heck.

Originally Posted by mrsell63

Josh at the Wyomissing Barber Shop recently bought a beautiful Revisor razor. I checked it out Thursday and found that it had an issue scratching the strop on the towards me stroke when stropping. There was a sharp edge on the point (back side) so I took it home , sanded and buffed the point. Problem solved there.


Then I found that the edge was warped because the front center bevel was very thin and the front point and heel bevel was very wide. Corrected the warp in the usual manner. 8k shave was very respectable but wanted to go to the 20k. I noticed that the 20k needed a good lapping. I started lapping the 20k on my DMT 220. This was going too slow to suit me. Changed to the Atoma 400 for lapping the 20k. Much improved speed on the 400.

So I will deem this an informal comparison test between the DMT 220 and the Atoma 400 Diamond plate. As things stand at the moment, the Atoma gets a better evaluation that the DMT 220.

Has anyone done a similar comparison???

I've not used a 220 DMT on anything but oilstones, and an atoma 400 on waterstones. I have used a DMT 325 on waterstones (a lot).

What I gather from all of them is that the atoma is a nicer and more durable diamond hone for lapping stones. The dmt's electroplate just has diamonds all over the place, and the atoma has them arranged in little mounds. The mound arrangement just seems to be more durable, and their electroplate seems to be more durable, too - my DMTs get clapped out in the middle pretty quickly (both the ones used on waterstones as well as the ones used on oilstones).

Fortunately for the oilstone-purposed 220, I don't lap many synthetic stones with it (their abrasive is a lot harder on the electroplate on the hone), and reserve it mainly for the final steps lapping washita stones.

There is no part of my DMT hone that is remotely 220 grit any longer, though. It could put a random 220 scratch on something due to the type of diamonds, but the middle of the stone is very slow and worn out from really not that much work for the price.

Both of my atomas have been used a lot both for flattening tools and flattening stones, and they feel more like 800 speed honing, now, but they work just fine on the stone, albeit a touch slower than when they were new. Once they broke in, it seems like they are not changing at all.

CKTG sells a, no-name 140 grit 8 X 2.75, diamond plate for around 30 bucks. It is a great beater, lapping plate that will hog off material quickly with no visible loss of diamonds. I have been beating this one for over a year on a variety of stones.

I do not use it or any diamond plate on Arks, loose Silicon Carbide grit and Wet & Dry for them.

It is a great stone lapping plate for the money, way too aggressive for razors.

140 Grit Diamond Flattening Plate
140 Diamond Plate