Thread: Are DMT stones supose to be "flat"?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Really just personal preference never checked my plates, never had an issue. At most, you have an inch of razor width on the stone at a time, so it will just ride on the high and low spots as you move across it. We are not talking about that much variance. On a stone the plate will just ride on the high spots, it will not take the shape of the plate. Think about it, how flat is your strop?

Smooth is more important than dead flat, flat-ish is good enough. Most synthetic stones, move way more, swelling and shrinking than the variance of the plates, so does it really matter?


I remember years ago, someone wrote on this site words to the effect, if a hundred years ago, guys really worried about how dead flat their stones were?

Good enough answer for me. Thank you all for your participation.........................

Omg you guys are starting to freak me out, I dare not look at my DMT 325 for variances in flatness because the devil may just pop up and sit on my shoulder whispering Dia flat or Shapton diamond flattening plate and I dont want to hear it. I will become the Ostrich and bury my head in the sand and just believe my DMT is flat. I may just decide to learn dished hones and the hell with it.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Most synthetic stones, move way more, swelling and shrinking than the variance of the plates, so does it really matter?

+1, they really do IME. PITA but I've learned to live with it.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

I remember years ago, someone wrote on this site words to the effect, if a hundred years ago, guys really worried about how dead flat their stones were?

Back in the 1980s, when I used to talk to old barbers, who'd been at it for 50 years, they would talk about coticules and honing, and I never heard one of them mention flattening a stone. Is it in any of the old barber manuals ? I don't recollect ever seeing any mention of it.

Not to say that flattening our stones isn't a good thing, just saying, like Euclid said, maybe it isn't as important as we OCD folks think it is ...........

I have also found that synthetics and specifically Naniwas do swell and get slightly uneven with exposure to water. Glen once mentioned in an old video of his that he likes to soak his Naniwas in water for a short period like a few minutes to help normalize the swelling and helps even the stone out. Naniwas are more or less splash and go stones, I did find this to be helpful as long as you dont go crazy and try to soak them like a Norton which would certainly break down the binder and ruin the hone eventually. I agree with Jimmy and Euclid in as flat enough or mostly flat is sufficient and it shouldn't get my dandruff up. If old time barbers behaved like a lot of obsessed razor mechanics they would be in the shop all day putting straight edges to hones and lapping the damn things to oblivion with not much time for shaving. Thanks for the reassurance.