Thread: DMT Question

Originally Posted by TstebinsB

Alex's question referred to restoring razors. However, I want to sharpen NOS razors and a few eBay razors in good condition. I'm not into restoring razors. If I have the D8EE as a finisher and the D8E to set the bevel, do I need anything in between? Thanks.

I have both, and at first I hated the D8EE. It cut so coarse I had to back hone on finish passes to get anything resembling an edge ready to finish on a higher grit.

I even tried lightly lapping a norton 8K, and a few barber hones to "break it in". No love. Still snaggy/grabby on superlight passes...

I have since used it on a few ebay junkers and it has calmed down a lot. I bet after a few more weeks of use it would be OK to shave off of. That being said, I haven't tried it yet. I am too chicken.

Originally Posted by joke1176

I even tried lightly lapping a norton 8K, and a few barber hones to "break it in". No love. Still snaggy/grabby on superlight passes...

I have since used it on a few ebay junkers and it has calmed down a lot. I bet after a few more weeks of use it would be OK to shave off of. That being said, I haven't tried it yet. I am too chicken.

I'd say just keep breaking it in. There seems to be a hell of a lot of variation in how long this process takes for this or that DMT. My 320 was perfect almost right off the bat, but my 1200 took a really long to give up that snaggy/grabby feeling. Like I'd say the cumulative equivalent of 5-6 solid hours of honing, spread out over a month, on everything from ebay junkers to kitchen knives to barber hones. Now it cuts like a dream.

I've never used the DMT 8000, but I wonder if its reputation for slightly harsh edges isn't in part a function of not being fully broken in.

Originally Posted by dylandog

I'd say just keep breaking it in. There seems to be a hell of a lot of variation in how long this process takes for this or that DMT. My 320 was perfect almost right off the bat, but my 1200 took a really long to give up that snaggy/grabby feeling. Like I'd say the cumulative equivalent of 5-6 solid hours of honing, spread out over a month, on everything from ebay junkers to kitchen knives to barber hones. Now it cuts like a dream.

I've never used the DMT 8000, but I wonder if its reputation for slightly harsh edges isn't in part a function of not being fully broken in.

That's what I am thinking. DMT themselves desc. the diamond they use as mono crystalline in shape. They say these snaggly looking bits cut better than the multifaceted diamonds out there.

I say they are just being cheap.

Joke, they are not being cheap, the monocrystalline diamonds that DMT uses are the only kind that would work in a bench hone. The "multifaceted" diamonds are polycrystalline, and the difference is that polycrystalline diamonds are smaller diamonds that are stuck together to form larger ones. When used, they shatter into the smaller constituent bits as you go, so they are unsuitable for a hone because after a few uses there would be very little cutting media left. They are great for lapping compounds, but terrible for hones.

I didn't know they were aggregates!

I thought they were just single crystals that had a greater propensity to fracture based on the manufacturing process.

I also assumed they were also able to make em so they didn't fracture. Kinda like making a harder version of the garnet's in coticules or whatever.

But we all know what happens when you assume something...

Yes, they are aggregates but they are not intentionally reconstituted. The polycrystalline diamond is the result of an explosive process, while the monocrystalline diamonds are "grown" like other crystals (not sure how though).

I guess the explosive process makes diamonds form within a cluster of carbon and metal dusts, but doesn't convert the entire clump, so you have diamond shards stuck together with the remnants of the mixture. So it's not really that the diamonds themselves fracture, they are just broken apart from one another. Which is great for diamond pastes, it means finer and finer results as you go.


TstebinsB,

"shell" is another word for "leather taken from the butt of an animal" so the hand american strips are shell strips. Or try Tandy: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/p...number=4578-00 This is the strip that I used (it's actually less than 3", like 2.5", I find it to be the perfect size anyway), but I have a store in town, so I didn't order it. I remember it being a little more expensive, maybe it was a longer strip. Oh well.

Here are a few other options if you want latigo or a different size: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=23

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

TstebinsB,

"shell" is another word for "leather taken from the butt of an animal" so the hand american strips are shell strips. Or try Tandy: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/p...number=4578-00 This is the strip that I used (it's actually less than 3", like 2.5", I find it to be the perfect size anyway), but I have a store in town, so I didn't order it. I remember it being a little more expensive, maybe it was a longer strip. Oh well.

Here are a few other options if you want latigo or a different size: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=23

Ohh, very nice. Thanks!