Thread: Two basic questions regarding the DMT D6E

Originally Posted by chem_fun

Bart:
Apart from running my fingernail across the hone, how do I know it's broken in? I've got a DMTD8C and DMTD8EE. Looking under my stereo scope, I can tell when the scratches are going away, but there are small nicks that I'm assuming shouldn't be there. Would this imply that I'm not honing enough, or that the hone isn't broken in well enough yet?

Firstl of all, be careful with that D8C: the 325 grit leaves deep and coarse scratch marks, and without intermediate hone it will take a long time on the D8EE before the last evidence of it is removed. I generally do not use a D8C for razors, unless for lapping hones, and when I need to build an entire new bevel on a razor, due to corrosion or after removing a frown.

I don't know your magnification factor. Seeing an extremely fine saw tooth pattern, the teeth being the same size as the scratch pattern from the hone, is normal, as long as the edge shows no sign of crumbling away. If you see a very small chip missing here and there, that's evidence of the hone knocking parts off the edge. If it are just three or four very small chips along the entire edge of the razor, your face probably won't notice if you polish well on the 12K.
The DMT will smooth out further over time.
Another trick I have used with great success is rubbing a piece of coticule over the DMT, till a slurry was present, and hone on the DMT with a coticule slurry. Perhaps you can do the same trick with your Chinese 12K. In my case, the harshness of the DMT completely dissapeared.. It also smoothed out my DMT to the point where it became a little slower cutting, but also much more gentle to the edge.

Hope this answers your question,

Bart.

I sharpened my kitchen knives with mine to break it in

Well, I used it tonight and here are my first impressions.

I grabbed my Belgian blue and under a small stream of water I lapped it using the fresh DMT D6E. With one stone in each hand I rubbed one against the other. Soon after, the blue started pouring slurry. The 2 stones sucked each other in a way that the top stone would grab the bottom one without any aid from me. I could only separate them by sliding one of them. I guess that's a sign that they're pretty much lapped, no?
After that, I grabbed my Wapi who was needing to get its edge redefined and I was curious to see the speed the DMT could remove metal. Holy cow, this DMT EATS metal! I didn't count the laps, but it didn't take that long the get a nice bevel. I continued with the DMT until it could pass the TPT. After some more minutes I guess I achieved it, so I swapped to the BBW and did about 50 passes and tomorrow I'll continue my honing session.
The current status of the Wapi is that it shaves arm hair, but only by "walking" in the skin. If I grab a hair in the air, and I touch the hair with the edge of the razor, it won't split it. Maybe I'll only achieve that in the coticule level...

About "grabbing hair in the air" (I like your expression)...
I always manage to pop an arm hair here and there, above skin level, after the D6E, but only if I end with extremely light laps. (A fumbled version of the HHT -slightly drawing the hair across the edge- works too).
BUT: after the Belgian Blue, I always loose both abilities. I find it imperative, though, to use a very light slurry, 'cause a too dense slurry tends to decrease the sharpness of the razor. Maybe too much into detail, but I've noticed if the razor still produces a soft ringing sound, as the hair is dragged across the edge, I'm still good to go. (It's a crude version of playing violin) If not, I overdid it on the slurry, and it always shows up in the final keenness after the coticule.

After the coticule, if I'm still on top of things, I can manage to do a "bearable" HHT again, which turns into a clean HHT after stropping 70 laps on clean leather.

There's a few other tricks I use, depending on the results of this basic progression, but I don't think this post is served by information overload...

Best regards,
Bart.

Sorry for bringing up an old post...

Leon..did you get that wapi back in shape?

I got a DMT D6E on the way too and I've been trying to find good information on breaking it in...Would you still recommend using a belgian blue to lap/break in the stone?

thanks!

For what it's worth. I used both my DMT C and my DMTEE to flatten a 12k. I figure flattening both sides probably knocked it down a bit.