Thread: Question for DMT users

Of course I'm refering to the hones....ehemm

I recently purchased a DMT D6E to add as a bevel setter before my Belgian hones. When I hone on the blue I expect a certain level of sharpness before moving up. My question to you all is what level of sharpness should I be looking for coming off the D6E? Currently it passes the TNT but does not shave arm hairs. The is a small part of the bevel that may shave, should I keep at it untill I get the whole blade shaving or is that beyond the scope of the D6E? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

TNT is what I expect before leaving the 1000K grit. That would be comparable to your DMT6E.
After that I go to the 4K, and I hone until the scratch lines are gone.
Then I do a couple of pyramids, and then I go to the finishing stage.

The most important thing is to get good bevels before leaving the 1000 grit stage.
If that is good, then the rest should be relatively easy.
If the blade grips the nail along the entire edge, you are good to go.

Originally Posted by Bruno

TNT is what I expect before leaving the 1000K grit.

you have a million-grit stone?!?

Jcitron,

If you "sawhoned" the bevel away, it will take many (an understatement, actually) laps to reestablish a new bevel. Somehow, doing a high amount of laps on a hone that's a bit to fine for a given task, is more likely to introduce unevenness, than using less laps on coarser hones. For completely rebuilding bevels, I always start with a DMT 325, next the 600 and only then the 1200.
If you haven't got a coarser hone than the 1200, you might be better off using sandpaper on a known flat surface.

I have seen 4 DMT D6E so far, of which one required considerably more breaking in than the others. A great way to smooth out a DMT 1200 is to put a coticule slurry on it and rub a flat piece of steel (like a cabinet scraper) back and forth, with some pressure. (It's also a great way for polishing cabinet scrapers).

The only way to be sure that a DMT is properly broken in, is to check a honed edge for microchips, under magnification. But you generally also feel the edge hitting elevated diamond particles during the honing, and severe microchipping can be felt with a TNT.

I find that a drop of dishwashing saop added to the water allowes for a smoother honing feel, and the water covers the DMT better as well.

I wouldn't take a file, or anythinh with a very coarse grit to the DMT. There's a risk that you pull lots of diamond particles out of the nickel matrix, and that's not the idea of "breaking in".

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

If you "sawhoned" the bevel away, it will take many (an understatement, actually) laps to reestablish a new bevel. Bart.

It's interesting that this topic came up. I have a vintage coticule that has fine grooves worn in one of the corners where the previous owner would have drawn the edge through the groove/s.

I heard Howard Schechter mention the same technique. I have tried it on edges of vintage razors that have small nicks and chips (very small). It works beautifully. Drawing very lightly in a sawing motion at a 45 degree angle on a corner edge of a coticule maybe 10 passes or less makes for a perfectly straight edge under magnification and a great and quick place to start setting a bevel. Nicks and chips.......gone.

I agree with Bart to a degree, since you're widening the actual edge or flattening the edge this way, the amount of time it takes to establish a bevel I've found is probably about equal to the traditional method. Another way to accomplish the same goal.

To be clear, I'm not talking about a sawing motion until the original BEVELS are gone, I don't know why anyone would want to do that.

Chris L

Originally Posted by Chris L

To be clear, I'm not talking about a sawing motion until the original BEVELS are gone, I don't know why anyone would want to do that. Chris L

Removing a frown, or heavy corrosion from an Ebay junker, perhaps?
I've done it a couple of times, and I thought JCitron was talking about something like that.
The technique you described, removing only the "fin" of an edge, does of course not ask for going to hones coarser than the DMT 1200. I've also done that a couple of times, when ongoing attempts to push the sharpness envelope of a razor led to an edge that falls apart during one shave. The few times that happened was always with a freshly restored razor.
I sand and polish with rotary brushes attached to a drill chuck. My guess is the temper of the thinnest part of the bevel is easily affected by that method. Removing the very edge seems to remedy that problem.

If there is one part of the blade that seems sharper than the other, it either has a wire edge forming or the rest of the blade doesn't have a proper bevel set.

Can you see any reflection of light along the very edge when the edge is facing you (with a bright light nearby)?

If it's at the "sharper" area, that's the wire edge reflecting the light, you should move on to a higher grit, and do a little backhoning to remove the burr. If it's at any point along the rest of the blade, then there is a flat spot reflecting light and you should continue setting the bevel until the entire blade is a uniform sharpness.

Question???
still on topic here as to DMT use....
Are DMT's more prone to creating a wire edge or overhoned condition???? then say a Norton or Shapton 1k????

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Question???
still on topic here as to DMT use....
Are DMT's more prone to creating a wire edge or overhoned condition???? then say a Norton or Shapton 1k????

If the DMT is properly broken in, I don't think so.
I have honed, rougly estimated, about 100 razors with a progression including a DMT D6E. Never encountered any overhoning issues.
It is possible that the Begian Blue with slurry removes any develloping "wireness" from the very edge, but I also inspect most of my razors at 40X magnification while honing, and I never saw anything that fits the descreption of a wire edge, after the DMT.
I did see microchipping from DMT's that were not completely broken in.

Bart.

I use an extra fine for rough honing, and do run into some "microchipping" on harder razors, or when I am really blasting off the steel, but nothing a finer grit stone wouldn't fix with a little patience.

Any razors that will end up being good shavers pass the HHT off that hone pretty well before I move up in grit. Actually, the more razors I resto, the more I use this as a shaving quality pre-test (there are always razors that buck this trend).

As far as comparing it to other hones of comparative grit, I have no experience with em, sorry gssixgun.

Regarding wiredges or overhoning: on this grit I backhone pretty often to prevent such a problem, so no issues yet...