Thread: Got my DMT's today

Got a DMT Dia-Sharp 8E (1.2k equiv) and a DMT Dia-Sharp 8EE(8k equiv). This was my first time working with real stones. My only other experience honing was with 3M's papers on marble tiles.

I took out my Hill & Sons (a Sheffield blade) that I had had some problems with, and got to work. Honing can be so rewarding when stuff comes together. Thanks to Glen's wiki entry on honing, I was able to get this problem child of a blade sharpened. I started out by bread knifing it to take out a bunch of micro chips. I bread knifed it all the way down to the base of the old bevel, cause one of the chips was pretty deep. The blade wasn't warped, but there was some problem with the blade/spine geometry that took a bunch of circle honing on both sides to fix. And all of this so far was done on the 1.2k Dia-sharp. As much as I love that stone, it made me realize I need yet one more hone. Either the 325 grit course Dia-sharp or the 600 grit Fine. Doing alot of bread knifiing and geomotry correcting with the 1.2k stone just took waaay too long. Even setting the bevel with the 1.2k took longer than I thought it would. It was popping hairs nicely by the time I was done with the 1.2k.

Then on to the 8EEF. Wow, that thing cuts *fast*, and puts a *very* sharp edge on the blade. And I now know first hand what you guys are talking about when you say a blade off of a 8EEF Dia-sharp is harsh. Hol-y cow, it's harsh. Yeah, it'll pop the hairs right off yer arm, and about three layers of skin, just for good measure. It's just *rough*! And this is even after I used the 8EEF to lap my Swaty stone. I was hoping that would tone it down a bit, but it still left the blade harsh.

So speaking of the Swaty, I did about fifty laps on it, and it really got rid of the harshness from the 8EEF. After the swaty, I went to the pasted paddle strop. 25 laps at 1 micron, 25 laps at .5 micron, 25 laps at .25 micron, followed by 125 laps on bare leather.

Anyway, thanks for letting the new guy ramble on about honing...this is much more fun that I thought it was going to be... oh, and I do have a couple questions... Which stone should I get, the 325 or 600 Dia-sharp? Also, what would be the ideal diamond paste size to follow the Swaty?

I like the D8C 325 for lapping stones and it doubles for removing serious chips. I gave up bread knifing unless the chip is so bad that circles are out of the question. I used to do it for chips that I could have honed out quicker if I had gone flat. Putting a bevel on after the bread knifing can be a heap of work.

In case you hadn't read any of the threads on diamond plates they benefit from a break in with a plane or some such thing as that. I don't have a plane so I take the shank of an old long screwdriver that I have and I rub the plate down pretty aggressively. I also knock down any high spots on the edges. Same as you would do on the edges of a stone.

I would see about getting some chrom ox to ease up on the harshness off of the plate. I find it works really well.

Watch out!!!!! I see the Honing Monkey climbing on your back

Originally Posted by FloorPizza

Anyway, thanks for letting the new guy ramble on about honing...this is much more fun that I thought it was going to be... oh, and I do have a couple questions... Which stone should I get, the 325 or 600 Dia-sharp?

The 325 is great for lapping natural and artificial stones and it will do some serious edge reshaping, but the 600 doesn't do anything special.

A coticule is my favorite stone to follow the D8EE, if you have any interest in one.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Watch out!!!!! I see the Honing Monkey climbing on your back

Yeah, he's right. I started the same way you did, there's always that perfect hone for any particular job lurking around the corner. You just have to find it.

hey congrats on getting your hones and having a good first experience. now you have me thinking about the 325 DMT for lapping and full bevel resets, i really like my nortons but even the 1k is a bit slow after i bread knife it (and seeing how cheap i am some of the razors i have bought definitely need it). congrats again.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Watch out!!!!! I see the Honing Monkey climbing on your back

Yeah, and the damn thing keeps reaching down and clicking the mouse button on "Buy it Now!". SWMBO is gonna be P.O.'d.