Thread: DMT too fine?

My wife got me an extra fine DMT.I had asked for an extra coarse so I could lapp my stones. Two questions; I alrwady have a Chinese natural fine stone will the diamond do the same function?
also, the surface is odd. there is a perforated metal plate on the face?? Is this covered by the grit? Or is it on top?
Thanks Al

DMT hones come in two flavors, the Dia-Sharp line, which has a continuous surface, and the DuoSharp line, which has recessed "polkadots", for swarf clearance. Once they're properly broken in, they both work fine on razors. (I use the Coarse and Fine DuoSharp and the Extra fine Dia-Sharp)
As for grit ratings: Extra Coarse is 220, Coarse is 325, Fine 600 and Extra fine 1200 grit.
Extra Coarse and Coarse are suited for lapping. The others not.

Best regards,
Bart.

From a DMT seller site –
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Extra-Extra Coarse diamond (XX) - (120 micron / 120 mesh) for extreme removal of material and edge repair. They are well suited for flattening conventional and water stones such as those made by King and Norton. Using grits finer than this to flatten waterstones may damage the plate and is not covered by warranty.

I use a DIA-Sharp Coarse (325 mesh) for lapping and/or building a quick slurry on my water stones. (guess I’ve blown my warrantee, don’t tell anyone.) Great stuff, Maynard. I have a DIA-Sharp fine (600 mesh) and it is a waste of time to lap with. The Extra – Extra Coarse would be nice to have, but I already get little enough use out of the 325 mesh, the lapping use is a nice bonus and makes it a versatile stone. Sharpening wise I only use the 325 coarse for getting medieval on knives and tools and the occasional razor that demands extreme discipline.

The little round holes you see on your DUO-Sharp stone do not have diamond on them, the holes are recessed as deep as the metal plate surrounding them. The metal plate you can see does have the diamond on it. Idea is that metal filings have somewhere to get out of the way as the diamonds do their thing. Rinse it off occasionally as you use it to flush out the metal filings and to lubricate the stone.

Originally Posted by albertpotash

My wife got me an extra fine DMT.I had asked for an extra coarse so I could lapp my stones. Two questions; I alrwady have a Chinese natural fine stone will the diamond do the same function?
also, the surface is odd. there is a perforated metal plate on the face?? Is this covered by the grit? Or is it on top?
Thanks Al

The DMT "Extra Fine" or "E" model plates are only 1200 grit. Your Chinese natural is generally accepted at being equivalent to approx 12,000 grit. If you're asking whether or not the extra fine DMT plate will hone a razor to a shaving edge like your Chinese stone will, the answer is emphatically, no. Even if she bought you a D8EE extra extra fine 8,000 grit, I would still answer only slightly less emphatically, no.

If you're asking whether your extra fine DMT will lap your 12k as well or as effectively as the coarser DMT you wanted, the answer is maybe. It would depend on how flat your stone/s are to begin with, how hard your 12k is, etc.

Chris L

I never used a 1200 grit diamond hone, or a chinese 12000 hone but I cant imagine that you would have any trouble lapping the 12000 with the 1200 as I lap hones with a hone of a similar grit! For instance, I use my 1000 grit hone to lap all other 1000 grit hones I have! I use my Escher to lap my other escher! I have used barber hones to lap other barber hones! I never felt the need to buy a special stone for lapping!