Thread: DMT Diamond sharpener - alternative to Norton?

G'day all,
I live in Wellington, New Zealand, and the Norton 4000/8000 is not imported here by the local distributors. The local woodwork shop suggested an extra fine DMT (diamond) sharpener as an alternative. Is that viable?

If not, I can get a Norton here eventually (probably at best a month away), or pay to get it airfreighted from one of the online stores. However, this is an expense I would rather avoid, if at all possible! ;-)

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer.

Cheers

Hi guy!

Your a long way away from Norton headquarters!

You really should check out the specific grit of the diamond hone before you buy it.

Go to www.theperfectedge.com , Howard Sheckter, and ask him. He specializes in a variety of hones.

I doubt that the diamond hone is fine enough for straight razors. You need a 8000 grit at a minimum. (Generally speaking)

Hope this helps,

Thanks, I have emailed Howard, and will summarise his reply here, when I get it.

Originally Posted by Aoterra

G'day all,
I live in Wellington, New Zealand, and the Norton 4000/8000 is not imported here by the local distributors. The local woodwork shop suggested an extra fine DMT (diamond) sharpener as an alternative. Is that viable?

If not, I can get a Norton here eventually (probably at best a month away), or pay to get it airfreighted from one of the online stores. However, this is an expense I would rather avoid, if at all possible! ;-)

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer.

Cheers

The extra fine DMT is not viable. It's not fine enough. I think it's coarser than a 2K. That makes it useful only to start an edge on a really dull razor. A light colored hard Arkansas stone might be closer. Even then, I don't hink it's finer than a 5K grit. A Spiderco very fine ceramic is around a 6K equivalent and it doesn't need soaking. If you get on e of those or order it online it might be good. Then you could fill in with a medium and fine barber hone (or a 2 sided). That would get you something like an 8K and 12K, which is a nice progression. You can get the barber hone on Ebay or from Tilly (redtrader99.com). She has a cushion strop which is a fast stone, and you could add a fine, like Swaty equivalent.

Thanks for your reply, there's more to this than meets the eye....

What barber hones are recommended from redtrader99.com that wouldbe good for touch ups? Would it be best just to pick any double sided hone she has?

Originally Posted by ryan_a

What barber hones are recommended from redtrader99.com that wouldbe good for touch ups? Would it be best just to pick any double sided hone she has?

Not everything she ha is shown on the site. Why don't you go there and get her e-mail address then ask her.

The extra fine DMT is 1200 grit. I use them to quickly take steel back to the original edge geometry but you then really need to work that edge up to 4000 and 8000 stones with something like diamond paste or .5 micron CrO on a leather strop. It's just too much of a jump to go from 1200 to 4000. You can do it but it takes time. "Extra Fine" is a relative term! There is talk at DMT of them coming out with finer grades of diamond and that is something I'm really looking forward to owning.

BTW, I have shipped boxes of stones, both Belgian and DMT, to Australia and Seoul, Korea. The shipping can be about $60 or $70 US$ for a box that weighs about 11 or 12 lbs. and you get the stones in about a week. My customers in Australia tell me that the total cost is still cheaper than buying stones in Sydney when they travel there for business or whatever.

Howard

I know ONE fantastic use for the DMT.....I have the 4x11" fine/ultra fine and it is the best and easiest thing I've found for lapping my other stones. I have taken a razor to the UF (1200) side a few times, when I lost patience with the 4k Norton. Only when there are some sizeable nicks to get rid of or if I need to reset a bevel, and even then I use it very lightly. After that, back to the Norton 4k, and so on. ..............Jeff