Sparkles after DMT 325

Hey everybody,

I joined the site a couple years ago and got pretty decent shaves. I always had trouble with my neck, but that's a different issue. I shaved with a straight for about a year, but gave up when I had a lot of trouble touching up my 2 razors (dovos from SRD).

Oddly enough, I got back into straight shaving after I remodeled my kitchen recently. When we ripped out our counter tops, I saw that they were very un-flat. I had lapped my hones (norton 4k/8k, chinese "12k") on those countertops with sandpaper. Maybe that explained why I was having difficulty honing. So, with a scrap piece of slate I had laying around, I re-lapped my stones and tried my hand at honing once again. Surprise, surprise, my razors were sharp enough to shave with, but still needing improvement. With my limited success, I decided to get a dmt 325 from SRD to make try to make my stones flatter and for easier cleaning of the hones.

I got my dmt, broke it in by rubbing a screw driver shank along it a bunch of times, then got to work lapping my hones. It was a lot easier than sandpaper!

This long-winded intro brings me to my question. After re-lapping my Chinese 12k, I noticied that it was now a little bit sparkly from the DMT. I used light pressure and took my time. I assume those are diamonds wearing off the DMT. Will these diamonds cause a problem when I'm finishing a razor on the Chinese 12k? What about the other hones? I can't see any diamonds on them, but they're lighter in color. Did I do something wrong?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ken

Hard stones can pull the diamonds off a DMT, but I think it unlikely that the diamonds would stick in a hard, non-porous stone. If you believe there are diamonds, try a light lapping with something else.

I think it is more likely that the lapping exposed fresh hone that looks slightly different that the old surface.

OMG,
You have any idea what a Diamond PHIG goes for on Ebay!!!
:tu

Perhaps some of your body glitter got on your hands and went on the hone. It has happened to all of us at one time or another I'm sure......right guys? Guys?

:D

James.

If they would be diamonds, you should really feel the razor hitting them. Is that the case?
If not, then it could perhaps be mineral deposits or discolorations inside the stone itself.
Some natural stones have that.

You did what with the screw driver shank?

Thanks for the help and the laughs! I guess I should have mentioned the exotic dancers and their body glitter in my original post.:rofl2:

I have a slurry stone for my CH12k, so I'll go over it with that just in case. I haven't actually honed any razors since lapping with the DMT, I wanted to run it by the folks here first.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ace

You did what with the screw driver shank?

---

I read on this site that a few people have done this as an easy and quick way to take down any high diamonds that there might be. Did I read incorrect?


Thanks again!

Ken

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KenL

Thanks for the help and the laughs! I guess I should have mentioned the exotic dancers and their body glitter in my original post.:rofl2:

I have a slurry stone for my CH12k, so I'll go over it with that just in case. I haven't actually honed any razors since lapping with the DMT, I wanted to run it by the folks here first.


I read on this site that a few people have done this as an easy and quick way to take down any high diamonds that there might be. Did I read incorrect?


Thanks again!

Ken

---

No, you did ok. I used an old place blade or an old knife, can't remember which. The idea is that by doing this, you break away diamond that got stuck on top of the surface.

I must have missed that. I never did it to my DMT and haven't had any problems. If you're doing research here, then you are well on your way. Good luck!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ace

I must have missed that. I never did it to my DMT and haven't had any problems. If you're doing research here, then you are well on your way. Good luck!

---

That makes two of us.\

I have bought quite a few DMTs over the years and I have never placed anything on them except blades (fine knives). While these are not nearly as delicate as a razor, I have yet to see any damage or irregular honing from a new DMT.

DMTs will break in over time and become a bit finer, but if you are knocking diamonds off of the surface, you are using far too much pressure.

FWIW I have a DMT plate that is 25 years old and the only reason I will replace it is to obtain a larger one.

With a new DMT,before I use it,I sharpen all my carbide lathe bits on the thing.

I believe that DMT's have the diamond bits held in place with a nickle plating. Rubbing the hone w/ an old screwdriver or other metal item wears the nickle down to expose the diamond particles. If you didn't 'wear the nickle down' you may be seeing nickle particles on the hone you were lapping or minerals in the hone itself. Lap the hone again lightly under running water, then rub with your hand to remove any loose particles. You can also lap the hone with the next finest hone under running water. Running an other piece of metal such as a knife or trashed razor over the hone will be sure to loosen and remove any particles that are not bound to the hone. Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice! The more I think about it, I think it probably is just something in the hone itself. Just to be sure though, I'll sharpen a few kitchen knives on it and re-lap the hone. Then I'll try touching up a razor and see how I did.


Ken

Hello,

Just a quick update. After I sharpened a few knives on the DMT and relapped my hones with it, I touched up a razor the other day using the Norton and the Ch12k. I didn't feel the razor hitting anything on the CH12k and the razor shaves comfortably.

Very glad I bought the DMT. So much easier keeping the stones clean and flat. I felt like there was much better contact between the razor and hone. Also, I think the edge is one of my better ones. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but I finally feel like I'm making progress.

Thanks for all your help!

Ken

Ken, if you use the same DMT for flattening as well as razor work, it is advisable to give it a good scrub and rinse with Comet or Ajax and a stiff nylon brush before flattening stones with it. This will clean metal deposits and the occasional loose diamond off and keeep it off of your rocks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Ken, if you use the same DMT for flattening as well as razor work, it is advisable to give it a good scrub and rinse with Comet or Ajax and a stiff nylon brush before flattening stones with it. This will clean metal deposits and the occasional loose diamond off and keeep it off of your rocks!

---

Thanks for telling me! I was wondering when I needed to clean it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Ken, if you use the same DMT for flattening as well as razor work, it is advisable to give it a good scrub and rinse with Comet or Ajax and a stiff nylon brush before flattening stones with it. This will clean metal deposits and the occasional loose diamond off and keeep it off of your rocks!

---

And thats why I like this forum so much. It never dawned on me that I should clean my DMT which is my kitchen knife and other tool sharpener.