Daimond stones shelf life?

[Froggy]

I bought 3 diamond stones (Eze-Lap) a couple of years ago at a cost of around £150 believing they would last me a lifetime (I read or heard this somewhere) and now I can't tell the difference, to touch, between the coarse and the fine stones! My blades are not getting a burr and consequently are not sharp enough. Is this normal? Have I been sold poor diamond stones?

 

[memzey]

Here we go....

 

[NazNomad]

Diamonds are Forever, surely you know that? :-D

 

[transatlantic]

The stones won't feel as rough as day one, but I'd have thought you should still be able to tell which one is rougher by the touch.

I think the only way to tell if they are still producing different cuts is to work your through each stone seeing if the finer removes the scratch patterns of the former rougher stone.

I couldn't find the warranty info for EZE-Lap, but I know trend offers a 5 year warranty, so that may give you some idea of expected lifetime, at least of Trends stones

 

[Froggy]

The stones won't feel as rough as day one, but I'd have thought you should still be able to tell which one is rougher by the touch.

I think the only way to tell if they are still producing different cuts is to work your through each stone seeing if the finer removes the scratch patterns of the former rougher stone.

They all feel exactly the same to touch and none of them scratch the blades enough to see.

 

[transatlantic]

Are you sure they're clean? ..i.e there isn't a build up of dirt covering the cutting surface?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I have to admit I've always found much the same. I use mine for knives and router cutters but I've never got on with then for sharpening chisels and plane irons.
Froggy - please, please, pretty please ... don't ask what you should use instead ... #-o

 

[Beau]

No idea about the Eze-lap but have a 15 year old DMT that's still in regular use. It lost some of it's initial bite early on but then has remained the same for many years.

 

[yetloh]

When it comes to sharpening stones, diamonds are certainly not forever. They have an initial period when they cut very aggressively and then level off for quite a long period, but they absolutely do wear out. How quickly, does, of course, depend on how much you use then and for what. Very hard steels will wear them more quickly. I don't use them for chisels and plane irons because I find they don't give a fine enough edge - but I admit I am a bit obsessive about sharpness. For this, I use Japanese water stones whch give me what I want and don't blunt but they do wear down and need flattening, for which I use a 120 grit DMT continuous surface diamond plate and in this role, they last a very long time. I do have a fine DMT which I've had for many years but I only use this for re-sharpeneing things like Stanley knife blades and secateurs.

I have a couple of plane irons which are super-hard and very little will touch them. For those I use diamond pastes on Corian blanks (the plain stuff not the type with stone inclusions) which is very effective; the diamond seems to embed in the surface and is renewed as necessary with fresh paste.

Jim

 

[Shrubby]

The shelf life of diamond stones is endless
The working life is dependant on your technique and tools
I've had 12 diamond stones (3M , Eze-lap , Trend and 6 Dmt) I have had warranty replacements from Dmt
Matt

 

[ED65]

Are you very heavy handed when you sharpen Froggy? If so you could easily have worn the diamond coating off completely.

My future FIL has a set of cheap diamond plates of the type sold by Lidl and as he's elderly he's a bit slapdash when he uses them so they now look like they were gnawed on by a particularly determined dog. My set looks to be the same type exactly and despite being far older have no worn-through patches, even though they've been used to work much harder steel than in your cheapie stainless kitchen knife. I've even used my plates to flatten a few carborundum oilstones and they'll still going strong, although I have had to glue the plastic backings back on a few times and one of them is about to give up the ghost.

 

[Froggy]

Firstly, yes I'm sure they're clean. I clean them after ever use and before the next one to clean off any saw dust. I use them almost exclusively for planer blade sharpening. Judging by some of the replies above I think I may have bought some duff stones or more likely, copies. It would appear that I have made the mistake of trying to save a few quid by buying them from an unknown dealer on eBay rather than the reputable sellers I normally buy from. Harsh lesson learnt there!
Jim the diamond paste sounds good, where do you buy yours from?
Phil I've done the marathon sharpening threads before and am not falling into that trap again! And I have used all the alternatives before so I won't ask THAT question.

 

[Glynne]

I asked a similar question some time ago (wear life rather than shelf life) and received a very comprehensive and technical answer. Next time I'm on the desktop rather than the iPad I'll try and find it but the short answer is that the diamonds do lose their sharpness as has been mentioned. The rate will depend on the amount of use, hardness of what's being sharpened but no they don't last forever.
On someone's recommendation, I did pick up some diamond stones from Trend's eBay site - got 5 for ~ £20 and they work for me.

 

[clk230]

I've got an Eze-lap stone here that has worn out the edges still have some abrasive but the center virtually none , it seems if you search the knife forums this is quite common .