Diamonds are forever or are they ?

[Recky33]

Hi All

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this one for me.

What's the difference in Real world terms between this lot, for a hobby user, just for getting up to the point of honing, which I have covered with 3M film.

Seems to be a hell of a price difference

http://www.axminster.co.uk/dmt-bench-wh ... prod21932/

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ax ... rod808983/

http://www.axminster.co.uk/dmt-250mm-du ... rod823060/

Allan

 

[RogerP]

The large DMT has over 3 times the area of the smaller DMT - and is double sided to boot - so almost 7 times the area in total. The Axminster one being their own brand is bound to be cheaper I suppose.

 

[bugbear]

Diamond stones vary in

* area (size, if you like)
* type of diamond (mono vs poly)
* quality/security of embedding
* flatness
* resistance to corrosion

I haven't checked out how the stone you list measure in those areas, but I imagine they do.

BugBear

 

[Recky33]

I suppose what I'm after knowing is Just how good are the expensive stones, considering all they will be used for is to flatten backs and do primary bevels, are they likely to last 4 times as long as the cheaper ones. If so how long do they last, 6 months, 12, several years ?

Allan

 

[Paul Chapman]

I use the DMT polkadot stones. I have had them many years and they are still working well, so they have been excellent value for money over the long term. I use them with oil, not water. Mine are the 8" stones - if you intend using them with a honing guide, I think you would find the 6" stones rather small. The 8" stones are also wider, which is helpful when honing wider plane blades.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[studders]

ooops

 

[Alf]

I use the DMT polkadot stones. I have had them many years and they are still working well, so they have been excellent value for money over the long term. I use them with oil, not water. Mine are the 8" stones - if you intend using them with a honing guide, I think you would find the 6" stones rather small. The 8" stones are also wider, which is helpful when honing wider plane blades.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Much the same as Paul. I've had my DuoSharp for, um, well must be closer to 10 years than 5 now. I use paraffin on mine, but obviously that's at your own risk, 'cos I don't think DMT recommend it. But for primary bevels, I'd use a grinder, and for flattening backs, the bulk of it goes faster in a ScarySharp-stylee.

 

[bugbear]

Can anyone remember the details (factors, variables) for the "press too hard and wreck your diamond stone" effect?

BugBear

 

[PeterBassett]

Don't bother with the axminster one. I got it 18 months back for £10 or so and it was disapointing.

 

[Peter T]

There's a video somewhere on YouTube in which someone from Trend explains the difference between expensive and not so expensive diamond stones.

Apparently the not so expensive stones use poly-crystaline diamond (PCD) grit which is glued to a steel backing. With use the PCD particles break down and the stone wears out.

The expensive stones are made by mixing mono-crystaline diamond grit with a nickel plating solution and then electro-plating this onto the steel backing so that the grit is embedded into the nickel. The mono-crystaline grit is much tougher than the PCD and is better supported in the nickel so it doesn't wear out!!

FWIW I've got a couple of the solid DMT stones, course and extra fine, and a large, double sided polka dot DMT in Red and Green. If you use a honing guide the larger ones are better!