Fun with cheap diamonds

[thomaslaursen]

Im probably not the first to have done this, but it was really funny to do, so I thought you should see. You know these cheap diamond stones you can get in lidl. They are pretty useless with that thin plastic base. So i ripped it of and made myself a lapping plate and some prober stones. They cut really well (for now at least) and they are surprisingly flat as well. I don't think they compare in flatness with proffesionel stones, but it is as flat as i can get it without investing a lot of money in something scientific. I think I spend about 25-30 dollars on this total, so it's flatness on a budget. What do you think of it?

[artme]

Looks good mate!! Might give it a try!!

[rsser]

Lateral thinking Thomas; nice one.

I've not had much joy out of those small cheap diamond plates I must confess and wouldn't recommend them. Yes they're cheap but they don't last.

[thomaslaursen]

Lateral thinking Thomas; nice one.

I've not had much joy out of those small cheap diamond plates I must confess and wouldn't recommend them. Yes they're cheap but they don't last.

I guess it depends on expectation. They are better than I feared they would be, but that doesn't mean that you are wrong. The winning argument for me is definitely the low price. I could make a lot of these stones for the price of one DMT. I have found that they don't like hard steel very much, that will wear them down fast. Just like I don't flatten anything but softer waterstones on them. But for flattening the back of an old carbon steel chisel or plane blade, I actually quite like them.
I hope you don't get the idea, that I'm trying to talk them up to be something they're not. They are a cheap alternative with some limitations, and that's all. If I could afford better stones I would, and save me the time of making them as well.
So far after 10 chisels and 3 plane blades they are still going, but for how long is a good question. I will have to wait and see.

Thomas