Thread: A Curious Contraption

........ Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt guys! It seems a little too cheeky really...

Everyone has an opinion and that does not mean their opinion will suit you. Everyone is different. I have not used the paper wheels but I use a very similar system and I get fantastic results. I think the paper wheels have great merit but I have not made any to try them out yet. The vents to move more air I feel would be a great asset. The vents add an opportunity to sharpen a chisel upside down like the Jool tool and see where your stropping but I have not tested that yet. They are cheep to buy or make too.

I rate my diamomd stones! I have a lot of sharpening systems and my diamond stones are the ones I keep going back too. They age so nicely and keep getting better the more you use them. Granted i do not finish sharpening on them but i always start with them now. The only two systems I have yet to explore are arkansas and ceramic.

And for the record...I am NOT a distributor of paper wheels or diamond stones!
Actually, on that note I am not a distributor of anything, other than my own advice!!!

I don't know that I want to spend a whole lot of time with shipwrights (they smell funny, like my grandpa did). Craftsmen and artists sharpen their tools as the needs need. I f that's all a shipwright needs? Fine..... Go to it.
Diamond plates are hard, fast and flat. Good, if that's what you must do. They are not one dang bit better than anything in the past EXCEPT = they are flat, they stay flat and they last longer. No, they are not a replacement for anything that we have established in the past.

I don't need to do that at all. I don't give a sweet rat's patootie as I don't need to do that at all. For my wood carving, I can only hope that a "carving sharp" edge will last for 30 minutes. Yeah, gas on. That's what I like to have to work with.
I need to see a nearly glass-like surface in a carving cut. I can sustain that.

I think he makes a good point ..

Diamond plates last longer RV?

Yes, they last and stay flat and cut well until they don't. For HD use like lapping the backs of multiple ebay chisel and plane finds, I haven't found them to be cost-effective and have moved to an assortment of other methods. Powered and hand.

Powered is good for the heavy lifting but I now almost always go to Jap. ceramic whetstones to get a polish on the back and on the bevel(s).

I also have a soft spot for the Woodpecker honing plates (but not for knives); they're long, clean in use, and when the abrasive is worn you just rip it off and replace it - you don't have to have at them as you do with ceramic whetstones with various flattening techniques. You can use grits from 100 or so micron down to 0.3! That makes for a flexible system.

I'm surprised RV! What brand of diamond plate did you wear out? I have had a super fine 3x8 ezelap plate for 18yrs and flogged the he'll out of it. It cuts super fine now it's my last stone before stropping for most of my work.
After coming full circle using many other systems over the years, I eneded up ordering a full set from the states. I should have done that years ago!

Mind you I also ordered an 8000# DMT and ruined it the first time I used it. A lot of guys out there rate DMT and I'm sure they are a quality product, I'm thinking they had some issues getting such a fine grit to stick?! I'm not fussed really and I am not prepared to bag a product I have not fully tested.

I have no diamond plates or pastes. I never said that I used any of them. Logic tells me that diamond is quite a bit harder than any sharpening medium I use. Is that true? Of course it is. I suspect, therefore, that it will not break down as fast as the abrasives, the metallic oxides, that I use. Let's face it = diamonds stay sharp and harder than anything we might choose to use. They should cut longer and be more durable than anything softer. Yes?

1. Loggin industry planing mills here have been using 20,000rpm ceramic blades for years. Diamond plates are the single way to maintain those. 50M bdft/yr is hard on tools.
2. My girl is in love with ceramic kitchen knives. She always forgets to tell Santa that I/we need diamond plates to tune those up.
(I think that they suck, big time. Ceramic is brittle and the knives chip quite a lot each year. One is like a bread knife now. Please write to Santa for me, OK?)

Sorry RV,
I read the last few posts again released that it was rsser that went through a diamond plate.
I rate the ezelap plates however, I think the quality control might be slipping with them a bit though. On a few of the double sided plates I have noticed a buildup of diamonds on the edges that is not good! You can knock the corners off with an old file easily enough. I have also found the grit distribution to be not as consistent as their earlier stones. This may fix itself over time as they take a very long time to truly break in. I find the thick single sided plates much better in quality.
I have found the plates with holes in them fine for chisels and planes but curved edges can dig in a bit.
Ceramic knives... Maybe they will get better!? The chipping is an issue and not everyone has diamond plates. I love it when sales people say 'this knife will never need sharpening!' cutco here in OZ really plug that line!

Amazon is a good place for diamond plates.

Not a problem, BenD. Some folks might forget that diamond is just a little harder than the fine oxides that many of us are using. Good for ceramic blades. Otherwise nothing special.
When the day comes that I have worn out a King 4,000 stone, doing up my Porsche kitchen knives, I will go shopping.
I'll posit that wood carving tools are a little different from woodworking tools. The useful edge lasts maybe 30 minutes. I expect JOY! when carving and that takes some regular effort to sustain.
Today, I was working in end grain, western red cedar, possibly 50 rings/inch. That crap is like rock when compared with hardwoods. Using 5 different skews, none lasted 20 minutes. But, I had a really good time.