I am searching for a new stone which will be used to rebevel very dull/damaged knives. Mostly Stainless steels such as Vg-10, 420, S30V and so on. I have used a Eze Lap 150 for those kind of jobs but it wore out rather quickly. I like diamond plates but they seem to last not very long (even with low pressure while sharpening). I do not care about lapping since I bought some SiC powder .
I guess the Imanishi 220 grit will be the right choice for me, do you have any ideas/experiences you'd like to share?
I have Atoma plates, I don't think you would like them for doing that kind of work because of the lifetime, but it depends on how much work you are doing. As a start I would suggest this as a very inexpensive experiment. Go to a hardware store and buy some W/D sandpaper in a very low grit, you can get them easily in the double digits. A single sheet will easily make 5 very large hones (8" long). All you have to do is glue them to MDF or any hard backing. If you are not doing a lot of this work then these pseudo-stones might be the ideal solution for you. If you want a very high end version of it then you can use a ceramic/glass plate with a spray on glue. People even sell these hones, but they are fairly easy to make yourself with very little effort. Find someone who cuts tile and sharpen a few knives for him and he will give you all the 8" piece of tile cut to 2" widths you will ever need as they throw this out by the box as cut offs from every job and it takes them literally seconds to cut out a 2x8 piece.
First I've heard of a diamond plate not lasting a long time. I've been using my Aromas for a few years now with no issues. I suppose they'll wear out eventually but I would expect them to last much longer than a stone that gets lapped on a regular basis. The fact that they never need lapped and are always the same thickness make them worth the money to me.
Evil D wrote:First I've heard of a diamond plate not lasting a long time.
Really? It is the most common complaint about diamond plates (that and irregularity of grit).
I have DMT plates which are almost 20 years old, they are just not used that often as I don't do any shaping with them. Length of time really don't tell you much aside from age.
Plates have only one layer of abrasive, it wears, even diamond and once it is gone then it is gone and it can also tear out and even suffer damage from oxidation and diffusion (diamond not CBN). A stone is a solid abrasive an inch or so thick. If an inch of aluminum oxide doesn't last you much longer than ~micron level diamond then something is seriously different about how the two are being used.
Evil D wrote:First I've heard of a diamond plate not lasting a long time.
Really? It is the most common complaint about diamond plates (that and irregularity of grit).
I have DMT plates which are almost 20 years old, they are just not used that often as I don't do any shaping with them. Length of time really don't tell you much aside from age.
Plates have only one layer of abrasive, it wears, even diamond and once it is gone then it is gone and it can also tear out and even suffer damage from oxidation and diffusion (diamond not CBN). A stone is a solid abrasive an inch or so thick. If an inch of aluminum oxide doesn't last you much longer than ~micron level diamond then something is seriously different about how the two are being used.
Seems to me the most important thing would be how well the diamonds are bonded/impregnated onto whatever they're used on. I'd have to say I'm pretty "rough" with my Atomas, and I tend to use them on fairly hard steels, maybe I just haven't got to that point yet.
Thanks for the answeres. I do quite a lot of sharpening, mostly grinding a new secondary grind on very dull/abused knives from other people I will try the sandpaper method first, thanks for the idea.
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