Diamond rods vs Carbide rods

[T.J.]

Wondering what the difference is between these two rods. I’ll be using them on my Sharpmaker for my SE knives only. Not too happy with the ceramic rods.

[yablanowitz]

The diamond rods seem to be a bit coarser, more aggresive than the CBN rods. For dead serrations, I start with diamonds then progess through CBN, brown and white.

[attila]

Carbide rods?

[Evil D]

I seem to remember something said along the lines of diamonds cutting more aggressively but also being more delicate and potentially ripping off the rods easier to CBN. Either way you need to be careful with either rod, very gentle.

[T.J.]

Carbide rods?

My mistake. I meant CBN. I’ll make the necessary edits.

[attila]

Carbide rods?

My mistake. I meant CBN. I’ll make the necessary edits.

No sweat buddy! I look forward to peoples’ responses.

[T.J.]

Carbide rods?

My mistake. I meant CBN. I’ll make the necessary edits.

No sweat buddy! I look forward to peoples’ responses.

I don’t know why I got carbide stuck in my head? Long week and I’m getting old.

[kodai78]

I too am looking forward to the discussion. I have been considering whether the CBN rods would be better than the Diamond ones. I don’t want to buy them without having heard some informed discussion.

[Ric]

I have both and there is no difference feelable.
Also it's impossible to differentiate.
They look 100% the same.

[Evil D]

I have both and there is no difference feelable.
Also it's impossible to differentiate.
They look 100% the same.

My CBN rods have a very slight golden tint to them. First thing I do is engrave them at the smooth end with whatever type they are.

[Nate]

I believe Cliff Stamp took the deepest dive into comparing the two and generally found them to perform similarly. I haven’t reviewed the whole thread, but here it is (there are also a couple of youtube videos on his channel): http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/forum/ ... p?10,26465

[Pokey]

I use both from time to time to re-profile blades. The diamond Tri-Angles are a bit more coarse so the diamonds will work a little quicker, naturally. The CBN Tri-Angles will give a very fine scratch pattern, almost a satin finish. I go lightly with both, then finish most of the time with the ceramic Tri-Angles.

[jpm2]

My CBN rods have a very slight golden tint to them. First thing I do is engrave them at the smooth end with whatever type they are.

Same here on the golden tint and engraving, although I quit using the cbn version due to quality issues.

One of the triangles has very rough lateral grinding lines on the metal base and leaves uneven scratches.
The other triangle has a couple of spots that catch/snags and flattens a small bit of the knife edge. I've not been able to level it out.

The diamond triangles have broke in as expected, cut very smooth and consistent with no snags.

Mine might be an isolated case, but based on it, I recommend diamond.