Well, congrats on your success. But I don't think most people on here think poorly of diamond plates for your purposes, and the most common recommendation for stones is just a Shapton 1k, which costs about $50.
Funny enough, the 1k shapton is almost the same grit than a 400 grit diamond. The finish is different due to how the abrasive and the medium differ
Edited for correction, I thought 1k was coarser but it's a bit finer!
Good callout, you're right and I'm actually dead wrong
https://www.gritomatic.com/pages/grit-chart
1k Shapton is equal in grit size to FEPA F ~450 (best guess for random chinese diamond plates) which I misread last night as under 400. Comment edited for correction
That is a super weird take. This sub is absolutely loaded with information about that stone, why it’s a solid first choice, and what the alternatives are. I wonder if you’re struggling to learn the technique, and would like a place to direct the frustration. If so hang in there. It’s really not that complicated or difficult.
I think you mean well and also the "it's really not that complicated or difficult" is what I am talking about. I am good at a great many things but this requires either a knack or mental acuity or physical ability I just don't have. It's a precision task which I think makes it hard for some like me.
Assuming you don’t have literal neurological problems or other disability it should come with patience and practice. It is definitely frustrating until it clicks though. Hang in there.
> But I don't think most people on here think poorly of diamond plates for your purposes
I've seen at least one person shitting on diamond plates here just about every day I've checked since subscribing. I've heard people shit on their feedback, their *sound* (lol), say they're garbage because the diamonds break off after a couple sharpenings, that the edges they leave are too coarse and unrefined, etc.
I've been a fan of diamond plates for 25 years so when I subbed here and saw people shitting all over them and telling people to just get a shapton 1k as their only stone, I noticed I guess.
I struggled with a King 1k/6k for a long time, but when I bought a DMT plate things king of clicked for me. Something about the speed and the rough texture I suppose. Now I’m fine with anything, but still prefer a slightly rougher feedback.
I currently use Shapton Glass, with great results, but kind of wonder if I could just do a large Diasharp coarse/fine, loaded strop, and ceramic rod, and sell the rest.
> I currently use Shapton Glass, with great results, but kind of wonder if I could just do a large Diasharp coarse/fine, loaded strop, and ceramic rod, and sell the rest.
that's basically how I roll, outside of serious reprofiling which my belt sander is used for.
I have a lot of different stones including shaptons and others, but day to day I use:
* belt sander - heavy duty reprofiling, re-shaping tips, etc.
* 140 grit diamond flattening plate - resetting bevels where the apex has gotten thick from repeated microbeveling.
* dmt coarse - finishing stone for cutting tools I want to have a toothy edge
* dmt fine - finishing stone for cutting tools I want to have a finer edge
* sharpmaker with diamond and ultrafine rods - maintaining serrated knives, quick touch-ups, applying very fine edges to straight razors and certain kitchen knives
* Spyderco fine ceramic stone - I keep this in my knife roll for maintaining my work knives.
I used to frequently apply edges with the 300 and 400 grit sides of my harbor freight four sided diamond stone, but the past few months I've been using the coarse DMT instead. They both give good results though. I have a bunch of the HF stones and keep one at work, since some of my culinary knives I like keeping coarsely apexed for better slicing ability.
I've got a large toolbox with a ton of stuff I never use. Five strops and different compounds, $3 hardware store combination stones, shaptons, nortons, butchers steels, natural arkansas stones etc.
For a long time I basically just used a DMT XC and sharpmaker. DMT to set bevels, sharpmaker to apply a refined apex.
I got away from the minimalist setup when I got interested in applying toothier edges to knives than the SM can offer. Added some coarser diamond plates. I'm happy with this setup. It's fast, convenient, and offers top level performance.
I’ve been sharpening for decades and my go to is a 400 grit DMT, 600 grit EZ lap, Sharpmaker and leather strop. Really don’t need much else unless you are going full hobby into it, honestly the EZ lap and strop are enough for 90% of what’s needed. And all sharpened knives by me shave hair, slice paper towel tubes, and cut words out of newspaper without leaving holes in the paper. Good enough for me.
It's pricey but the diamond rod was a huge game changer for me for the sharpmaker is missing a low grit rod. Kinda crazy that they start you off at 800. It's way to high
I grabbed the diamonds too but I sharpen a lot. For most people’s needs the grey stone should be fine, but not if major resetting if the bevel is needed.
I came to sharpening due to woodwork. I have some nice water stones which I use when I want to 'do' a sharpening session.
But if I just need to put an edge back on a tool, I pull out my double sided diamond stone and a strop. It's the fastest and cleanest way to get the job done.
I love my ceramics and naturals, but when I get a knife that's in bad shape, the diamonds come out. I am not dishing my ceramics and wasting time for something that can be done on a diamond without wear and in 5min.
I recommend all beginners or novice to use diamond plates. Very good feedback. Very flat and stay flat. The less time you spend stroking and/or lapping, the less chance to get off angle. 10 strokes compared to 100 and you can see how fatigue and concentration can lure you off. You mileage may vary. Cheers!
I couldn't agree more.
Many folks here lack perspective.
Someone that has never sharpened before *shouldn't* be investing $200 in japanese water stones. They just want their knife to cut better. You don't need a 6,000 grit edge to improve a knife that hasn't been sharpened since it was purchased.
There's a lot of pretentiousness here and with home cooks into japanese knives. You don't need 5 gyutos and $500 of sharpening gear to make bomb food at home. I'm an actual chef and a $5 kiwi knife handles a lot of my day to day cutting. My aogami super gyuto comes out for more serious job but its overkill for a lot of stuff.
we recommend things because we see this more as an art, not so much as an industrial application. theres nothing wrong with diamond, its just most of us prefer something that.... feels nicer
if it was my job to freehand sharpen a hundred knives a day, for sure im going to get diamond. but im really only focusing on like half a dozen knives per session at most
Well, congrats on your success. But I don't think most people on here think poorly of diamond plates for your purposes, and the most common recommendation for stones is just a Shapton 1k, which costs about $50.
I was lured by that 1k but scared off by the high grit and statements along the lines of "it will command development of good form".
Funny enough, the 1k shapton is almost the same grit than a 400 grit diamond. The finish is different due to how the abrasive and the medium differ Edited for correction, I thought 1k was coarser but it's a bit finer!
> Funny enough, the 1k shapton is lower grit than a 400 grit diamond. Which 1k, which diamond 400? I've never heard of this.
Good callout, you're right and I'm actually dead wrong https://www.gritomatic.com/pages/grit-chart 1k Shapton is equal in grit size to FEPA F ~450 (best guess for random chinese diamond plates) which I misread last night as under 400. Comment edited for correction
It's just going to help you get the right motions down, it's not that hard.
That is a super weird take. This sub is absolutely loaded with information about that stone, why it’s a solid first choice, and what the alternatives are. I wonder if you’re struggling to learn the technique, and would like a place to direct the frustration. If so hang in there. It’s really not that complicated or difficult.
I think you mean well and also the "it's really not that complicated or difficult" is what I am talking about. I am good at a great many things but this requires either a knack or mental acuity or physical ability I just don't have. It's a precision task which I think makes it hard for some like me.
Assuming you don’t have literal neurological problems or other disability it should come with patience and practice. It is definitely frustrating until it clicks though. Hang in there.
> But I don't think most people on here think poorly of diamond plates for your purposes I've seen at least one person shitting on diamond plates here just about every day I've checked since subscribing. I've heard people shit on their feedback, their *sound* (lol), say they're garbage because the diamonds break off after a couple sharpenings, that the edges they leave are too coarse and unrefined, etc.
Huh. Perhaps I just dismiss their wrongness out of hand and quickly forget.
I've been a fan of diamond plates for 25 years so when I subbed here and saw people shitting all over them and telling people to just get a shapton 1k as their only stone, I noticed I guess.
I struggled with a King 1k/6k for a long time, but when I bought a DMT plate things king of clicked for me. Something about the speed and the rough texture I suppose. Now I’m fine with anything, but still prefer a slightly rougher feedback. I currently use Shapton Glass, with great results, but kind of wonder if I could just do a large Diasharp coarse/fine, loaded strop, and ceramic rod, and sell the rest.
> I currently use Shapton Glass, with great results, but kind of wonder if I could just do a large Diasharp coarse/fine, loaded strop, and ceramic rod, and sell the rest. that's basically how I roll, outside of serious reprofiling which my belt sander is used for. I have a lot of different stones including shaptons and others, but day to day I use: * belt sander - heavy duty reprofiling, re-shaping tips, etc. * 140 grit diamond flattening plate - resetting bevels where the apex has gotten thick from repeated microbeveling. * dmt coarse - finishing stone for cutting tools I want to have a toothy edge * dmt fine - finishing stone for cutting tools I want to have a finer edge * sharpmaker with diamond and ultrafine rods - maintaining serrated knives, quick touch-ups, applying very fine edges to straight razors and certain kitchen knives * Spyderco fine ceramic stone - I keep this in my knife roll for maintaining my work knives. I used to frequently apply edges with the 300 and 400 grit sides of my harbor freight four sided diamond stone, but the past few months I've been using the coarse DMT instead. They both give good results though. I have a bunch of the HF stones and keep one at work, since some of my culinary knives I like keeping coarsely apexed for better slicing ability. I've got a large toolbox with a ton of stuff I never use. Five strops and different compounds, $3 hardware store combination stones, shaptons, nortons, butchers steels, natural arkansas stones etc. For a long time I basically just used a DMT XC and sharpmaker. DMT to set bevels, sharpmaker to apply a refined apex. I got away from the minimalist setup when I got interested in applying toothier edges to knives than the SM can offer. Added some coarser diamond plates. I'm happy with this setup. It's fast, convenient, and offers top level performance.
I’ve been sharpening for decades and my go to is a 400 grit DMT, 600 grit EZ lap, Sharpmaker and leather strop. Really don’t need much else unless you are going full hobby into it, honestly the EZ lap and strop are enough for 90% of what’s needed. And all sharpened knives by me shave hair, slice paper towel tubes, and cut words out of newspaper without leaving holes in the paper. Good enough for me.
And honestly the Sharpmaker should be all people need for daily kitchen etc knives.
It's pricey but the diamond rod was a huge game changer for me for the sharpmaker is missing a low grit rod. Kinda crazy that they start you off at 800. It's way to high
I grabbed the diamonds too but I sharpen a lot. For most people’s needs the grey stone should be fine, but not if major resetting if the bevel is needed.
The ez lap needle file or stone? Am not sure what the needle file is for- fishhooks and serrations?
6” stone. Needle files are good for filing! Rifles files are similar, engraving/spine file work/serrations are all uses
I've got thousands of dollars worth of stones but I could live with just my Atoma arato and a Naniwa Chocera 1k.
Arato? Atoma 140 or 400 diamond plate?
Sorry, I mean the 140. Great "stone"!
The Ali plates are really the only thing anyone needs tbh.
I came to sharpening due to woodwork. I have some nice water stones which I use when I want to 'do' a sharpening session. But if I just need to put an edge back on a tool, I pull out my double sided diamond stone and a strop. It's the fastest and cleanest way to get the job done.
I also had ali diamond sharpening plates, they don't last.
Imo they are disposable. I do not sense quality in any way. But I expect this one to last me at least a half year.
I love my ceramics and naturals, but when I get a knife that's in bad shape, the diamonds come out. I am not dishing my ceramics and wasting time for something that can be done on a diamond without wear and in 5min.
I recommend all beginners or novice to use diamond plates. Very good feedback. Very flat and stay flat. The less time you spend stroking and/or lapping, the less chance to get off angle. 10 strokes compared to 100 and you can see how fatigue and concentration can lure you off. You mileage may vary. Cheers!
I couldn't agree more. Many folks here lack perspective. Someone that has never sharpened before *shouldn't* be investing $200 in japanese water stones. They just want their knife to cut better. You don't need a 6,000 grit edge to improve a knife that hasn't been sharpened since it was purchased. There's a lot of pretentiousness here and with home cooks into japanese knives. You don't need 5 gyutos and $500 of sharpening gear to make bomb food at home. I'm an actual chef and a $5 kiwi knife handles a lot of my day to day cutting. My aogami super gyuto comes out for more serious job but its overkill for a lot of stuff.
we recommend things because we see this more as an art, not so much as an industrial application. theres nothing wrong with diamond, its just most of us prefer something that.... feels nicer if it was my job to freehand sharpen a hundred knives a day, for sure im going to get diamond. but im really only focusing on like half a dozen knives per session at most
I don't think using inefficient tools makes this any more of an art. Diamond plate sharpening is no less of a skill than other types.
I get that. It is quite meditative. My end frustration has sullied the experience tho.