Diamond Stones Video Interesting To One Newbie. Me!

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I'm a babe in the wood just learning all sorts of useful and useless stuff about honing. I came across this video, which is mostly for woodworkers I think, on diamond stones. The video was for me helpful and educational. Will it have long term benefits for me as I get into honing the SR? I don't know, but I like learning things.

Is everything he says right? I have no idea. Is he mostly selling something? Maybe, but I'm not sure. Should you use water or the fluid he says to use? How could I know.

Link to the stone on Amazon.

Link to the fluid on Amazon.

Is the fluid useful to SR guys? Are these stones we should have? All these are questions beyond me. I'm just learning random honing stuff and came across a video.

What I do know is I can understand what he's talking about and I learned something watching the video. Does this translate into anything related to honing or of general interest in this community? Maybe so. Maybe not.

Babe in the woods I am.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[eKretz]

Lots of inaccuracies or misleading "factoids" in there. Like the claim about 17 micron film thickness with WD40 meaning a diamond hone with 15 micron diamonds won't cut. That's B.S. the WD40 film thickness is a spec about what film thickness the WD40 will settle at when it's sprayed onto something. Doesn't mean it can't be squeezed out when something else is put over the top of it and pressed against the surface. I can hone just fine with WD40 on my 3 micron DMT plate.

I've also used pretty much mostly water (have tried dry and oil also) since I've owned my DMT plates, and there is no sign of any rust anywhere. I have at least 6 plates off the top of my head, probably more. I do dry them when I'm done with them, as I'd expect anyone who cared about their tools to do.

It's pretty clear that the guy is sponsored by the company making the "diamond lapping fluid" or whatever they call it, as there's a commercial for the company right in the beginning of the video.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Sure, why not, go for it if it floats your boat. But bear in mind that razors need to be honed much finer than 1000. On one of the razor forums, there is a guy that swears by a 400/1000 diamond combo for bevel-setting similar to the 300/1000 that this guy is flashing around, but I think he uses plain water. They're set in the steel, according to this video, so what's the problem with water in this case? I've never had a problem with rust with mine (mostly used for lapping and visible chip removal) or subsequent swelling or deformation of the sandwiched plates. Might be worth a shot to try the honing solution, though, in the hopes that it would be slowing down the process and mellowing the scratches, rather than heightening things. Oil or petroleum use on natural stones usually has more of a calming effect than water.

 

[psfred]

I'm not fond of diamond hones for edges of any kind other than tungsten carbide bits (since that's all that will cut them anyway). Diamond plates all have diamond dust held down with nickel plating, so they won't rust unless you really abuse them and grind off the diamonds and nickel (which is easier to do than you might think -- you can roll the diamonds off with heavy pressure, and they also fracture with pressure).

The main objection is that they have zero give, unlike natural or synthetic stones were high pressure results in the grit breaking or rolling off. Diamonds just slice through, and my personal experience is that the grit is not even sized, so you always have some sticking up higher than the others. Very hard steel will crack at the apex when you hit one of those high points, and even if it doesn't, you get a deeper scratch than from a stone.

Microcracks along the edge and deep scratches are a pain to get rid of -- the cracks tend to spread as you refine the apex and result in microchipping in use, and the deep scratches take a lot of work to remove.

This is why you must sharpen traditional japanese carbon steel tools and knives on jnats -- hard stones with no "give" will result in cracks and edge failure.

A coarse DMT will save you a lot of time cleaning up a Gold Dollar 66 or a badly abused eBay razor, but you should switch to a standard bevel setter of around 1k before you actually reach the apex. 1200 grit diamond isn't faster than a Bester 1200 and the Bester leaves a finer scratch pattern.

As far as honing fluid goes, if you knock the swarf off diamond hones don't need any, but work just fine with oil or water if you prefer. I'd avoid WD-40 because it will turn to a rubbery varish if you don't clean it off and make the stone useless until you remove the "varnish". I've cleaned that crud off too many watches where someone "oiled" a movement with a squirt of WD-40. Had to use a razor blade to slice the plates apart.

 

[eKretz]

Ohh, what sort of monster would lubricate a watch with WD-40....ack.

 

[psfred]

Especially by opening the back and squirting some in. And it was a very nice Bulova, too, and one other one was a top end Elgin.

Still haven't gotten that hairspring cleaned up.

Sadly, human "ingenuity" is endless.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Thank you, gentleman. I learned more from your comments. Getting a preliminary understanding of all this honing stuff is a multilayered process for me.

(I've not purchased anything + I may end up with lapping film or just sending my straights out ).

Everything I learn is helpful.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[steveclarkus]

Thank you, gentleman. I learned more from your comments. Getting a preliminary understanding of all this honing stuff is a multilayered process for me.

(I've not purchased anything + I may end up with lapping film or just sending my straights out ).

Everything I learn is helpful.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Lapping film is the easiest and cheapest way to learn to hone. After you know how, there is a mile deep rabbit hole to dive into and can be a great hobby on its own.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Lapping film is the easiest and cheapest way to learn to hone. After you know how, there is a mile deep rabbit hole to dive into and can be a great hobby on its own.

Ordered my kit.

Happy shaves,

Jim