So I hooked a camera up to my microscope again. Had to go down to 220grit to get some really bad pitting out of an eBay razor I picked up; so I took some shots there and then figured I'd get some more hones for good measure.
Razor is full hollow ground early 20th century Clauss. 14.5 degree grind angle. Scope is 400x Optical 10x40 for all images.
DMT 220: Really Nothing special here. At this grit almost everything cuts the same, differences are largely due to particle size variance, which DMT's (probably Atoma's as well) blow pretty much everything away for. Take my word for it, for a 220grit edge, this looks really really good.
DMT 600: Edge is deflected a LOT at these grits if you're not using an aggressive slurry or very soft stone. Screws with the image, but it's not a bad thing for honing unless you do something silly like jump right to a finisher off your 600grit. Next stone will cut off/push back this semi-burr and on you go. You'll see these "semi-burrs" at all stages (even finishers) off the majority of hard stones, with hard + slow stones being the worst for it. If this didn't happen, you might consider shaving without stropping. It's not the only reason you need to strop off the hone before shaving, but it's the most significant one. As you can see by the shading, it's not an extreme fold the way a true burr is, and it won't break off on the strop, but it will significantly affect cutting ability pre-stropping.
DMT 1.2k: Insanely good looking edge profile. Don't get used to it. Diamond plates at higher grits tend to leave the edge a bit on the thick side for their grit, for whatever reason. This is wonderful for progression, not so great for use immediately.
DMT 8k: More of the same. As you see the edge deflection is more significant here than off the 1.2k
JIS 6k: Damn that looks crummy after the DMT 8k. But if you look closely, it's clear the edge is slightly thinner.
Razor is full hollow ground early 20th century Clauss. 14.5 degree grind angle. Scope is 400x Optical 10x40 for all images.
DMT 220: Really Nothing special here. At this grit almost everything cuts the same, differences are largely due to particle size variance, which DMT's (probably Atoma's as well) blow pretty much everything away for. Take my word for it, for a 220grit edge, this looks really really good.
DMT 600: Edge is deflected a LOT at these grits if you're not using an aggressive slurry or very soft stone. Screws with the image, but it's not a bad thing for honing unless you do something silly like jump right to a finisher off your 600grit. Next stone will cut off/push back this semi-burr and on you go. You'll see these "semi-burrs" at all stages (even finishers) off the majority of hard stones, with hard + slow stones being the worst for it. If this didn't happen, you might consider shaving without stropping. It's not the only reason you need to strop off the hone before shaving, but it's the most significant one. As you can see by the shading, it's not an extreme fold the way a true burr is, and it won't break off on the strop, but it will significantly affect cutting ability pre-stropping.
DMT 1.2k: Insanely good looking edge profile. Don't get used to it. Diamond plates at higher grits tend to leave the edge a bit on the thick side for their grit, for whatever reason. This is wonderful for progression, not so great for use immediately.
DMT 8k: More of the same. As you see the edge deflection is more significant here than off the 1.2k
JIS 6k: Damn that looks crummy after the DMT 8k. But if you look closely, it's clear the edge is slightly thinner.