DMT EXTRA EXTRA Read all about it!

[jimi43]

Some time back my dear friend RichardT bought an EXTRA EXTRA COARSE DMT diamond stone because Richard was into all things large and metallic so this was the sort of thing I should have expected Richard would buy.

The purpose was to move metal and move metal quickly...on plane irons mostly..creating a flat and a bevel of note by hand.

So..I was thinking about creating a face on my next project iron and remembered his favourable comments so..if it was good enough for Richard to rave about then it's good enough for me so I bought one...

Actually...it would be better to say I "invested" in one...rather as one does a house...or gold shares...or a villa in Spain....

At almost £110 (don't show Anne!!!)....this is quite an expensive bit of kit...and substantially more than the simple "EXTRA"...you pay about half as much again for the other "EXTRA"....

So it was going to be interesting to see if this crazy purchase was in fact...worth it....

Well...all I can say is YES...YES and YES it is worth it....without doubt.

This stone rips hardened steel apart like it was butter! Well not quite...but it's blinking good!

First of all may I say the simplest things are the best and this "stone" comes with just that...

Stick on feet! No more sliding or sticking pins in your fingers instead of the bench...no more stupid boxes made of walnut whip...or dreadful plastic...just four sticky brown plastic feet! Refreshing and totally effective...didn't budge an inch!

I wanted also to test how clean this method was...so I did it on the kitchen work surface whilst Annie was out at work...he he! :mrgreen:

This was the test iron...because I didn't want to be there all day and this little Isaac Greaves may well form the ammunition part of my next plane...so off we go...

...so as we can see...not very flat at all.

Ideal!

And one of the worst "not flat" scenarios...fat in the middle and thin at the edges with extra thin bits to the edge area...perfect!

About half an hour later....and with lunch in between...oh and the postman coming with my new tap and die...

...and what's more...not ONE speck of dust on the worktop...

....it all stayed on the steel plate! Now that's impressive...and you can just see how much steel it removed!

Clean up...carefully take into the garden and blow! That was it!

All the dust just blew away!

So was it flat...well...I took it to the Fallkniven stone...coarse (no extras here!)..then medium and then a fine ceramic...

....yeh...I'd say that was flat!

So...in summary...

Cons: HUGELY expensive...Liz Taylor expensive

Pros: Super fast cutting, nicely flat finish, very clean use and clean up and finally...those dinky feet...perfect!

Would I buy one? Hell no...this one's for a bloke down the pub who keeps ferrets...nothing to do with me..he's paying me back tonight love...honest! :mrgreen:

Cheers

Jimi

 

[lanemaux]

Shifting metal in style sir. Just wish I could afford one myself. As it stands I will just have to make do with the stones I have and develop huge forearms , sort of the Popeye look. That is very cool Jimi.

 

[Fromey]

Good for you. I bought an EXTRA some time back (couldn't justify the price of the EXTRA EXTRA). It lasted about one day (I'm not exaggerating) of back flattening before turning into nothing better than a polishing stone. And not flat or evenly coated. Mine's a piece of rubbish. Perhaps I was unlucky and got a dud. 100 micron scary sharp for me.

 

[jimi43]

Good for you. I bought an EXTRA some time back (couldn't justify the price of the EXTRA EXTRA). It lasted about one day (I'm not exaggerating) of back flattening before turning into nothing better than a polishing stone. And not flat or evenly coated. Mine's a piece of rubbish. Perhaps I was unlucky and got a dud. 100 micron scary sharp for me.

Strange..I have weirdly the Extra Fine one and it's perfect and has been that way for ages...easy to clean as well and cuts well from the next grade up.

I also have one credit card size one which Axi were doing on special offer once...it's about medium really...and it works fine even now and it's years since I've been to Axminster so that's had a fair workout too.

I think the DMT guarantee would cover your one. Send it back.

I know Richard said with his XX one that he found himself sharpening almost everything that wasn't nailed down so I can only assume he had no problem either.

Jimi

 

[bugbear]

Hmm. Was Fromey's a dud, is is this an example of the the "too much pressure strips the diamonds off the plate" thing that's rumours to exist?

It doesn't seem likely that Romey wore away the diamonds themselves ("hardest substance known to man" and all that) in a day.

Of course, it's almost impssible for someone to say how much pressure they put on. One man's "fairly hard" is another man's "not too hard".

It will be interesting to hear how Jimi's expensive DMT performs over time - diamond stones are notoriously aggresive when new, but settle to their true "long term" state after a few uses.

BugBear

 

[awkwood]

I have had similar problem to Fromey with my Extra coarse that I bought earlier this year.,
It lost its bite in a matter of days, it still works but very slowly compares to new.
My medium and 1200 grit have been brilliant and they are a few years old.
I think I will try Ezelap next time to compare how other coarse plates last.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I was told by the DMT rep that if you try to hard you will push the diamonds into the nickel plate (expensive mistake).
I have a DMT Extra fine Dia sharp plate which has lasted well but we don't use it a lot these days, Scary Sharp has taken over in the school. You can buy almost 100 strips of 80u Industrial Scary Sharp for the same price and that will do a huge amount of backing of very poor tool backs.
I don't like to go above 80u as I find it rounds the blades and dubs the edge to much.
My feeling is that DMT are better than Eze-lap but I do like their small laps.
I am meeting up with James Barry at Harrogate who is going to let me trial some of his Diamond products. I only hear good things about his kit, any experience on here?

 

[jimi43]

I was told by the DMT rep that if you try to hard you will push the diamonds into the nickel plate (expensive mistake).
I have a DMT Extra fine Dia sharp plate which has lasted well but we don't use it a lot these days, Scary Sharp has taken over in the school. You can buy almost 100 strips of 80u Industrial Scary Sharp for the same price and that will do a huge amount of backing of very poor tool backs.
I don't like to go above 80u as I find it rounds the blades and dubs the edge to much.
My feeling is that DMT are better than Eze-lap but I do like their small laps.
I am meeting up with James Barry at Harrogate who is going to let me trial some of his Diamond products. I only hear good things about his kit, any experience on here?

This is my experience exactly Peter. Light pressure is all that is needed...it says that in the instructions.

I will say that the solid substrate Dia-Sharp seem to be more resilient to wear...the Fallkniven one is beautiful though...if only they made an XX coarse!

For extensive metal removal such as face flattening or lapping soles...I think you have to start with a very aggressive grit and this moves steel really well and flat.

Jimi

 

[bugbear]

Anyone tried the Atoma diamond products? Very popular in the circles of people wih Japanese knies made from super abrasion resistant steel.

BugBear

 

[Peter Sefton]

I was told by the DMT rep that if you try to hard you will push the diamonds into the nickel plate (expensive mistake).
I have a DMT Extra fine Dia sharp plate which has lasted well but we don't use it a lot these days, Scary Sharp has taken over in the school. You can buy almost 100 strips of 80u Industrial Scary Sharp for the same price and that will do a huge amount of backing of very poor tool backs.
I don't like to go above 80u as I find it rounds the blades and dubs the edge to much.
My feeling is that DMT are better than Eze-lap but I do like their small laps.
I am meeting up with James Barry at Harrogate who is going to let me trial some of his Diamond products. I only hear good things about his kit, any experience on here?

This is my experience exactly Peter. Light pressure is all that is needed...it says that in the instructions.

I will say that the solid substrate Dia-Sharp seem to be more resilient to wear...the Fallkniven one is beautiful though...if only they made an XX coarse!

For extensive metal removal such as face flattening or lapping soles...I think you have to start with a very aggressive grit and this moves steel really well and flat.

Jimi

I do like the look of your Fallkniven I followed the post a few months back. Thought about getting one but I may need to build an extension to me over crowded sharpening bench!

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

I have had similar problem to Fromey with my Extra coarse that I bought earlier this year.,
It lost its bite in a matter of days, it still works but very slowly compares to new.
My medium and 1200 grit have been brilliant and they are a few years old.
I think I will try Ezelap next time to compare how other coarse plates last.

I too had a similar experience. I bought an extra to flatten a few washita's that I accumulated. Barely lasted through one. Have heard of others using same set-up with great results. Maybe there was a run of bad ones?

 

[Fromey]

Perhaps there are duds floating around or perhaps it is the technique of a few of us. The problem is, they are so expensive that I can't justify risking another one (I must admit I suspect they are way over priced for both the materials and production costs but they get away with it due to relatively lack of competition).

Peter, interesting comment on 100 um scary sharp causing dubbing over of edges. I'll consider that in the future.

 

[swagman]

I was also extremely impressed with the cutting action of Fallkniven. I would recommend the use of a coarser diamond stone before the Fallkniven if the blade shows early signs of a convex surface from the cutting edge and back an 1 1/2".

Stewie;

 

[jimi43]

I was also extremely impressed with the cutting action of Fallkniven. I would recommend the use of a coarser diamond stone before the Fallkniven if the blade shows early signs of a convex surface from the cutting edge and back an 1 1/2".

Stewie;

Bang on Stewie...the correct progressive use of the medium.

Jim

 

[swagman]

I was also extremely impressed with the cutting action of Fallkniven. I would recommend the use of a coarser diamond stone before the Fallkniven if the blade shows early signs of a convex surface from the cutting edge and back an 1 1/2".

Stewie;

Bang on Stewie...the correct progressive use of the medium.

Jim

Thanks Jimi. Ya taught me well.

Stewie;

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Sorry Jimi, but it's quite a bit cheaper here.

Neil

 

[jimi43]

Sorry Jimi, but it's quite a bit cheaper here.

Neil

Always the way when you buy something...it appears somewhere else cheaper. :?

Nice one...so you're going to get one now then Neil?

Jimi

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Nice one...so you're going to get one now then Neil?

I just can't justify it to myself. Ok, to the LOML. :lol:

Neil