Diamond Stone Info. From Deepwoods

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Just passing along some info.

Carving Knives - Deepwoods Ventures

Dave

[Robson Valley]

There are more and more kitchen places which are stocking knives with ceramic blades, from little prep knives to full butcher knives. Planer mills in the forest industry have been using ceramic blades for years and years, they last 10X compared with steel. If they didn't, they would not be so common now.
a) I don't like the look of a knife with a bright white or black blade.
b) they are brittle and they chip, more easily than I expected. That may be due in part to the bevel angle when compared with a planer-mill blade.
here endeth the lecture
A monocrystalline diamond plate is far too aggressive for carving tools, IMHO.
However, if you, or somebody near-and-dear to you, gets any ceramic blades, the MCD plate is the only way to sharpen them.

[davidinsarasota]

Preciate the link Dave.

Planer mills in the forest industry have been using ceramic blades for years

As Johnny used to say "I did not know that." Hardcore industries like lumber milling are the ultimate meritocracy for tool materials. Similarly, a good case could be made for woodcarving tools.

diamond plate is far too aggressive for carving tools

I am likewise not fond of diamond plate for carving gouges. The 'feel' is all wrong for me--the nickel coating is too slick and the grit too . . . sitting on the surface, like pebbles on a pane of glass or something. I do use some pretty seriously coarse grit, like the Norton 220 waterstone, but it feels comfortable and effective.

[Robson Valley]

After I made that post, I thought: "why bother?" There are spectacular knives made with far less fuss and bother. This birthday, I got a FA Porscshe 301 utility knife _and_ a 4000grit KING water stone which goes very nicely with the Porsche 301 butcher knife that my SIL gave me last year. They are dang near carving-sharp, right out of the elegant fitted boxes.
My honey just buys another ceramic knife when she chips one of them like a hack saw (but they still cut well.) I hinted that I'd like a MCD plate so I could sharpen them. Nope = a new knife is cheaper. (You want diamonds? This knife is made of sand.)

I have 3 grades of oil stones. When I repaired a dozen Sorbey lathe tools from an estate sale for owner #2, I really did have to start at the bottom. More facets than a brilliant cut diamond.
I guess I could spend several hundred$ and get some power sharpening things. I like "slow-motion," fewer mistakes.

[sebastiaan56]

Im a convert. As with all stones you need the right one for the right purpose but I gradually getting rid of my old fiddly dished stones. Diamond stones are more aggressive and they stay flat. I dont know how long they will last nut they have managed two years with no appreciable signs of wear.

For finer grits I have taken to diamond honing paste on a piece of scrap that Ive flattened with a plane. The grits are sold in microns so you need to work it all out but they are cheap and surprisingly effective. I also like the fact that you can profile timber for the knife/gouge/veiner you are sharpening or use a piece of dowel charged with the paste. If you are really obsessed you can go the 0.5 microns which is close enough to 15000 grit. The In the Woodshop Blog has a write up, Im sure there are others http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...mondpaste.html

Of course, and as usual, Im left with more stuff for my loving kids to deal with when I eventually die.

[Robson Valley]

Old & dished stones are a dead loss, never cared for toss so them out.
My question remains: when ever are good carving tools so bashed up that a diamond plate is the only recourse???
I work my tools so hard that the rivets in the knives come loose. I had a knot in WRC to cut down yesterday. 30oz lead core mallet and a 1/2" firmer chisel deliberately ground to 40 degrees. The knot exploded as usual. But this time, one piece hit my face so hard, there's a scab this morning.
But, a 1k water stone is as crude as my sharpening process ever needs to be. 4K & hone is average, honing on a strop works 90% of the time.
I know they're as sharp as they ever have been = same test in the same piece of wood as 5 years ago.