Diamond Hone - Dots or Dotless?

[Aaron Buys]

I was at my local woodworking store today and was shopping for a diamond hone. I noticed there were two kinds: hones with colored dots and hones that just looked flat. The store employee there told me the hones with dots seem to last longer and that he finds the traditional flat kind to loose their abrasiveness sooner.

Can anybody tell me if this is true or exactly what the difference is between them?

[Mike Minto]

dotless...they cost more for a reason. won't hang up or 'catch' a blade's sharp edge. mike

[Leo Graywacz]

The holes are there so the filings have a place to go. It keeps the diamonds cleaner so the stone lasts longer. At least that is the theory.

[Dale Coons]

and gave the dots away. i found it much easier to sharpen without catching the tool.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The one Alan Lacer uses in his video is sold at Craft Supplies, USA. It's 20 some dollars. I have had mine for a couple of years. It still works well.

[Richard Madison]

May depend on source (brand name) as well as design. Have "cheap" and "not so cheap". "Not so cheap" (mine has dots) is much better, has more uniform particle size, and has lasted some years.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Ditto on cost. I have a Cheapo dot. It's carp. I have an expensive dotted and solid. They're great. I think the cost is the main thing......

EZ lapp is the gooder brand I think. NOT the best, but better the the *-Mart stuff

[Steve Schlumpf]

I have both styles and they all work well. Have to agree that the quality makes the difference.

[Leo Graywacz]

Just wondering something. Are the stones you have, have small dotted areas of diamond?

The one I have looks like a sheet of metal was punched with small holes and then the rest coated with diamond dust. The small holes show the plastic base and that is were the steel dust falls into. Keeps the surface of the stone pretty clean.

[Richard Madison]

The one I have looks like a sheet of metal was punched with small holes and then the rest coated with diamond dust. The small holes show the plastic base and that is were the steel dust falls into. Keeps the surface of the stone pretty clean.

Leo, my "good one" is like that. Also have some really cheap ones (you can guess where they came from) that look like expanded metal on a plastic base. Just about useless.

[Joseph Cardinal]

DMT, one of the better companies makes both formats.

The dots are there to provide a place for the metal filings to go.

The dotless are for "small contact area and pointed tools".


http://www.dmtsharp.com/category/woodworking.htm