Sharpening.....is diamond paper available instead of sandpaper?

[George Farra]

Hi everyone,

I'm more curious than anything else. I sharpen using sandpaper and so far its worked out okay for me. The only dissapointment is the longevity of the paper. I use 3M's wet/dry (400 - 2000 grit in 4 increments). Is diamond paper available? If so, who makes it and would it be economical? I did discover that DMT makes diamond disks for the work sharp machines and they claim thier diamond disks run cooler and cut longer than traditional paper. That said, I didnt find the same product in sheets on the DMT website.

Thanks

George

George

[Steve Friedman]

Lee Valley sells 3M PSA diamond lapping film down to 15 micron (around 1000 grit). Very good. The sheets are 3" x 6" and cost $6.40 each, so fairly affordable. They do tear pretty easily if you're not careful. I assume those are available in larger sheets from 3M.

Stu (Tools from Japan) sells Atoma diamond paper in 140 to 1200 grit, but the cost is much higher (over $40 for a 2" x 4" piece if my mm to inch conversion is right) and it seems best suited for making honing jigs for curved blades. I have never tried it, but am tempted to give it a shot for some bent carving gouges that are challenging my sharpening abilities.

If you're going to use diamonds below 15 micron, I think regular Atoma plates from Stu are a bargain right now because of the exchange rate.

Steve

[Peter Pedisich]

I agree with Steve about the LV diamond film, it is very aggressive but tears easily. They did last longer than I thought they would, which was very nice. I'd buy them again for sure.

[Mike Holbrook]

I think diamond paste or fine grit is a more popular way to sharpen. Pastes or grits can be used on many kinds of surfaces. Certainly Atoma plates are a popular ways to use these substances. A buffing wheel with paste also works well.

[Dave Parkis]

FWIW, I bought the DMT discs fro the WorkSharp and I was NOT impressed. Yes, they stay cool and its pretty much impossible to blue an iron, but I found them terrible for flattening backs. Just my $.02

[David Weaver]

You'd do yourself a favor money-wise to buy the ezelap 600 grit diamond hone for about $35 from amazon.

It would replace all of your lower sandpaper steps and give you something you could finish with fine sandpaper.

The ezelaps are a little brash at first, but they settle in to a finer than their grit level and then stay there. You could get years of honing for that and never worry about cutting paper, etc.

If you like the paper as a final step, you could get something else down the road if you change your mind, like a fine waterstone or loose diamonds or diamond paste.

[David Barnett]

I did discover that DMT makes diamond disks for the work sharp machines and they claim thier diamond disks run cooler and cut longer than traditional paper. That said, I didnt find the same product in sheets on the DMT website.

...so films or plated laps are what you'll find.

6" diamond discs are a mainstay of faceters and can be had from faceting suppliers on eBay and elsewhere in a from 60 to 3000-grit for far less than DMT, are consistent and last a long time—I use my worn laps for sharpening HSS gravers and they still have plenty of life in them. You also don't need a rotary machine to sharpen with 6" or 8" round laps, but it doesn't hurt. A 360-grit (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-6-Dia-Diamond-Flat-Lap-Disk-360-grit-Solid-Steel-1-2-Hole-/221239030638?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3382dfb36e)for coarsest bevel shaping, a 600-grit (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-6-Diamond-Flat-Lap-Disk-600-grit-Solid-Steel-1-2-Hole-/370832044565?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56574ff215)for everyday sharpening and an optional 3000-grit (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-6-Diamond-Flat-Lap-Disk-3000-grit-Solid-Steel-1-2-Hole-/370832044559?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56574ff20f) for prepolishing will get you to the 3M diamond lapping films (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=68943&cat=1,43072).

As this is already a long step from sandpaper, a 600-grit Eze-Lap bench stone (http://www.amazon.com/EZE-LAP-81F-Fine-Diamond-Stone/dp/B002RL843U/ref=pd_sim_hi_1) and a tube of 1µ paste (http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-gram-Diamond-paste-compound-polishing-lapping-from-14-000-Grit-to-400-Grit-/230692095923?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item35b65207b3) (14000-grit) make more sense for hand sharpening. Cast iron is nice for the paste but other substrates will do. These two will do it all for years and years and will become demonstrably cheaper than sandpaper.

[David Barnett]

FWIW, I bought the DMT discs fro the WorkSharp and I was NOT impressed. Yes, they stay cool and its pretty much impossible to blue an iron, but I found them terrible for flattening backs. Just my $.02

For flattening backs, rotary laps are a rather poor choice, and the DMT discs are terribly overpriced, IMO, considering eBay faceting suppliers (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-6-Diamond-Flat-Lap-Disk-600-grit-Solid-Steel-1-2-Hole-/370832044565?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56574ff215) sell excellent ones at $12 and less.

[george wilson]

I haven't used a Worksharp machine,but I have a Sunnen diamond honing machine that uses 6" diamond plates in vertical or horizontal position. BUT,it goes only 200 RPM. I think anything faster than that would be bad for the life of the diamonds.

Discs cost something like $200.00,but on Ebay,I found a guy in Hong kong who sells perfectly decent 1/16" thick x 6" diameter diamond discs for $9.00 each. They look the same as my expensive discs in their coating,and are available in many grits if you ask for them. I think I got a 1200 grit one,and possibly a 3000 grit(not sure) from him. I can easily turn some aluminum or hard wood discs to cement them to to make them 1/2" thick,which my machine requires. I'm not paying high prices for those discs any more.

My main point is that I think anything over about 200 RPM will be bad for your discs. Other diamond lapping machines only go that fast,too.

[David Barnett]

I haven't used a Worksharp machine,but I have a Sunnen diamond honing machine that uses 6" diamond plates in vertical or horizontal position. BUT,it goes only 200 RPM. I think anything faster than that would be bad for the life of the diamonds.

My main point is that I think anything over about 200 RPM will be bad for your discs. Other diamond lapping machines only go that fast,too.

Nice machine, Sunnen. I use an old Raytech Shaw faceter for sharpening gravers and my narrowest chisels at 140 to 220 rpm. Although its range is 40 to a little over 1000 rpm, these days I cut around 600 rpm and below, only exceeding this when polishing.


264246

Back when I jamb-pegged, faster was fun, but that's been ages. Anyway, you're right—even hardened tool steel is plastic and grabby enough to tug and fracture diamonds on quickly spinning laps. The GRS power hone (http://www.ottofrei.com/GRS-Diamond-Power-Hone-Version-B-115V.html) for gravers is fixed around 240 rpm, bearing this out.

Those $8.50 Chinese disc "toppers" (http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-inch-Grit-1200-Diamond-coated-Flat-Lap-wheel-Lapidary-grinding-polishing-disc-/130873930339?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e78b1b263) on eBay are amazing, and while one can buy aluminum or steel master laps, they're easily made in the shop. I still have Corian and phenolic laps turned from scrap.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Lee Valley sells 3M PSA diamond lapping film down to 15 micron (around 1000 grit).

They also have some other diamond film with varying degrees of micron density. 15, 3, 0.5 and 0.1.