Grit Comparison between Water Stones and Diamond Plate

[Clay Fails]

Does anyone know if the grit references on waterstones are the same as references on diamond plates? In other words, if Shapton sells a 1000 waterstone, is that the same effective grit size as a Trend 1000 grit diamond plate? I just wasn't sure if these are all referenced off the same standard.

Thanks

[Jim Foster]

http://www.imcclains.com/productinfo/documents/Grit%20Comparison%20Chart.pdf

[David Weaver]

For the most part, they're close. Diamonds cut very fast at first, but then slow down, but they still leave deep scratches after they slow down.

I'd avoid trend plates, though. Their flatness quote is misleading in my opinion, and they're expensive for something made in China.

[Derek Cohen]

Does anyone know if the grit references on waterstones are the same as references on diamond plates? In other words, if Shapton sells a 1000 waterstone, is that the same effective grit size as a Trend 1000 grit diamond plate? I just wasn't sure if these are all referenced off the same standard.

Thanks

Hi Clay

Not sure about Trend, but I'd say that the 1000 Eze-lap diamond would produce a similar result to the Shapton 1000 for the first 30 minutes of its life. Then the diamond would begin to become finer as it breaks in. Eventually it will be equivalent to something like a 2000 Shapton, perhaps even 3000. If you want an equivalent of a 1000 Shapton, you will need a diamond stone in the region of 500 - 600.

I have a 600 Eze-lap diamond stone that creates a shine similar to a 2000 waterstone (or better).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Weaver]

I'd agree with derek about the 600 eze-lap.

It behaves a little differently than a trend or DMT would because part of the diamond covering on it is a friable diamond (which is preferable, in my opinion). I generally will get deeper scratches with a DMT that's old and seems worn out, but not so much with the eze laps.

[Judson Green]

Another vote for the Eze-lap. Made in the US, not expensive and seem good.

Do you guys have an idea how long it took break in, get the 1200 diamond stone up to the 2000 or 3000? I know that's sort like asking how many licks to the center of a tootsie pop but rough idea. And did ya feel a need to replace the 1200 stone or did it still cut fast enough?

[David Weaver]

Couple of weeks and it went finer than something like a bester 1200, by quite a bit.

As far as whether or not it's fast enough, it depends on what you're doing with it. If you're trying to do a lot of metal removal like you might with a 1000 grit ceramic stone, it'll probably seem too slow. If you're sharpening something HSS, it will probably seem pretty fast compared to most 1000 grit stones.

[Andrae Covington]

Couple of weeks and it went finer than something like a bester 1200, by quite a bit.

As far as whether or not it's fast enough, it depends on what you're doing with it. If you're trying to do a lot of metal removal like you might with a 1000 grit ceramic stone, it'll probably seem too slow. If you're sharpening something HSS, it will probably seem pretty fast compared to most 1000 grit stones.

Lapping the backs of my Narex chisels and a couple old Stanley plane blades wore down my DMT stones in short order.

When I'm trying to remove a nick in the edge is when my worn-in DMT stones seem the slowest, because there's so much material to remove. Although I also have a Shapton 220 (~67 micron) GlassStone and it feels only marginally faster than my DMT Extra Coarse (~60 micron) with lots of stripped out diamonds. So I'm probably just too impatient.

[glenn bradley]

For the most part, they're close. Diamonds cut very fast at first, but then slow down, but they still leave deep scratches after they slow down.

I'd avoid trend plates, though. Their flatness quote is misleading in my opinion, and they're expensive for something made in China.

I tried a Trend due to the attractive price. It became near worthless quite quickly although my years-old DMT plates are still going strong.

[Jim Matthews]

I bought the Atoma plates.

I also have two DMT plates in the mix.
If I had it to do again, I would just by the Atoma.

[Tony Wilkins]

I'm happy with my Atoma 400 but I've used it predominantly for flattening water stones. I didn't like the feel of it or a small Suehiro diamond plate when I tried honing/grinding with the plates. Felt like I was 'using up expensive sand paper' if that makes sense.

[David Weaver]

Atomas feel like you're honing on a million zippers lined up in a row, but they are very tough given the way they clump the diamonds together in little balls with space between each clump.

The ezelaps have the nicest feel for honing, just the way shoes used to be stiff and wore in, the Ezelap is brash at first, but then becomes pretty satisfying to use, especially in cases where you need diamonds no matter what (gummy HSS irons, carbide, etc).