Combination Diamond Stone?

[James Jayko]

Hey All,

I've got a combination 300/1000 Trend diamond stone that I keep in my secondary toolbox at the lake. Its generally a fairly complete tool kit, chisels and hand planes etc, and the single diamond stone (takes up little space and doesn't need to be flattened) seemed to fit the bill very well.

The Trend stone, however, isn't great. It seems like it has worn very quickly (without very much use at all, honestly) and takes longer and longer to do the same work. I'm wondering if this is true of most stones like this, or if the Trend one just isn't particularly great? Anyone have a recommendation for a similar stone? I was thinking about the DMT course / fine combination, but wondering if its just going to put me in the same place.

Any advice?

[Chuck Hill]

I have not used the Trend series. I have used a few of the DMT stones and found that I preferred Atoma stones for the speed and longevity of the cutting action. But I don't think they make dual side plates. You can get just the diamond layer on a thin plate and adhere it to the other side of the complete plate.

[Reed Gray]

I think this just came up as another thread.... I do have one of the Trend 2 grit stones, and both sides are slightly concave, making it pretty much worthless. I am talking to them now. I thought I would be able to take it back to the local Woodcraft store and exchange it. Apparently not. As for DMT. I have their lapping plates, 120 to 8000 grit. Thus far they cut great. I had an older set, which were the plastic based ones, probably 30 years old, and they were not flat enough to use on plane blades or chisels. They had pretty much stopped cutting and I used some of the Trend lapping fluid on them. That seemed to bring them back to life, at least part way. The surfaces can get clogged. I am not positive about the auto glass cleaners (no ammonia) and the no rust stuff from Tormek which I think is what Rob Cosman uses, and how clean they keep your stones. I have a bunch of CBN wheels in my shop, and the Trend lapping fluid seems to keep them cleaner. I turn a lot of sloppy wet wood, and that can gunk up your wheels pretty fast. With the CBN wheels, you can clean them with Simple Green or other soaps, and even oven cleaner. Not sure how that will work on diamond plates. My diamond lapping plates still seem to cut fine. Perhaps one advantage of the water stones is that they are fairly simple to 'refresh' the cutting surface. I don't use them though.

robo hippy