If anyone is in the market for a sharpening stone, the Ultra Sharp stones on bestsharpeningstones.com is a great value and since I haven't seen any discussion of them on this forum I thought I'd get it in the archives.
Before I discuss my experience I have to disclose the fact that I am inexperienced compared to many members on this site and in no way am I an expert. I have, however, done enough sharpening with enough types of abrasives to know what a good edge is and how to get it so I think my experience is sufficient for my opinion. I've used oil stones, ceramics, sandpaper on plate glass, other diamond stones, and strops in the past and have been able to make them all work. I'm not as much of a perfectionist as a lot of people on this forum but my edges always perform as well as they need to. I usually finish my finest blades on a strop loaded with green compound (about 1 micron) and test a blade by paring the end grain of a piece of scrap white pine. If it pares well, it's sharp enough.
I've been in the market for a good stone or set of stones big enough to use with plane irons. Until now I've just been using silicon carbide sandpaper on plate glass. I decided to try diamond stones because-in addition to the low price of this one-I wanted something that I wouldn't have to flatten, wouldn't leave a mess, and would be flat enough that I could lap plane iron and chisel backs on. After talking to the guy at Best Sharpening Stones I figured what the hell. It's got a lifetime warranty so nothing to lose. My only concern was that he couldn't give me any flatness tolerances on it but he said that he first found these stones through an engineer who tested one himself and he said it was "within DMT's specs." Whether he meant DMT lapping plate specs or just diamond stone specs I don't know but I can't imagine its the former for the price of this thing.
After getting the stone last week and playing around with it, I would recommend it to anyone on a budget. The two-sided stone (400/1000 grit) is only $50 and it sharpens just as quickly as my DMT benchstone. It was a little scratchy at first but once I used it a bit the scratch pattern started looking better. I tried going straight from the 1000 grit side to a strop loaded with Bark River's black compound, which is supposedly around 3000 grit. (As a side note the only sufficient test I've seen with that compound put its abrasive performance at around 4 microns). Didn't quite get the polish that I like so I then used a piece of 1500 grit silicon carbide sandpaper between the diamond stone and black compound with satisfactory results.
I tested the flatness as best as I could with an engineer's square and couldn't find any inconsistent spots. Flat enough for me. I tried lapping a couple plane iron backs on it and the results were satisfactory to me. If the plane iron back mates well enough with a chip breaker that I cannot see light between them, it's as good enough. For blades that need a lot of work I will still break out the silicon carbide grit/sandpaper/plate glass but I found the 400 grit side to be aggressive enough for routine work. The rubber base that the stone came with is actually pretty effective as well.
All in all, I'd say its the best deal I've seen on a sharpening stone. It may not be as guaranteed as dead flat as some people like but I would argue that it's flat enough for any craftsman's purposes. Only time will tell how long it lasts, which will be the real test of its value. Either way, for $50 it's a hell of a bargain.
Hope you all find this helpful!
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Originally Posted by Matthew Hutchinson477
