Sharpening Maxamet with Diamonds…

[Tactical Texture LLC]

Hi guys,

I’m looking at getting a Spyderco Native 5 in this steel and wanted to see if any of you have sharpened these on diamond stones?  I found THIS post where a poster tried using water stones, then switched to ceramics, but nothing on just a straight progression of diamonds.

Also, I have a Gen III with diamonds through 1500 grit, the micro fine ceramics as well as diamond films and various strops as well.

I’m just trying to get an idea of a progression and finish for this steel as I’ve never tried it before.

[Organic]

In the OP from that thread he says he used the Atoma plates. Aren’t those diamond based?

[Tactical Texture LLC]

Organic wrote:

In the OP from that thread he says he used the Atoma plates. Aren’t those diamond based?

The Atoma’s are aftermarket stones.  They are a type of diamond, but different that the WE stock stones.

[Mario Contino]

I checked Odawan, they said they’re not stocking those stones anymore.

[Mikedoh]

This may be helpful from Cliff Stamps forum.

http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/forum/read.php?6,65592

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Tactical Texture LLC

[Tactical Texture LLC]

Mikedoh wrote:

This may be helpful from Cliff Stamps forum. http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/forum/read.php?6,65592

Thanks for the link!  Looks like I’m going to have to do some experimenting with this steel on my own once I pull the trigger on it.  Looks like the biggest challenge is getting it sharp without chipping the apex.  With the combination of diamonds/ceramics and diamond films I’m sure I’ll find a recipe someday!

[Mark76]

I’d try the WE diamonds.

Atoma stones are different from WE stones (although they do have a good name), but the grit sizes may differ and that’s what matters. Also, Atoma stones require you to do free-hand sharpening and that’s quite different from using a WEPS and may result in hugely different results.

I’ve never experienced any problems with the WE stones. Just take care of a few things:

• Make sure your diamond stones are broken in.
• Chose a sensible angle setting. 12 degrees as in the original post you referred seems too steep. I usually do my folders at 19-20 degrees, but usually, 15 should be no problem.
• I cannot think of any reason ceramic stones are better. Given the same grit size, there should be no major difference between ceramic stones and diamond stones – the diamond stones are just harder and thus faster.
• Some people think the initial diamond stones (100, 200 grit) are too coarse to start with and they often start with 400 grit. This is not my experience, but give it a try. Your mileage may vary.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Organic]

Mark76 wrote:

I’d try the WE diamonds. Atoma stones are different from WE stones (although they do have a good name), but the grit sizes may differ and that’s what matters. Also, Atoma stones require you to do free-hand sharpening and that’s quite different from using a WEPS and may result in hugely different results. 

Mark,

The atoma plates were also available from Oldawan Tools in a form that was mounted to the WE paddles.

[Mark76]

OK, I didn’t know that. I’m curious what the difference is.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[wickededge]

We experimented with Atoma plates a long time ago. Ken Schwartz wanted to supply them for us but I didn’t feel that the price was justified. I tried a coarse set that wore out quickly compared to our 50/80 stones. So we never ended up carrying them. The Atoma style of stone is pretty unique, at least in the coarser grits. Rather than using large diamonds, they use large clusters of diamonds deposited on the substrate in organized rows.

-Clay

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Marc H

[Author]

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