Diamond stones to microfine vs lapping film

[Skyler J Baker]

I have the pro pack I with the 3u micron upgrade stones, I know they have a lengthy break in period, and so far seem to leave roughly the same or more rough edge than the 1000 grit. With stropping I can get cleanly shave arm hair. Without it It’ll shave but pull quite a bit.

If I were to get a finer abrasive before stropping would the microfine stones work without getting the 1200/1600 stones as well? Also would I be better off getting lapping film since I already have a blank for it?

[tcmeyer]

We’ve been waiting for someone to pipe in who is using one of the new 3 micron diamond stones. I think that if you’re getting scratches closer to the 1000 grit scratches, you’re likely not yet broken in. I had some clusters of diamonds on a new 800 grit stone that wouldn’t seem to go away with normal, break-in type of use. I had a piece of plate glass and clamped it in the WEPS vise and had a go at it. After just a few minutes, the clusters had broken off and the stone behaved normally. Be patient. Make sure that your stone is fully broken in before investing in another stone.

You can try a whole bunch of things with the glass platens. Besides film, you could try a little diamond paste or spray on tape. Or stick on a thin strip of hardwood and use paste on it. Diamond grit, spray or paste will work on almost any surface softer than glass. I eventually settled on brass as a platen material for film, but I also tried my 3.5 and 5 micron paste right on the brass and it seemed to work. WE sells a set of handles with aluminum platens and that’s certainly equivalent. Just lap the surfaces to a nice, shiny flat. At $35/pair, four pairs would set you up with all the films you’d want. I use 15, 9, 6, 3, 1.5, 1, 0.5, 0.1 microns. The 15 and 9 microns replace the 1200/1600 ceramics.

[Skyler J Baker]

Hey guys, I may make a second post just because theres not a lot of info about them, but I think I defeated them, after they failed to be impressed by s110v I finally had enough, took them outside and lightly ground them on the metal plate around a table saw. Then I remembered I had an old lansky guided set, looked up what they were ceramic alumina oxide, so I lightly used the 3u stones to lap one of them for about 10 seconds, cleaned them off, then spend another 10 seconds on each stone.

I grabbed my plain ole s30v manix which I decided to make my beater, worked on it with the 3u, the result was much sharper, and honestly fit the image in my head of razor sharp but toothy perfectly. It would push cut phone book paper vertically, though it seems thicker than a metro phonebook, shave cleanly without pulling hair badly, and slice TP as well as my sharpmaker results.

Did I drastically reduce their life or damage them? I’m not sure. Hopefully not, but they definitely require a long long length break in period. But if your patient, or don’t mind doing a forced break in then they seem like the next best step after 1000 grit.

[tcmeyer]

I don’t think you’ve appreciatively reduced the life of your stones. The diamond grit particles are attached to the platens with a plating process – nickel, I think. New, there is an abundance of grit piled on the platens. Break-in knocks off those bits which are not lying right on the platen. Once broken-in, a scan with a microscope may well reveal that the particles are almost perfectly distributed; each abutting its neighbors beautifully.

I suppose there is a possibility of over-doing the “forced” break in and rounding off some of the surface “teeth” but I think you’re good unless you can actually see areas where the grit is entirely gone – a good sign that it’s time to replace a set of stones. I have 2 sets of worn out platens which have been replaced for that reason; one pair of 400 and one of 800; the grits I pile the most miles on. Because of this, I also have sets of 600 and 1000 which still have miles left on them if I ever need ’em. In case you’re wondering, yes, the platens can be removed and replaced.

[Skyler J Baker]

If anything I was probably too cautious but I can get my knives as sharp as I was expecting without stropping which was my goal. Stropping is pretty much a necessity with the stock stones at least until they are well broken in, The 1000 grit will rough slice phone book paper, strop the edge and it’ll vertical pushcut.

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