This seems like a fair enough place to ask a question that comes up often enough: what is the general lifetime of a diamond stone? I know we're talking thousands of knives and then some, but is it likely that you'll need to replace stones in a couple years? How about a decade? Just curious

Cool info on the actual binding process, I was curious as to how diamond stones were made as well!

ApexGS wrote:


That's a good question but one that's not easy to answer. I tend to get =/-500 knives out of my 100/200 stones and easily 1000+ with my 400/600 stones but I might be a bit different in my usage than most people. I re-profile a lot of knives, especially when I travel to shows, so my coarse stones get a lot of extra wear. I also like my stones well worn, so I might be content with them longer than the average user. Most people shouldn't need to use their coarser stones more than once per knife unless they decide to change the angle later or have some damage to repair and so their stones should last longer (time-wise) than mine. All that said, we sell very few replacement stones so I believe my assumption is correct and that people are getting great life out of them. How's that for a non-answer?

If I may, be patient. As Clay has just said, getting the stones broken in on steel will result in them lasting much longer. Rubbing the stones on each other is not good! You will inevitably remove more of the diamonds than you want to...and have no real way to control this. Most have no real way to measure what they are doing! The whole process will depend on how much pressure you apply, the number of strokes, and the individual properties of the specific diamond plates.

Plating and coating the individual plates, while controlled, is never perfect. Do you want to reduce that lifetime from 500 blades to half of that due to impatience? Do you want to remove a bunch of diamonds that don't need to be removed? Do you want to score and scar the substrate uneccessarily?

Even though I am much more impatient than most, in a era of demanding instant gratification, my answer to that question is a resounding *NO*.

As some say YMMV. I say, don't do it. It is not worth it!!

Phil

I just had an epiphany..
Well maybe a constructive thought.
How about finding a strip of what I have seen described as "mild Steel" at your local home improvement or hardware store and rubbing the stones gently accross that (or vigorously depending on your level of impatience)? Keep the diamond plate flat and square to the hunk of steel!
I have seen this material in one inch wide by about an eight inch thick pieces in various lengths. It is real cheap. Do that for a bit, then sharpen a blade. Repeat as required until you get what you need... !!

That is, if you cannot find some knives to sharpen with the diamond plates and just can't wait for them to break in. Using this method would get around the diamond plate on diamond plate liabilities, but still get you a way to accelerate the break in process.. Remove the excess diamonds, evenly and not excessivly, while leaving the substrate un-scared.

Though at the cost of some manual labor..

Precision is what we look for!


Good, Yes?

Phil

I just used them to profile a couple of big knives and a big Cold Steel kukri. That puts them to good use in a hurry!

Sharpening something is the best way to go..
No question!!

The stones get broken in and you get something sharp.
Maybe one needs to work the blade a bit to remove the previous scratches.
Start with a utlity blade or 10...

Phil