Diamond knife sharpening : DMT, Atoma, Ken Schwartz, Murray Carter, ...

A quick over view : -the argument that all diamond abrasives damage the edge is false -some plates can produce inconsistent results (the higher grit DMT's) -some produce very consistent scratch patterns (Atoma, lower grit DMT's) Reasons for diamond plates : -can sharpen extremely high carbide steels, ceramics and carbide tooling -come fairly flat, stay that way -only require a little water -trivial to clean Issues : -costly compared to basic stones -more fragile, can be damaged with a heavy hand -not as friendly to extreme work (point/belly grinding) -no way to restore a damaged surface (can't lap it like a regular stone) Lots of types not used, may be worth looking into : -Ken's films on float glass http://precisesharpening.blogspot.ca/ -Naniwa diamond waterstones http://www.japanwoodworker.com/catego... Discussion links : -Atoma 1200 : http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/foru... -DMT 1200 : http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/foru... -DMT MXF : http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/foru...