# DMT DuoSharp Fine/Extra Fine is just not worth it



## waho6o9

pm sent


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## JJohnston

I have to agree. I wore one out after about half a dozen chisels. Cuts about as well as a soggy piece of bread now.


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## b2rtch

Good to know as I was going to buy one


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## lj61673

First of all it's not a stone, it's a diamond impregnated plate and it's highly doubtful anyone will "wear one out" with a half dozen chisels.
I don't care to use these either for a final polish as I think any good water stone works better and quicker.
This DMT's brother, the coarse/extra coarse, works great though for initial edge shaping and for flattening water stones and its a less expensive option than the Shapton lapping plate.


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## JJohnston

Fair enough; I'm listening for explanations as to why it no longer cuts.


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## ssnvet

wash it with soapy water and a tooth brush and see if that gets it cutting again.


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## Bertha

I don't like this stone either. Little snarky against JJ, though, huh? The only DMT I use now is the X-coarse/coarse. I really only use it to flatten other stones, though. It's aggressive as all get-out and a complete different animal than JJ's soggy bread fine/X-fine. I agree totally, JJ.


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## Mosquito

I've got the full set of Duo Sharps (X-Coarse/Coarse, Fine/X-Fine) and also an X-X-Fine. I have no real complaints yet, other than requiring cleaning from time to time to get them cutting nicely again. The 10" ones are a nice size when using the honing guide.

I'll admit, though, that I have only had them for 2 months, and the only other thing I've used so far is scary sharp with sand paper


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## CplSteel

I am the OP, and I did not mean to start a huge controversy. So here is a caveat, I do not have, nor have I ever used the DMT X-Coarse/Coarse stone, er, diamond impregnated plate, which may be a lovely piece of equipment. I will try and clean it up and take it for another drive as SSNVET suggests. Maybe it is all user error and I am not cleaning it well enough. If it gets all better I will come be sure to let everyone know it was not the diamond impregnated plate, it was me.


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## lj61673

You might try using a spray bottle with some water while using the plate, like you would a waterstone. It helps lubricate and the water carries the swarf away making it less likely to plug up. Then just rinse and wipe dry and you're done. Again, diamonds are the hardest substance known to man, no need to worry about your chisels or plane blades wearing it out.


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## 280305

This is an interesting thread. I've had the same stone for about two years. I'm happy with it. But, I had a problem when I first received mine. Yes, diamonds are very hard, but I think that the problem was how well the particles adhered to the substrate.

I used my nearly new stone to sharpen a marking knife. Maybe my technique was flawed, but in the end, much of the stone was completely smooth. The diamonds were gone and it no longer sharpened in those areas.

I returned the stone. I talked with a man on the phone who had my returned stone in hand and was very surprised at its condition. They sent me a replacement, along with four other sharpening freebies from their demonstration collection. So far, this stone is working fine.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop

I have the four stone set, used them for the last year + with no controversy or complaint. Not the least tempted to try anything else at the moment. Maybe it is that specific stone, and not you.


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## JJohnston

What happened to ChuckV sounds a lot like what happened with mine. It doesn't matter how hard diamonds are if they don't stick to the substrate.


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## thedude50

I have the trend stone and love it it cuts fast it has a lapping fluid that you should be using on your dmt I will gladly take your soggy piece of bread for 25 bucks pm me if you want to sell it


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## thedude50

the dmt uses a method where the homogenous diamonds are mixed in the metal all the way through the finish the only way to remove the diamonds is to remove the plating i know you could not have done this in 10 years of use so my offer stands


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## JJohnston

Not for sale. I don't use it for sharpening chisels any more, but I do use it to flatten water stones.


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## lj61673

Seriously, the fine/extra fine is not an aggresive cutter and is typically used as a final polisher if you're not using a 8000 or greater stone already for this task.
Most used the coarse/extra coarse DMT plate to flatten stones, makes a quicker job of it. I suppose you could also use the fine/extra fine also though you may have to rinse it more frequently.


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## jcees

I haven't graduated to the finer diamond stones, I've been using a 220 grit Norton diamond stone and love it. However, I still go from there to my wa********************a then to a hard Arkansas stone for final polish. I own a translucent stone but haven't used it in years. Mostly I can come off the wa********************a and go right to a strop then back to work.

Nice to know that I don't need anything finer in a diamond stone.

always,
J.C.


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## anoldwoodchuck

I recently purchased the Fine/Xfine and the Coarse/XCoarse DuoSharp Stones. I have had them for two weeks and used them to tune up three planes purchased from eBay. I use a spray water bottle for lubrication and a Veritas® Mk.II Honing Guide. I also used the coarse stone to true-up a 4000 grit Norton Water stone I am using for the final sharpening step. I wash/rinse the DuoSharp stones after each use. In my use of these stones, I have been delighted with the speed and quality of the sharpening process. My past sharpening processes have used Norton water stones and the "Scary sharp" process with sandpaper. My experience, so far, is these DuoSharp Stones are providing the sharpest edge in the shortest time.


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## Tennessee

I've tried various renditions of these. Never one of this quality, I don't think. It may be a great product, but I think for me I'll stick to a granite block and proper grit paper.


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## thedude50

i use my trend for reshaping and it works great but for the best edge i use the tormek and the Japanese stone it leaves a mirror finish no need to strop


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## CplSteel

This is the edit I made above to the original post below:
These "stones" are actually pretty good, but the Grit they give you is a lie. I am sticking with the two stars because I wanted a 600 grit stone, not a 6000 grit stone. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but after all the posts and differing opinions I decide to do some tests. The test parameters were basically to flatten a plane blade with 220 grit and then use the DMT 600 side on one half of the blade and a Norton whetstone 4000 grit on the other half. the results are they did just about the same job. Actually, the 600 provided a bit more of a mirror finish and was a bit slower. Again, maybe this is just my stone or the way I use it, but I think this stone acts more like a ~5,000/10,000. I will do some more testing, but this is my update for now.


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## anoldwoodchuck

When I researched these diamond stones, the product descriptions gave their measure of "smooth-rough" in microns/mesh, which I was not familiar, To make a comparison, I found a number of conversion charts/tables on the web to convert these measures to something I was familiar with, i.e., grit

This shows a comparison

DMT extra-fine------9 micron / 1200 mesh-------------1,800 grit
DMT fine--------- 25 micron / 600 mesh-------------800 grit
DMT coarse-------45 micron / 325 mesh-------------325 grit
DMT extra-coarse----60 micron / 220 mesh ---------- Approx 240 grit

Hope this helps. If I am in error in the conversion, please let me know. Thanks


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## rockinmichael

I found the opposite to be true. To me it seemed that the stone seemed coarser than labeled when compared with different medias of sharpening. I did however, find that the problem went away as the stone weared.


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## thedude50

When the stones are new they have diamond particles above the level of the plating. This is true in both of the top mono crystalline Diamond stones the Trend and the DMT . The Diamonds are hard and sharp on edge but once the stone has worn down to the level of the plating the stone will be at its described Grit or Mesh. The Micron Measurement is the actual size of the crystals. Microns are the same as those in your shop vac filter a 10 micron bag Will allow 9 Micron Particles to fall through . This is like a sifter for diamonds they are Called mono crystalline because they are one size. The smaller the number the finer the dust the larger the number the bigger the rock. The rocks are the part that cut the plating is there to hold the crystals in place. If the stone gets too much buildup on it it wont cut. Trend sells a cleaner it is like a hard eraser. It removes the buildup and the stone cuts again like Magic. I also recommend their lapping fluid. It wont make the stone rust and it helps it cut much better. I will ask Trend and DMT to give me the lowdown on the Mesh to grit numbers, to see if they agree with your assessment.


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