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Lubrication For Sharpening W/ Diamond Hone Blocks ?

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I picked up some Diamond Hone Blocks from Harbor Freight for my sharpening duties.. a couple of the reviewers (on their website) mentioned that their diamond surfaces delaminated from their heavy duty alloy steel frames. Another reviewer (who loved these hones) mentioned that this delamination was probably due to them using OIL for lubricating, said that was a no-no. He supposedly used dishsoap and water. I'd be concerned with that on metal blades, wouldn't it cause rust or oxidation? Is there a better lubrication I should get? thanks.

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..oh, btw - that reviewer said that the oil dissolves the glue. I'm not trying to have that happen if I can help it.

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Soap and water is all that is usually recommended for diamond hone sharpening. If you're worried about rust just give the blade a wipe with a little WD-40 sprayed on a cloth. A very light coat is all you need.

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You can use just about anything, really. All you're doing is providing a medium to "float" the small bits of metal that are removed from the blade, which keeps the stone from clogging up. After sharpening on a stone, it's a good idea to also strop the blade to polish out all the microscopic grooves from the 'stone'. After that, wipe with a lightly oiled rag/cloth then dry the blade for storage.

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Thanks you guys. I'll proceed with the soapy water then. As far as the actual using of these stones... do I just try to follow the beveled angle of the very tip of the blade (1/16" apprx)? I mean the main angled part needs no attention, does it? I'm off to research strops now.

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Soap and water is the way to go.

Here's a thread from the forum with a video on sharpening a round knife with a diamond hone.

http://leatherworker...showtopic=28376

Not sure the harbor freight hones go up to 1200 and 8000 grit :)

WOW! That video is awesome, very helpful. I learned alot and will keep it as reference. No, my HF hones are way off those numbers... we're talking #200, #300, #400 @ #600. I do have some 1500 wet dry sand paper though. I suppose I could use that as a final before the strop-ing for the time being.

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Thanks you guys. I'll proceed with the soapy water then. As far as the actual using of these stones... do I just try to follow the beveled angle of the very tip of the blade (1/16" apprx)? I mean the main angled part needs no attention, does it? I'm off to research strops now.

Depends on what the blade is. Swivel knife, maintain the full angle. Don't do a micro bevel on its edge.

Regular knives, chisels, etc. work on the micro bevel. After a long period of use or damage due to improper usage, then the edge may need to be ground back and reshaped. Then a micro bevel done on the edge.

There are a lot of posts on sharpening different types of knives. Do a search for the type you are sharpening.

CTG

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It's the 4-3/4" splitter blade of Tandy's small "High-tech" bench mounted splitter. I'll see if I can find any specific details for sharpening splitter blades. That angle on the tip is really small though.

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I'm no expert on splitter blades, but ... Since the blade is relatively thick, I would do a micro bevel until such time as it is getting too wide, then reshape the edge and apply a new micro bevel. Same as with many woodworking tools like planer, jointer, plane blades, etc.

It's a lot quicker to touch up the micro bevel and to strop it than having to work the whole surface each time.

CTG

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I'll chime in for what it's worth....

If you have a quality diamond hone (the best I've found and prefer is EZE lap) and its a very fine grit (600 grit or finer...say 1200 grit) you don't really have to lubricate it at all. If you do, plain water or yes, with just a bit of soap added will work. But these hones work so quickly that in practice, dry honing works very well for me. I've found that a new diamond hone needs some breaking in, which just means that initially, a 600 grit stone feels very coarse. After you use it for a while, and the peaks of the diamond particles chip off, it will feel much smoother when you hone. Its still removing metal well, but it will definitely feel smoother with use. My concern with any lubricant used on these is that the small particles of steel, mixed with the water get in all the recesses of the stone's matrix and kind of 'clog' it up. It will still work, but not as efficiently. I have never noticed a 'clogging' issue when I use them dry.

Terry

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i use this for my diamond lapping stones. The 3 oz bottle has lasted me for more than a year. One or two drops will last for all but the most demanding sharpening sessions.

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/td20015/#.VXDoHs9Viko

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