Official Luthiers Forum!

I am planning to buy a couple of Diamond sharpening stones for chisels and plane blades. When I look at the woodworking web sites I see stones going for high dollars. Then I see eBay has stones for much less. Any comments on how much to spend to get a decent set of both, and where to buy?? Is a diamond stone a diamond stone, etc.? I found diamond stones on ebay for under $20 and water stones going from $15 - $60. If you have a source for an economical solution I would appreciate it.

Rich-
I don't have any bargain suggestions, unfortunately.
Diamond 'stones' are expensive- I have one on my WishList at LeeValley, and it's not going into my shopping cart any time soon ($100+).
I have bought some diamond files and honing sticks at the Canadian equivalent of HarborFreight and they didn't seem to last long.

Cheers
John

I been using the worksharp 3000 for about a year. I love it though it has it limitations. I still do my gouges and carving tools by hand still. But for chisels and planes its great. Fast and easy to use...Mike
http://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-WS3000-Wood-Sharpener/dp/B000PVHIMW/ref=sr_1_1/188-1527525-6914235?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1268530650&sr=1-1

Yeah, they are a bit spendy I agree, but I glad I made the investment. I went to Sharpening Supplies for my 8" DMT continous coarse. I picked up a 6" extra coarse somewhere else. Spend the money and get the 8", heck if you can swing it get the 10" or 11". The 6" is really too narrow for wide plane blades. You don't want to have to struggle with it when you need to use it.

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Aoibeann

When I worked at Woodcraft last year, I was given the task to demo the worksharp. It did chisels and plane blades, MUCH better than I was doing by hand on my stone, etc. sliced through paper and shaved hair easily during the demo. I took the machine home a couple days prior to get used to it. I would certainly use it if I bought it...

I got a set of diamond stones - cheap ones from Harbor Freight. 200, 300, 400, 600. $14.00 -


As a matter of fact - I do not see this on their website - I will run and grab another right now.


I use that to get a sharp edge, then I have a 1000 DMT from Woodcraft that was about $35.00 -
Then after that I use green polishing compound on a leather strop (homemade).
Blades just shave the hair off my arm if I even walk near it.

I tried scary sharp with the sand paper - it was a mess, dirty, and a pain.

I only sharpen once with the cheap diamond stones - then use the 1000 grit and strop to maintain the edge.

Diamond stone is the way to go if you ask me.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I have use these and they are OK. NOt sure how long they will last though.
http://busybeetools.ca/cgi-bin/picture10?NTITEM=B2593

I own a few diamond stones and i feel DMT products are great. Woodcraft sells a large assortment of their product a few others
http://www.woodcraft.com/Search/Search.aspx?query=DMT