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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000023.txt from 2006/10
From: "Ed B. Flowers" <flowerse@-----.net>
Subj: [DR-L] Superb DMT DiamondVee Sharpener
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:59:51 -0400
List,
The DMT DiamondVee diamond rod sharpener is a superb sharpening tool.
It's much easier, quicker and safer to use than the diamond stones which
have previously been used for sharpening jobs on reed knives. The 4-1/2"
metal diamond sticks are mounted in a beautiful 5-1/2" lucite base.
Although small and portable, the unit does tough sharpening jobs easily.
This tool means that rod sharpening tools can be use to sharpen all of
your reed knives, from hardest steel to softer steel:
* DMT DiamondVee diamond rod sharpener* (4-1/2" diamond
rods)--hardened steels like Landwell M and H knives.
* White ceramic rod sharpeners** (7-1/2" and 8-1/2" long rods
depending on manufacturer)--medium hard knives like the Charles
double hollow ground knife and the stainless steel knives like the
Jende, and the Swiss double hollow ground knife.
* RazR Steel*** (4-1/2" long metal rods in an inverted "Y"
configuration)--shaping the burrs on all knives.
I recommend first sharpening your steak knives on the diamond rods to
smooth out the rods and to practice with the diamond sharpening system
which works quickly. Diamond sharpeners sharpen both faster and smoother
after they are used a little bit. I also recommend using primarily "up"
strokes on all of the rod sharpeners, because up strokes develop and
direct the burr quicker without wearing away as much of the knife edge.
On my toughest reed knife sharpening job so far, the diamond rods
developed a fine burr with only four up strokes, alternating, on each
side of the blade. Some of the harder knives like the Landwells would
require more work to develop the burr.
The white ceramic sticks work well to smooth the burr developed on
hardened-steel knives with the diamond sticks. On the softer steels, you
don't need the diamond sticks at all, because the ceramic rods work fast
enough, by themselves, to develop a good burr.
The last stage should be smoothing and directing the angle of the burr
with the RazR Steel. These smooth steel rods require only slight
pressure to direct the burr because they are dealing with a foil-thin
burr on the knife edge that is so small and thin that it is invisible to
the naked eye.
Because you can't see the burr, you should become adept at sensing it by
feel. Letting the weight of the knife blade (very light) nick the back
of your thumbnail at various angles is one way to sense the sharpness
and angle of the blade. Another way is to turn the knife edge up and run
your left and then your right thumbnail over the knife edge, feeling for
the "catch" of the burr if it is curled one way or the other. For a
right-handed person, the burr should curl to the right enough to peel up
a curl of cane when scraping, just like a wood plane would do. You would
develop this right-curling burr by stroking the knife up the left rod.
Edward B. Flowers (ob)
New York City
*DMT DiamondVee Knife Sharpener at :
www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=4246,
<http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=4246,> $34.95.
www.sharpeningsupplies.com/DMT-C24.aspx,
<http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/DMT-C24.aspx,> $38.85.
**White rod ceramic sharpeners
www.knifeart.com/cerspeedrod.html
<http://www.knifeart.com/cerspeedrod.html> (8-1/2" alumina ceramic)
www.restreview.com/store/product_info.p … ucts_id=34
<http://www.restreview.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=34> (both
carborundum and ceramic rods)
www.discountcutlery.net/en-us/dept_22068.html
<http://www.discountcutlery.net/en-us/dept_22068.html> (similar to
knifeart sharpener)
***RazR-Steel
(beast.voltztech.com/~razoredge/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=47&osCsid=b9d7ad8a94a6deab574d4178dc9b0ac4)
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