Cheap flat diamond hone.....

[Odie]

Just another "heads up" for those who are interested in honing with diamond hones.......

I purchased one of these inexpensive 2x6 flat 300/600gt diamond hones a month ago. It appears to be working as well as my more expensive EZE-Lap hone.....plus it has dual grits! It is two thin diamond coated pieces sandwiched over a plastic interior......made similarly to the credit card diamond hones, but 2x6.

Decided it was a good value for my turning efforts, so I ordered a second one this morning. Ten bucks is cheap for this!😀

ko

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390586804743?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Bill Boehme]

Ten bucks is cheap enough even if it poops out in a year or two. 😀

I have a couple sets of the credit card size hones made by Dia-Sharp from Rockler Hardware. I've had them for many years and they are still OK. I've worn out a bunch of the EZE-LAP hones that look like a stick of gum attached to a plastic handle. I quit buying them because they don't last very long. I also have a couple of the larger 6X2X¼ hones (one sided only, 600 and 1200 grits -- not sure of brand -- DMT?? ... not the best quality). My favorite is a 600 grit diamond slipstone from Alan Lacer. The large and small radii of the edges fit perfectly with the flutes of most of my bowl gouges. They are great for knocking off the bur on the flutes and also good for knocking off the hard resin that builds up.

 

[Odie]

I suppose it's always possible to get a bad batch, but IMO, the EZE-Lap is among the best quality of all the major brands. I'm still using my original 6x2 after about a decade of heavy use. Among the worst is the DMT cone, which I've worn out a couple in less time. I kept using the DMT cone because the cone shape it was configured in, was the best shape for de-burring flutes. I've since found another cone shape that is cheaper and better. I have a standard EZE-Lap diamond knife sharpener that I purchased for hunting knives some 40 years ago......It doesn't see the kind of heavy use the 6x2 plate does, but it's still doing the job after all that time. (Still use it occasionally, but I gave up hunting about 15 years ago.)

Never bought the Lacer diamond hone, because it was too expensive. Don't see how it can be better, but you certainly can pay more. A cone shape is the best for removing the burr from the flutes......have plenty of stones in the shape of the Lacer, so I've tried all the shapes. Thought about getting the Lacer at one time, but couldn't convince myself that it was money well spent. 🙂

I consider the Lacer to be something like the Rude Osolnik signature scraper that I bought years ago. Paid a premium price for it, but it never did any better job than a Sorby, Hamlet, or Taylor......except for spending my money!

ko

 

[Dave Delo]

Thanks for the lead. Been looking for something to rub my McNaughton coring knives against in-between grinder sharpenings. I have a couple DMT's but in a higher grit and haven't liked the results on the coring knives. 10 bucks and free shipping.........no brainer.

 

[Gretch Flo]

Just another "heads up" for those who are interested in honing with diamond hones.......

I purchased one of these inexpensive 2x6 flat 300/600gt diamond hones a month ago. It appears to be working as well as my more expensive EZE-Lap hone.....plus it has dual grits! It is two thin diamond coated pieces sandwiched over a plastic interior......made similarly to the credit card diamond hones, but 2x6.

Decided it was a good value for my turning efforts, so I ordered a second one this morning. Ten bucks is cheap for this!😀

ko

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390586804743?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Thanks Odie-for that price I just bought 2. I have a newer one (forgot brand) that is 6x2 x 1/4" with 300 one side and 600 other . Like it. Same as Bill's??? These will be spares. Use them all the time.. The way I have been "losing" things the last year I'll probably misplace these !!!!!! The small stick ones I use to sharpen drill bits, Gretch

 

[Bill Boehme]

Odie, you won't find anybody who is more humble and unassuming than Alan Lacer. And the price has nothing to do with his name. He is not really a big name professional turner ... he primarily is a teacher and his specialty is teaching spindle turning using the skew. As far as the price of his slipstone is concerned, he explained why the cost is high. First obvious thing is the shape with the two faces that aren't parallel plus the radiused sides means that a lot more work is involved in machining the piece of steel. He says that the faces are flatter than any other diamond hone. The diamonds are very uniform in size and the nickel binder is thicker than other hones. The biggest factor in cost is that his slipstones aren't mass produced. Anyway, I agree that shelling out that much money for a hone wasn't without some pain, but I have long since forgotten the pain of that good purchase.

Here is a link to his store and, hopefully, a description if I have the link right: http://stores.alanswoodturningstore.com/diamond-slipstone-hone-600-grit-its-back/
Well, not exactly what I wanted, but if you click on product description, it will give all the details.

BTW, I cheched on the brand of the 6X2 diamond hones and they are EZE-Lap. They're OK, but the diamonds don't seem to be as uniform as the ones on the Lacer slipstone.

 

[Odie]

Odie, you won't find anybody who is more humble and unassuming than Alan Lacer. And the price has nothing to do with his name. He is not really a big name professional turner ... he primarily is a teacher and his specialty is teaching spindle turning using the skew. As far as the price of his slipstone is concerned, he explained why the cost is high. First obvious thing is the shape with the two faces that aren't parallel plus the radiused sides means that a lot more work is involved in machining the piece of steel. He says that the faces are flatter than any other diamond hone. The diamonds are very uniform in size and the nickel binder is thicker than other hones. The biggest factor in cost is that his slipstones aren't mass produced. Anyway, I agree that shelling out that much money for a hone wasn't without some pain, but I have long since forgotten the pain of that good purchase.

Here is a link to his store and, hopefully, a description if I have the link right: http://stores.alanswoodturningstore.com/diamond-slipstone-hone-600-grit-its-back/
Well, not exactly what I wanted, but if you click on product description, it will give all the details.

BTW, I cheched on the brand of the 6X2 diamond hones and they are EZE-Lap. They're OK, but the diamonds don't seem to be as uniform as the ones on the Lacer slipstone.

Hi Bill....

I have slipstones in the same shape as the Lacer offering, so I'm aware of what that shape is capable of. It's my opinion that it just doesn't offer any advantages over the performance I'm getting with a combination of cone and flat diamond hones I'm using.....and whether it would be cost effective for my turning. I don't want to prevent anyone from buying the Lacer hone, so by all means, get it, if that's what someone else wants.

I've bought a lot of specialty tools in the past, and the money wasn't always well spent. To be fair, sometimes spending money on specialty tools had positive results, sometimes not. In this particular case, I have many shapes and sizes of stones and diamond hones, and I just don't see the advantage. If it were cheap, I might spend the money to give it a try, but it's the money that's the bottom line in my decision to pass on the Lacer diamond hone.

It probably wasn't fair to compare Lacer's hone to "signature" tools......my apology for that comparison.

ko

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'll agree that it isn't a magic tool with special properties that can't be done with other hones. For me, its advantage is that it takes the place of a couple other tools so I don't need to have a round hone and a flat hone loading up my pockets along with all of the other stuff (pencil, straightedge, chuck key, vernier calipers, dividers). I need to stop putting the dividers in my pocket. 🙄

 

[John Altberg]

I need to stop putting the dividers in my pocket. 🙄

You'll only sit on those once, Bill!

John