Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) D6EF Dia-Sharp 2-Sided Diamond Sharpening Stone Bench Plane, 6 Inch, Fine/Extra Fine

If you have a dull knife, Fine/Extra Fine is not for you. Use 400/1000. But to get that last little bit, works fantastic. Made in USA. Makes knives sharp!

This sharpening plate is very practical for adventure trips. I usually use Japanese ceramic sharpening stones, but they’re somewhat difficult to carry due to their weight and size. In contrast, this double-sided diamond plate works very well and allows for quick and effective sharpening.

Excellent stone

I had to send two of these back to Amazon because the stones where of poor quality. They where very roughly machined, so the surface of the metal underneath the layer of diamond was not even close to smooth, I did not like the idea of my blade running into nicks and deep gouge marks in the stone. Then the second stone I got was much smoother, but the layer of diamond thinned out to almost nothing on one corner of the stone, sent that back and finally got a good product. Once I received the good stone, free from defects, I will say it is a great stone. DMT diamond stones really are great, I have used other brand diamond stones, and they don't compare to this one. The DMT stones cut fast, yet leave a nice fine finish for being as aggressive as the are. Use light pressure with these stones, they cut fast and do not require much pressure. These stone do have a break in period, they will feel a bit gritty and rough at first, but mine did break in nicely and feel much smoother when sharpening. Also as they break in they will become slightly less aggressive, but they still cut pretty fast. I bought this stone because it was double sided and seemed like a good value. The fine side can give you a really nice sharp edge without even using the extra-fine side. The extra-fine will further refine the edge, but honestly is not needed to create a razor sharp edge. I already had a DMT course, so I went with this stone to complete the grit range. I would say if you don't already have a coarse stone, buy the double sided coarse/fine and have one stone that can reprofile and repair an edge using the coarse side, then have the fine side to put on a keen edge.

Quality - [8/10] (ends have visible marks from when it was cut with a bandsaw)Feel - [10/10] This stone just feels like a quality product. Also, it is very responsive and feels great when sharpeningFunctionality - [10/10] The “fine” side of this stone is rated at 25 micron (~800 grit) which is great because it can remove a good amount of material fairly quickly while providing a very workable edge.I sharpened my Para 3 in S110V steel (known for being extremely difficult to sharpen) in about 10 minutes. The knife was dull (hardly shaving any hair) and after using the “fine” side and stropping on 5micron and 2.5micron diamond paste, the edge would easily shave. After that i tried out the “extra-fine” side; which worked amazingly. The “extra-fine” side left the knife hair-popping sharp straight off of the stone! (I used a push-pull method to form a burr on both sides then forward strokes alternating sides each stroke to remove the burr). After the stone i brought the knife to my 2.5 and 0.5 micron diamond paste strops and the edge was mind-blowing. It will shave hair without any pressure (just the weight of the knife) and even cut a single piece of hair in half while it is hanging.In conclusion, this stone is excellent. It works for establishing bevels as well as taking them to shaving sharp. This stone is truly the only stone you’ll ever need.And if it’ll cut s110v in ~15 minutes... It’ll cut any steel for any knife, axe, chisel, plane, anything.Thank you for reading, hopefully this was helpful.

I used it to start a S30V blade and it worked very quickly creating a smooth edge, then finish the edge quickly with a Hard Arkansas stone.

I have purchased 3 DMT stones and one waterstone in the past 10 months.I started woodworking school 10 months ago, and have sharpened, lapped (the back), and honed the equivalent of 10 chisels and 5 plane blades. (equivalent because of do-overs). I already owned one DMT stone and 2 waterstones.the DMT stones are flat, faster to clean and neater than using water stones but I did not find them significantly faster during the actual honing process than using the N____n waterstones. the diamond stones do not need to be flattened. I do clean them with "barkeepers friend" after each sharpening.unmet expectations: these stones can rust when exposed to water, they can be scratched when sharpening tools made of A2 steel, and they also can glaze similar to water stones. the extra, extra fine DMT stone (supposedly 8000 grit) did not polish as finely as the 8000 grit waterstoneWhile waterstones need to be flattened, as you flatten them, a fresh layer of abrasive is exposed... with diamond stones, there is only _ONE_ layer of abrasive, which you keep using and cleaning. I bought the 4th diamond stone because the 1st DMT stone (600 grit) wore down (as opposed to wore out, after lapping ~ 8 chisels), so that it acted like a 1500 grit stone (i.e., started polishing instead of abrading; it yielded a shinier polish than the 1200 grit DMT stone).I feel the diamond stones are best used for: flattening waterstones, quick bench-top re-honing (like when you need to re-hone every 15-30 min. because of a tough wood), and initial grind (coarse, 220 grit).

I have hundreds of sharpenings on some of the cheap, lesser quality diamond sharpening plates, so I'm confident this may be my last 6 inch diamond stone needed. I will be buying the 8 inch for my larger knives. Well worth the money for any blade I need to sharpen from pocket knives, chisels and wood planing blades. Not recommended for recurve or serrated blades.