Diamond sharpening has not been a mystery to me, but just not something I have ventured into ... probably because I was a bit unsure of what to do and what I could expect. Well ... that all changed when I received this Side by Side Diamond sharpening system from M Power Tools, it changed everything - sharpening for me.
I have know the "mechanics" of proper blade sharpening for decades, but I don't use hand planes and chisels all that often and do look after them so they don't get dull very often, and to be honest, the process I had been using was SO TEDIOUS, I would oftne put off sharpening intil a number of pieces needed sharpening then do them all at the same timee ... but that has changed ...
M Power Tools Link - https://www.mpower-tools.com/
Here is what you get in the M Power Tools SB2 diamond sharpener, the dual sided stones, (mine are 300 and 1200 grit, but you can also get 300 and 600 or 600 and 1200 all this depends on what you are doing. If you use a lot of hand plane and chisel, probably 600 and 1200 might be best but if you are like me and restoring some older chisels and planes the 300 - 1200 is ideal)
You also get covers for the stones which double as stropping systems along with the appropriate stropping paste which is easily identified by color, and you get an eraser for cleaning the diamond stone when needed and some lapping fluid and a wiping cloth and all this comes in a nice tidy robust pouch.
The first step (Not Pictured) is to flatten the sole of the plane, as shown in the video
Step 2, is to flatten the BACK of the plane, only about a half inch of so from the tip of the blade needs to be flattened.
For this it is suggested to use something to elevate the back of the plane so only the front part of the BACK of the plane is flattened
Next you will turn of the plane and work on the Beveled Edge. If you are happy with the bevel, most people can hand sharpen this edge but if you are leery or what to change the bevel you may want to use one of the commercialy available jigs for this, or even make your own.
Once your have "lapped" the bevel to the highest grit (1200) it's time to do the stropping on the tops.
Pick the lowest strop grit first, in my case it was 1800, use the appropriate stropping compound and give the front and back enough strokes to get a semi dull shine.
Then move to the highest grit strop, in my case 5000 and repeat the process you did with the lower grit.
When you get finished, you should end up with a mirror like shine on the bevel edge of you blade. Be careful, this edge will be super sharp,, and test it like I did on some some computer printer paper.
Thius what you will end up with, although the picture does not really show the mirror like finish properly, but I can assure you will be impressed how quick and easy it was to achieve this ultra high lever of sharpness.
And that is just how easy it is to use Diamone Stone sharpening ... my only regret I had not tried this sooner, now I need to go back and re-sharpen all my planes and chisels ... the good news is that it will take me a tenth of the time and now when a tool get dull, I can sharpen it with out all the muss and fuss of using sanding papers in every grit imaginable.
Colin Knecht
woodworkweb