Cooking For Engineers

[meathook]

so I can get a unified opinion on "why are most opinions adverse to using a diamond coated steel for sharpening".
Have used stones to sharpen knives for a long time, but have never used a diamond steel, diamond block or one big fat diamond to sharpen any knife. Since I do not use any guide, blocks, tool rests or special incantations [well, ok, a few special words sometimes ] it is tedious and quite time consuming to get a free-hand hold just right when using a stone and think it might be a bit easier to use a diamond steel, as I use a normal steel. The bite on the edge is more easily controlled and with good followthrough, I think I can adequately mimic the old angle so that the new edge equals the old. My hard Arkansas stone will produce a fine edge, but I wonder if a diamond can equal a good Arkansas stone. I admit that I considered augmenting my 3x8 stone with a nice 4x12 and have even priced them on the web [oh pain, agony....the price]. But they look r-e-a-l nice, and would love to stroke one a few times . Could buy four diamond steels for the price of one good stone. And no, will not ever consider sending my babies out to be sharpened....cause I don't want a third of my knive's metal as dust on his floor.

[SirShazar]

Diamond coated abrasives work fast, but they are very rough. There are some exceptions, like the DMT Dia-Sharp. But its expensive and the advantage is mostly in speed.

For knives, I don't mind using a cheapo diamond stone to fix nicks and shape the angles, but I always follow it up with a medium/fine waterstone to get that razor edge. A diamond steel doesn't make sense to me because it'll produce a rougher edge than my finishing stone.

[meathook]

You identified roughness [of the sharpened edge] as a detrimental quality of diamond steels; that is the characteristic which causes my concern with their use. I just purchased a small round diamond coated taper steel to try out [worth the $8 at Lowes] and sharpen the concave serrated edge on an inexpensive bread knife. The inside ground surfaces appeared quite rough; perhaps I need to compare its grit to a fine grit diamond tapered steel seen at the knife shop, and then try a very fine diamond steel, followed by honing with my stone.
Thanks for comment.[/i]

[SirShazar]

Serrated knives are one of those things that are an exception because finding thin fine abrasive rods isn't easy. An abrasive mixed with a binder (like my waterstone) would break if it was made in that shape.

[meathook]

Smokey Mountain Knife Works has several types of 6 inch tapered sharpeners including coarse, fine and extra fine diamond, and a ceramic hone of the same size. They are rather pricey [for what you get...a double shell handle and piece of cheap ceramic] at $18. Thought the ceramic might be interesting to use but...takes only one drop..... Found a large ceramic rod 1 inch diameter and 10 inches long out of a really hefty maple handle. This thing was only $4 so I had to have one, although I was not sure if it would even do whatever it is suppsed to do. If not, it can double as a defensive weapon . I can hear the judge already...."Let me get this clear.....to your attack, he responded with a knife sharpener?" Made a blade guard by drilling a 1 inch hole through a plastic pipe cap and inserting the ceramic rod up to the handle. Yes, it was added via a learning experience