Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) WM8CX DuoSharp Double-Sided Diamond Sharpening Stone Bench, Coarse/Extra-Coarse, 8 Inch

Have you ever spent a half hour trying to sharpen a knife with a hard blade steel like s30v only to take off barely any material? If so, you know it can be a real pain in the a**. Metallurgists have been doing some crazy stuff with powdered metal alloys in the last 10 years since I started sharpening my own knives. While the old sharpening tech still works, it is painfully slow for these new super hard steels. Something more aggressive is needed. DMT plates provide extremely fast and precise removal of material. Since they are so expensive I was worried about quality because of some reviews, but mine look great. There is a slight break in, but not too long. I was able to reprofile the edge of my benchmade 535 (s30v) in about 10-15 minutes using the extra coarse side. I did not find it to be too coarse like some reviews, and the plates are very flat. I think some reviewers mistake the extremely aggressive removal rate for a more coarse grit. I examined it under magnification and the diamonds appear to be consistently sized and about 220 mesh as DMT says. It is extremely fast even with s30v, to the point that every stroke counts. Instead of mindlessly giving it a few passes and then looking, I found myself concentrating on specific areas of the blade and looking at it after every pass. It allows you to cut so much with each stroke that it is almost like a power tool. DMT says that the extra coarse is a “safe alternative to powered grinding”. This is absolutely true with the added benefit of much less likelihood of heating the blade. It would be very easy to destroy knives as well with this system if it is misused, but that is true with any powerful and useful tool.

I purchased a set of DMT Diamond Bench Stones, the Coarse / Extra Coarse and the Fine / Extra Fine, along with a base to hold the stones. This set allows me to put a very sharp edge on any of my knifes, axes, or chisels. I have found that the stones are easy to work with and appear to hold up very well. Sharpening in done using only a little water on the stones. I would recommend these DMT products to anyone seeking quality sharpening stones.

I was able to flatten 3 Cr-V chisels that had been nicked. I used a rolling guide and was able to grind them down very quickly, clean and square. I had no problem removing material. Wide enough for plane blades.

I used to use ceramics to sharpen things like chisels and planes, but these diamond stones are really great. A little water is all that is needed, and after a few passes over the various "grits", I've got some seriously sharp cutting edges. The only con is that the price is a bit high, but given the results, quality of the bench stone, and ease of use, I'd buy this product again if I had to. But since these have made it to my list of tools that never get loaned out, I'll hopefully never need to repurchase them!

One of the complaints about these that I see on internet forums (fora?) is that they sometimes aren't flat. This is a pretty big issue, since you can't very well flatten them after the fact. I checked mine against a piece of plate glass as soon as I got it, and my sample is perfectly flat. I have used the Coarse side to (re-)profile several kitchen and pocket knives and it cuts very fast. The extra coarse side is way to coarse for what I need; it cuts giant chunks out of the edge if you get anywhere near it. Still, that side isn't completely useless, since I can use it to flatten my water stones. Coarse water stones tend to be varying degrees of bad, so I'll never go back after using this one.

Have used for 3 years now they are a nice set of sharpening Stones don't think I'll ever wear them out in my lifetime. I will say my medium Grit have slight blemish on it but that has worn away over time. 8 in is perfect size that's what she said haha

These are excellent plates for sharpening my chisels and plane blades. I would suggest using DMT continuous diamond lap plate for smaller chisels 1/2" and smaller even if guides are being used since the corners of the blade can catch the edges of the clearing holes. With light pressure badly damaged tools can be brought back to excellent condition depending on type of damage. If I have a badly damaged cutting edge on a chisel blade, I usually grind the cutting edge back enough just to remove the damage the increase the sharpening angle by 5 to 10 degrees (which sacrifices the tools original purpose-angle) and drop the angle back in subsequent sharpenings to the original angle. This also reduces the wear on the stone.

Got this thing to keep my oil stones flat and my woodworking tools in order. I buy a lot of second hand tools, and a lot of them need some real work before they're fit for use. The extra coarse/coarse diamond stones are perfect for them. While not as fast as using a bench grinder, these are pretty darn fast at removing metal from damaged chisels and plate irons. I'll update the review in a few months just to update, but as long as the diamond plates stay attached, I expect this thing will be well worth my money.

Va de lujo

Sehr zufrieden, würde mir beim nächsten Mal aber welche ohne die ganzen Löcher kaufen, die stören bei kleinen Klingen und Spitzen und Kanten von Klingen

Second one I have owned over the years and recommend.

Muy buen producto muy buena la marca

I've had the (I think 8") double sided green/red (fine, finer) block for years. The finer (green) has lost some bite but it still delivers. Last week I got the blue/black (coarse, coarser) and it is wonderful. I use a spray bottle with a dishwasher capsule dissolved in water to take the abraded metal dust off the block. Even water with a tissue will do but you risk getting tiny bits of paper particles left on the surface. It's vastly more convenient than whetstones.