Comments on: Sharpening with Diamond Lapping Film

By: milesthom

milesthom — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:01:34 +0000

Seems like a foolish question, but gotta ask it:

Whether chisel or plane iron – do you:

a) push the edge forward, away from your body and into the film,
or
b) draw the edge back, towards your body with a pulling motion, as if smoothing the film.

If anyone is still watching this thread it would be great to know.

Thanks – Miles Thompson

By: neptunoPW

neptunoPW — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:36:10 +0000

Just found out that I had one of these sets here waiting to be tried, and I glued two sheets using the water technique, and it worked perfectly.

Pedro

By: neptunoPW

neptunoPW — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:43:53 +0000

Chris

About the bubbles.

I would try a trick that truckers use when they have to stick decals to the truck doors. They slightly wet the surface before the sticking, and by doing this not only the bubbles go away, but they are able to slide the media around and reposition the decal.

Pedro, Sao Paulo, Brazil

By: bluegrod

bluegrod — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 08:36:39 +0000

Christopher,

I don’t know if you are still monitoring this thread but I to use films to sharpen and like you I use glass and if you spritz the sheet and glass with water that has just a tech of dish soap it will allow you to remove the bubbles with a credit card. You do however have to let it dry overnight so plan ahead. Also, I do not use diamond film I use aluminum oxide film I get from precision surfaces international and the alumox film does just a good of job as the diamond at a much much lower cost. Check it out you won’t be disappointed. The alumox film is used by a lot of guys that sharpen straight razors if that gives you any idea how well it works. Let me know how you make out.

By: muthrie

muthrie — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:01:28 +0000

“As far as getting it stuck down without bubbles, there is a trick that might help. Spray the glass with a soapy water solution, place the adhesive side of the film on top of the water, and cover that with a piece of waxed paper. Use a plastic squeegee, working from the center, to squeeze all of the water out. You will be able to squeegee out any bubbles. They use the same procedure to put vinyl stripes/graphics on cars.” by Joe – http://mcglynnonmaking.wordpress.com/

By: ccarse

ccarse — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:46:57 +0000

While that film is good it’s not the diamond film that Lee Valley sells. The diamond film is much quicker cutting.

By: Bear

Bear — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:56:00 +0000

I’ve tried the film and had the same experience with “bubbles”.

By the way, Ron Hock’s book is excellent! In my opinion, it should be required reading for mechanical engineering students. For the woodworker trying to understand the advantages of the different types of steel, Chapter 2 in particular, explains the history and nature of steel in a plain easy to understand language that yields that “aa-ha” moment…

By: tarscottmills

tarscottmills — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:16:54 +0000

I’m intrigued as a speedy way to flatten the backs of irons … sometimes a tedious task with stones.

By: GordonC

GordonC — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:41:54 +0000

Chris,
As a thrifty (parsimonious?) yankee, I have been using paper on glass for the last 5 years and have been either purchasing 15u, 5u and .5u paper from Woodcraft or LV. Having seen the results of the new films, I’m ready to try these. To avoid bubbles, roll the strip on with finger pressure behind the strip as it lays down. Seems to work 99% of the time for me. Thanks for the post.
R/ Gordon

By: denovich

denovich — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:51:30 +0000

I have both, specifically, the 8″ dia-sharp stones, in Extra Coarse, Coarse and Extra Fine. For durability the DMTs win. Can’t accidentally ruin them in one pass… But for sharpening speed and quality of finish, the film wins hands down. I’ve found that the 15micron film hogs off steel much faster than the Coarse (45 micron) DMT. One thing to note: I’m comparing new film vs. used (but not really abused) DMTs. If you consider that the DMTs cost about 10x as much as film, they better have a lot of life left in them.

I’m a convert to film. As much as I like how well loose diamond works (and how cheap it can be) it’s a mess, and contamination is a BIG not-so-obvious problem to contend with. Have a few 100 micron diamonds escape and find their way onto some other stone or work surface (or gasp, in some bearing) and embed there and you’ve got a tricky problem to solve.