Scratch on Diamond Stone

[neoOberon]

I bought a new DMT diamond stone (Extra Coarse)…out of the box it has a 1″ hairline scratch on one end. Disclaimer: this is my first sharpening stone.

Will this affect my blades when I sharpen them? I will be using the stone with a Veritas MKII honing jig. If I orientate the stone one way, the blade won’t see the scratch. However if I use the stone that way, I would imagine it will wear unevenly.

Just looking for some input…should I keep the stone or return it?

I've contacted DMT customer service; no response yet.

Thx,
Chris

[Keggers]

I understand wanting to use a new tool right away and the disappointment when the new tool arrives and it's damaged. For whatever my opinion is worth -  I'd send it back and get a replacement. That way you won't have to worry about the uneven wear.

[Eric.]

I agree with Keggers about sending it back if not simply on principle...you bought a new tool and it should be in perfect shape.  Especially if it's a DiaFlat...those things are too expensive to accept any flaws.

 

But in reality...it's an extra coarse diamond stone...you're gonna have a ton of work to do on any bevel after you grind with it.  So much so that any imperfection in the metal caused by the scratch in the stone is going to be insignificant compared to the amount of honing you'll have to do to remove those heavy scratches.  Extra coarse diamond stones leave extra heavy scratches in steel.  I kind of doubt the imperfection in the stone will translate to anything significant in practice.  If it were an 8000 grit waterstone, yeah, different story.