Can't seem to get super sharp on DMT plates and Veritas guide - help

[HickWillis]

I recently picked up 3 DMT diamond plates (Coarse, Fine, X Fine) and the Veritas Mk II honing guide to sharpen up my chisels and plane irons.  Before this I had nothing.  While I am able to get them sharper than they were, I can't seem to get that super sharp feeling to them.  My chisels don't seem to pare/chop well and my planes seem to create a lot of tear out despite checking grain direction, opening/closing mouth, and adjusting blade width.  I feel like I am just missing something here.  Here is my process:

1 - Sharpen on Corase to Fine to X Fine.  I do about 20-30 passes on each plate.

2 - Turn the micro bevel knob on the guide and do a few passes on the X Fine

3 - Take the iron out and do a few passes on the backside to remove the bur.  I've tried the ruler method too.

4 - Use a leather strop to finish

[Eric.]

Are your backs flat and polished?

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Chet]

36 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Are your backs flat and polished?

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

 

Yep, you have to make sure this is done first.

[Tom King]

It's kind of hard to diagnose by just talking about it.  There are a number of things that could be happening.  One that hasn't been mentioned is if the tool is absolutely secure in the guide.

[wtnhighlander]

Pictures?

 

One suggestion - color the entire bevel with a sharpie, then take 3 or 4 strokes across your finest stone. Check to be sure the marker is worn away evenly, if not, your blade is not correctly clamped in the guide, or was mis-shapen from a previous sharpening.

 

Come hang out with me at www.mrmccormickmakes.com

 

 

[HickWillis]

I am not 100% sure on the backs. To flatten for sure I could run the backs on glass/granite with sandpaper correct?

I will also do the sharpie thing and see what happens

I am sure the irons are secure in the jig

Thanks all

[bleedinblue]

Some will disagree, but for planes (not chisels!) look into the ruler trick for dressing the back.  Go to YouTube and watch some Rob Cosman videos for his sharpening process, mainly for the backs.  

[gee-dub]

I run DMT DiaSharps and go to Extra-Extra-Fine (about 8000 grit) as a good start on a sharp edge. 

[derekcohen]

14 hours ago, HickWillis said:

I recently picked up 3 DMT diamond plates (Coarse, Fine, X Fine) and the Veritas Mk II honing guide to sharpen up my chisels and plane irons.  Before this I had nothing.  While I am able to get them sharper than they were, I can't seem to get that super sharp feeling to them.  My chisels don't seem to pare/chop well and my planes seem to create a lot of tear out despite checking grain direction, opening/closing mouth, and adjusting blade width.  I feel like I am just missing something here.  Here is my process:

1 - Sharpen on Corase to Fine to X Fine.  I do about 20-30 passes on each plate.

2 - Turn the micro bevel knob on the guide and do a few passes on the X Fine

3 - Take the iron out and do a few passes on the backside to remove the bur.  I've tried the ruler method too.

4 - Use a leather strop to finish

Your sharpening system ends where mine begins. I begin with a 1000 grit Shapton Pro (which is about the same as your X-Fine diamond), and rarely need more that 3-4 strokes per grit.

I progress through 6000 and 13000 Sigmas, and finish on green compound on hardwood. No leather (leather dubs an edge). That is about 30000 grit, compared to your 1200 grit.

Two other problems with your system: firstly, diamond plates create deep scratches which are a lot of work to remove. Secondly, the many, many passes you take will create a large wire edge, and this will effectively dull the edge further. The back of the blade needs to be polished to the  same level as the bevel edge.

These are fundamentals of sharpening. How you get there, and which stones/media you use, are up to you.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chud]

On 4/14/2017 at 11:42 AM, derekcohen said:

Your sharpening system ends where mine begins. I begin with a 1000 grit Shapton Pro (which is about the same as your X-Fine diamond), and rarely need more that 3-4 strokes per grit.

I progress through 6000 and 13000 Sigmas, and finish on green compound on hardwood. No leather (leather dubs an edge). That is about 30000 grit, compared to your 1200 grit.

Two other problems with your system: firstly, diamond plates create deep scratches which are a lot of work to remove. Secondly, the many, many passes you take will create a large wire edge, and this will effectively dull the edge further. The back of the blade needs to be polished to the  same level as the bevel edge.

These are fundamentals of sharpening. How you get there, and which stones/media you use, are up to you.

Regards from Perth

Derek

You definitely should consider a stage after the last diamond plate, I won't get into the debate over leather strops  but I would say a good final process that's cheap is to get a a bit of float glass, a flat piece of MDF and load them up with some metal polish (I use Autosol http://www.autosol.com/product_p/1000.htm) then (leaving my blade in the honing guide) I work it over the glass and autosol then finish on the MDF and autosol applying pressure only on the back stroke. you can use the glass and MDF to also finish the back.

Diamond paste would also work but I had issues with using green compound on MDF where it glazed on the surface of the MDF forming little lumps but that might just be the green compound I have which is very hard.