DMT Dia-Flat Diamond Lapping Plate for Flattening Conventional and Waterstone, 4 by 10 Inch

I was researching some new stones and noticed I hadn't reviewed this yet. I bought it in June of 2014 and it is now September of 2024 as I write this review -- ten years, wow! I am a casual hobby wood worker, and still using it to flatten my water stones of grits and stones from Norton 220, Shapton glass 220, to 1000 and 8000 grit Ohishi. I will hazard a wild guess that it has been actually lapping those stones flat for a total of about 30 hours over ten years (3 hours per year would be 15 minutes flattening per month, which seems about right for my usage). I paid 180 for it then, so if we say 30 hours, then that is 6 dollars per hour of use. It still works as well as it did after the first year, as far as I can recall, so I see no reason it won't work for another 30 hours and another decade. I do not see any visible rust on it, and I don't use any special measures to avoid rust, just regular RO (reverse osmosis) water out of the tap. I do towel it off after a sharpening session to dry it off a bit, but I don't fuss. Yes it was a little pricey, but I feel like I got what I paid for.

I can't say enough about this new DIA-FLAT from DMT. Having previously used an XXCoarse DIA-SHARP (D8XX) to flatten my Norton waterstones, the DIA-FLAT has taken an already decent product and improved it on several fronts. SIZE: This massive 10" by 4" plate is much bigger than the various sharpening stones on the market (and much bigger than my D8XX that is only 8" by 3"). This allows you to move your sharpening stone around without ever leaving the edges of the DIA-FLAT. WEIGHT: The biggest surprise is the weight of the DIA-FLAT, at 4 pounds it is 50% heavier than the 2.7 pound D8XX. SURFACE: The DIA-FLAT shares the D8XX's coarseness of 120 microns, but instead of being clumped in a series of small circles -- the entire services is coated with 30 carats of diamonds (3/4 carat per square inch!) with a guaranteed flatness within 0.0005". BOTTOM LINE: The DMT DIA-FLAT makes it simpler than ever to achieve and maintain a truly flat sharpening stone, assuring a better sharpening experience -- and more importantly, a better experience using your sharpened tools and/or utensils. ONE TIP FOR USE: If you are someone who uses several sharpening stones (coarse to fine) to achieve a polished, even edge -- make sure to run your DIA-FLAT under running water and thoroughly rinse off the particles from one stone before moving to the next, so as to prevent cross contamination. This is difficult to do, but it is a necessity if flattening more than one stone.

Fantastic product flattened all of my stones so quick!

I've owned the Dia-Flat for a few months, and can say without reservation that it flattens waterstones flawlessly, and can even be used to lap smaller tools. Previously, I used sandpaper, drywall mesh, and other diamond plates for flattening; each of these methods had drawbacks. Sandpaper wears unevenly, and can be tricky to use without unevenly abrading whatever surface you're working as well. Flattening water and oil stones brought about the early demise of a couple of my regular DMT diamond plates. The most sensible explanation I've encountered for this is that the loose particles from the stone can wear away the regular diamond plate's nickel coating. This doesn't happen with the Dia-Flat. The only drawback to the Dia-Flat is its price, but in this case as in so many others you get what you pay for. I place the Dia-Flat on a stand made by DMT in my kitchen sink and flatten stones on it under running water. Rinse any remaining grit from the Dia-Flat between stones. One tip for flattening polishing stones is to back off your pressure after the stone is flat, and lightly abrade the surface of the stone before use. DMT includes this tip in the instructions, and it works.

My hobbyist woodworking career encompasses nearly forty years. In all that time I have been trying to get the ultimate "sharp" on my chisels and plane irons. Sometimes I have spent as much time sharpening as actually building a project. Today, it all came together. I put a grid on my 1000 grit waterstone that was supposedly flat and by golly it took 10 minutes to get the grid worked off with my new DMT stone. I literally was taken aback. After flattening I put a chisel through my normal process for sharpening as taught by Deneb Puchalski on the Lie Neilsen video and it happened; the ultimate sharp! The micro bevel is perfect, the chisel is absolutely square and it shaves off end grain like a knife through butter only better. I'm a believer....by all means it's expensive but it does get a tool sharp and as the previous reviewer states " It takes sharpening to an art form." If you want the ultimate sharp, this is the lapping stone to get!

I had a Shapton #8000 ceramic stone and seriously gouged it by sharpening a M4 steel knife (most likely because I pushed down too hard). I was concerned that the stone was ruined but used this lapping plate with VERY LIGHT pressure to fix the Shapton stone. It worked great. I wonder if some of the reviews that stated diamond loss was occurring were because people pushed down very hard. Even if this were not the case, the plate looks new and light pressure gives a perfect reconditioning. The lapping plate is expensive, but it was a perfect fix and likely will be used for years to come.

Many of the reviews listed are for products that are not the "Diaflat". The Diaflat is a 10x4 inch diamond truing tool for water stones and other grinding equipment. I bought it after reviewing the information on it, listening to Charles Shwarz's review, author of "The Anarchist Tool Chest", and finding the best price. Expensive, yes, but the promise of superior performance for and extended period of time offers long range saving in both time and money. A good sharpening stone can cost a lot of money and at some point they will need to be trued. This is the ideal tool for that short of having high grade professional equipment. It is great for those of us who don't want to spend our time truing stones so we can sharpen tools with precision. The bottom line is this tool is for those of us who take sharpening to the next level; art.

I put off buying this for a long time due to the cost. I'm glad I finally bought it though, as it makes a HUGE difference to the tedious process of flattening water stones. The weight took me a back at first, as did the size. Both are good things, however. It took quite a while to flatten my stones at first, but now that they are flat all it takes is a few seconds after using them to get them flat again. Definitely worth the cost. Always rinse and dry after use, and rinse between grits! Made in USA.

Me daba mucha pereza afilar a mano alzada, por tal de no aplanar después mis piedras Japonesas, y con esta placa de lapear lo haces en tiempo récord!! Vale una pasta, pero es una inversión que te durará toda una vida y te ahorrará mucho tiempo y trabajo. Merece la pena cada céntimo pagado.

keeps my stones flat, and they keep my knives sharp, so I can't really complain. It's a little on the pricey side, but if you have a nice set of stones, you need a nice plate to keep them nice and flat.

Ich habe schon einige Wassersteine damit wieder begradigt. Das funktioniert einfach super. Der Vorteil zu den schwarzen Lappsteinen, die bei so Setz oft dabei sind, ist zum einen dass sich die Diamantplatte nicht abnutzt und sich somit auch keine Kuhle einschleift. Und zum anderen, dass sie von der Grundform einiges größer ist als herkömmliche Wetzsteine. Denn wenn der Lappstein gleich groß ist wie der Stein den man begradigen möchte, dann klappt das nur so semi gut. Teuer aber sein Geld auf jeden Fall wert.

Excelente placa de aplanado, fácil de usar y aplana muy rápido Gracias

Antes da placa DMT DIAFLAT ser entregue eu aplainei duas pedras com uma lixa 100 sobre uma bancada de granito. Fiz isso com uma King 300 e as duas faces de uma Naniwa 1000/3000. A Naniwa foi relativamente rápido, pois é uma pedra mais macia. Já a King 300 eu não terminei de aplainar, meu braço já estava doendo e ainda faltava muito ainda para a pedra ficar plana. Hoje chegou a placa DMT DIAFLAT e fui terminar de aplainar a King 300. Rapidamente consegui deixar ela plana, é muito mais rápido e prático do que fazer na lixa. Quando terminei a King, peguei a Naniwa que eu já tinha aplainado na lixa, marquei ela com lápis e passei na DIAFLAT. A pedra estava toda desnivelada! E com poucas passadas na DIAFLAT ela ficou plana. Recuperei usando a King 300 o fio de uma faca velha aqui de casa que alguém teve a brilhante ideia de passar no esmeril, e depois terminei de afiar na Naniwa. Percebi uma melhora significativa nas pedras. Quando acabei a afiação passei lápis nas pedras e usei a DIAFLAT, e elas já estavam ficando desniveladas. Mas com poucas passadas elas ficaram planas novamente. A placa é muito grande, a King 300 fica pequena perto dela. Isso facilita muito seu uso. A placa realmente é muito prática de usar. O único porém é preço bem salgado, mas se você puder comprar não vai se arrepender. Ela facilita demais manter as pedras planas como novas, permitindo tirar o máximo proveito das pedras de afiar.