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

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.

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.

I bought the DMT DIA-FLAT Lapping Plate because I was tired of using sandpaper to flatten my waterstones. While sandpaper worked fine, I just wanted a faster and more efficient way to flatten my stones. I did consider a few other diamond lapping plates but settled on this one, even though this one was the most expensive, because i liked the size and aggressiveness advertised on this plate.I've only used this lapping plate a few times so far but I am very glad i bought it. Flattening stones isn't as much of a chore now and this thing gets them dead flat every time. It also motivates me to lap the stones during every sharpening session while with sandpaper I often didn't because it was a pain. It is a bit heavy as others have mentioned but that's really a nonissue for me. The only con that comes to mind is the price but you get what you pay for I suppose.

This product is not cheap but it does a good job flating cuped stones.

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.

I purchased this as my other lapping plate is too fine for waterstones under 500 grit. My Shapton Kuromaku 320 was made unusable as it got too smooth. I had some extra change lately so I wanted to try this very expensive one out. The surface is LOADED with grit contamination. It mangled the water stone with heavy deep scratches all over it.Not only that, but there's big gaps and not many diamonds with the electroplating. It's obscene at a stone this expensiveMy stone from a competitor is HALF the price, much better and higher quality diamonds and electroplating, NO grit contamination, plus a rubber underside. Don't waste your money on this. This American company definitely had quality control issues to work out