DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate

DMT Dia-Flat Lapping Plate

When we attended the 2012 Lie-Nielsen Dealer Training at their factory in Maine, one of the experts there had exciting news about the performance of this item as a MANUAL GRINDER for plane irons and chisels. In other words, the Dia-Flat is not just for flattening sharpening stones anymore!

The Dia-Flat stone uses high-tech materials that can be employed in a low-tech fashion to achieve excellent results when dressing edge tools in preparation for honing and polishing.

Used with a simple low-cost honing guide, the 120µ (120 microns / 120 grit mesh) Dia-Flat diamond-coated stone is able to re-shape the bevel on even the hardest high-quality plane irons and chisels both quickly and accurately. This is good news indeed, as many of us have found how frustrating it can be trying to use run-of-the-mill low-cost electric grinders to accurately restore the bevel on edge tools. The sometimes loose manufacturing tolerances found on these machines seem to often result in excessive run-out on the shaft on which the grinding wheels are mounted, inevitably leading to unpredictable and unsatisfactory results.

The key element in the Dia-Flat's success in flat grinding hard steel blades is DMT's new proprietary Hardcoat Technology, which bonds the diamond grit to the steel plate, resulting in its unprecedented durability. Extensive testing has demonstrated how well these new diamond stones hold up, even under heavy use.

At 4-1/4" wide by 10" long and weighing 4 lbs., the Dia-Flat is the most impressive lapping/grinding plate we've seen. Its 40 square inches of surface are covered with over 30 carats of diamond grit. The precision sized monocrystalline diamond grit is bonded to the steel plate using DMT's Hardcoat Technology giving a uniform scratch pattern and unparalleled durability.

Each Dia-Flat is hand-certified to flatness of ±0.0005" across its surface.

In addition to reshaping plane irons and chisels, the Dia-Flat can of course also flatten just about any sharpening stone in your shop, including oil stones, Arkansas stones, water stones even ceramic stones, and with its extra-large size, its plenty large enough to handle almost any stone in your shop.

95µ Dia-Flat Stone

The 95µ (95 microns / 160 grit mesh) DIA-FLAT stone is the same as the 120µ version - just finer. When flattening the backs of plane irons and chisels, it gives a smoother finish - speeding the process. It's also useful when flattening finer grit waterstones.