Eze-Lap Diamond Sharpener - Fine

I bought both the Super Fine (blue, 1200 grit) and Fine (red, 600 grit) versions. The review will be the same for each. I've used these on kitchen knives, utility knives, some yard tools, and scissors. If used properly, they work very well. Unfortunately, most people don't fully understand diamond pads.First make sure that whatever blade you are sharpening is clean. Gunk getting in the diamonds will reduce effectiveness. Glass cleaner sprayed onto a paper towel is usually enough. Wipe until nothing else comes off the blade.Do not use a lot of pressure like with a coarse grinding stone (the stone guys will tell you to not use high pressure, anyways). Medium-light pressure (or less) is all that's needed. At the microscopic level, diamonds are very coarse and will easily remove metal. A lot of pressure will just break or pop them free of their bonding to the base. Then the sharpener is ruined.Many people still use a lot of force because it seems the diamonds aren't doing anything. As a trick (for diamond or stone), take a black marker to the blade edge to color it. As the edge gets sharpened, the marker coloring will be scraped off. If you have a dark spot on the edge that won't go away, you're either holding the blade angle wrong or the blade has a small chip missing. If you have a shiny edge and the blade still isn't sharp enough, you need to switch to a lower grit until the blade is sharp at that level.The difference between a diamond and a stone is that a diamond will keep its sharp peak and a stone will lose it at the microscopic level once broken in. This also makes diamonds seem more coarse than what they're rated for. For this reason, the general rule of thumb is to double or triple the grit number needed with a diamond pad. Examples: If I want a 300 grit sharpener for my yard tool, use a 600 grit diamond pad. If I want a 600 grit sharpener for my kitchen knives, use a 1200 grit (or more) diamond pad. There's also nothing wrong finishing off the sharpening session using a very fine stone.I usually use a water sharpening method to flush away the metal powder off the blade. If I'm sharpening a bunch of blades, I'll usually finish the session with a toothbrush and some clean rinsing dish soap to scrub the diamond pad. This helps keep any unwanted leftovers from getting stuck between the diamonds.As with any diamond or sharpening stone, these need to be broken in. I could feel a few areas where the blade would catch on a rough spot. Most people will sharpen yard tools or junk blades first until the hone has a fully consistent feel across the entire pad.One very important thing to note: THESE ARE NOT DIAMOND FILES! A diamond file would be used to remove large chunks of metal using high pressure (just like a regular metal file). A diamond file is NOT used to sharpen a knife blade. A diamond hone is used to resharpen a blade that has already been sharp. These are not meant to be used to level your concrete counter tops, either (the plastic handles should give that away). I guess these could be used against small sharpening stones using light pressure only and a constant water rinse to flatten and clean up the stone's surface. Note that ANY diamond hone will not have a multi-year life span if misused (obviously).

Very helpful for touching up turning chisels. Light touch and a few strokes with this. Seems well made and sturdy. I saw a review that complained the pads were not glued on straight - I had no such problem. All seems straight and well attached. This is a great tool, and you will find yourself using it for all kinds of things (I just used it to sharpen a scribe, to give a crisper line in the wood). VERY handy.Remember, this is not like a file - gentle strokes work best. This will quickly sharpen (really hone) an existing edge. I have not noticed and loss of diamond in the month or two I have used it. NOTE: it will load up easily (like when I tried to clean up the sides of a greasy bolthead), so occasional cleaning is helpful (I spray it with Simple Green)

Had some old gardening tools (grass shears, loppers etc) and realized I i had files that were too large to sharpen them and get in the nooks and crannies. I saw a dude on YouTube sharpening these tools and he used the diamond EZfiles. I ordered some, they came pronto and they worked perfectly!

Work well for what I wanted to use it for.

Use this on all my knives. Makes sharpening a breeze.

I use the 1000 grit to hone HSS cutters in my hobby machine shop. Occasionally I also touch up carbide tooling. This works for both. My only complaint is the back is tapered toward the tip, which prevents me from laying this down on my bench and moving the tool over it. A small thing but when you are trying to precisely sharpen tools that would help.

It's not a truly magnificent tool, but when price is considered I gave it 5 stars. I use it to put a final edge on kitchen knives and to touch up the carbide tips on my table saw blades. I wish the diamond area was slightly larger, but for the price it's fine.--Edit Dec 5 2012-- I paid less than $6. The price seems higher now. Since my rating is based on the price I paid, weight my rating accordingly if the price changes. Incidentally, I still use it regularly to sharpen many things.

I've owned these sharpening tools for many years, and recently replaced the ones that have gotten lost in a move. These are handy in the kitchen for sharpening knives and the garden for trimmers and clippers; easy to use, and quicker than finding the whetstone and oil (yes, Dad, I can hear you rolling over in your grave). The red handle is easy to spot in the kitchen drawer, and quick to find when it's fallen out of your pocket in the garden.