# flattening stone



## chinacats (Dec 8, 2013)

Wanting to replace my cheap stone flattener and plan on going with a diamond plate. 

My question is do I need to go to XXC if I use a DMT? Reason is that I would also like to be able to use the stone on my knives (in extreme situation) and think that I can remove the scratches off the XC a lot easier than XXC. My next stone in the progression is a Gesshin 600.

Stones that I will need to be able to flatten are Gesshin splash and go's and a level 3 natural stone here.

Thanks


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## panda (Dec 8, 2013)

i use XC and gesh 600.


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## bahamaroot (Dec 8, 2013)

If you can afford to just get the Atoma 140 and be done with it. Flattens everything just fine and will out last a DMT many times over. If you do wear it out(nearly impossible) you can replace just the diamond pad.


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## chinacats (Dec 8, 2013)

bahamaroot said:


> If you can afford to just get the Atoma 140 and be done with it. Flattens everything just fine and will out last a DMT many times over. If you do wear it out(nearly impossible) you can replace just the diamond pad.



No, if I was going for that grit, I would actually choose Jon's diamond flattener. I appreciate the input, but again I'm wanting a dual purpose stone and really don't want to try to work out that aggressive scratch pattern.



panda said:


> i use XC and gesh 600.



Thanks man, don't you also have a natural? How's it do on that?


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## panda (Dec 8, 2013)

i havent had to flatten the natural yet, i don't think it even dishes at all considering it's a harder stone.


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## Yamabushi (Dec 8, 2013)

Atoma also makes a #400, #600 and #1200 if you feel #140 is too coarse for your needs. And, there is always the option of making it a two sided plate for a combination of grits.


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## LZ962 (Dec 14, 2013)

I use DMT XXC, it's a good stone, and amazon has a lowest price now.


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## Crothcipt (Dec 14, 2013)

I use John's diamond plate. I don't seem to remember how bad the scratch patterns are to get out, but going from the 140 to a 300 seems to be fine, but I really don't pay that much attention to polishing.(yet)


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## bahamaroot (Dec 14, 2013)

A DMT XXC is a 140 grit plate too. The Atoma blows it away.


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## vinster (Dec 14, 2013)

I had both an DMT XXC and Atoma 140 and the scratch pattern from the atoma was much more even than the XXC. I no longer have the XXC. I bought an additional Atoma 400 replacement sheet and mounted it to the back of the 140 and now I have a pretty versatile setup. You can do the same with any combination of 140, 400, 600, or 1200 grits. The 1200 is nice for getting a slurry going on some natural stones (I know Maxim wouldn't approve).


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## panda (Dec 15, 2013)

does atoma remove metal any faster than xxc or is it just easier to remove the scratches so you prefer it?


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## labor of love (Dec 15, 2013)

panda said:


> does atoma remove metal any faster than xxc or is it just easier to remove the scratches so you prefer it?



also, i keep hearing people mention liking atoma 140 over dmt xxc but im curious exactly what the reasons are for preferring one over the other?


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## Yamabushi (Dec 15, 2013)

labor of love said:


> also, i keep hearing people mention liking atoma 140 over dmt xxc but im curious exactly what the reasons are for preferring one over the other?


I can list two reasons. 1) The Atoma has a more consistent even distribution of diamonds yielding a more consistent, even scratch pattern, and a reduced "break in" period. 2) The Atoma uses clusters of diamonds, majorly reducing stiction issues that the DMT is well known for when flattening stones.


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## vinster (Dec 15, 2013)

labor of love said:


> also, i keep hearing people mention liking atoma 140 over dmt xxc but im curious exactly what the reasons are for preferring one over the other?



Here's my experience with the two:

The XXC is bigger (more surface area) and heavier. The XXC wore somewhat unevenly when being used to flatten stones. After a few months of use, there were areas that were more worn than others.. The XXC had a rounded top edge that sometimes made it hard to get a grip on when it was wet. I didnt use the diamond plate for much thinning, but they seemed to be similar in cutting speed -- both were effective. As mentioned previously, the Atoma scratch pattern is more consistent and faster to remove with the next stone in my progression compared to the XXC. Being able to have a second grit put on the back side of the Atoma plate sealed the deal for me.


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## bahamaroot (Dec 15, 2013)

vinster said:


> ...The XXC is bigger (more surface area) and heavier.


My Atoma is bigger than my XXC.


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## ChuckTheButcher (Dec 15, 2013)

I used an xc, until I got a atoma 140, and it worked just fine. I suggest an even finer grit for jnats though. I use an atoma 1200 for that.


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## labor of love (Jan 1, 2014)

ive been using a dmt xxc for stone flattening and it works just fine. its good for thinning also but leaves some deep scratches that may take time to remove(unless you also have a dmt xc or something else close). im sure atoma is way better, but i know for the holidays xxc dmts were marked down by several suppliers and it cost less than half as much as atomas.


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## NO ChoP! (Jan 1, 2014)

I would say stiction in flattening is where Atoma beats out DMT. DMT is just as good at metal removal, and can be had at half the price. And I'd only use the XXC to flatten sub 1k grit stones. I will use an XC or C DMT to flatten higher grit stones after that. 

DMT also makes a very large flattening plate, that would highly reduce any stiction issues.


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## ChuckTheButcher (Jan 1, 2014)

I also find the atoma's last longer.


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## labor of love (Jan 1, 2014)

NO ChoP! said:


> I would say stiction in flattening is where Atoma beats out DMT. DMT is just as good at metal removal, and can be had at half the price. And I'd only use the XXC to flatten sub 1k grit stones. I will use an XC or C DMT to flatten higher grit stones after that.
> 
> DMT also makes a very large flattening plate, that would highly reduce any stiction issues.


i noticed stiction with with xc but not so much with xxc. and yeah anything above 1k is probably better to not use xxc to flatten.


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## Yamabushi (Jan 1, 2014)

I use my Atoma #1200 on my Shapton #5000, and my Atoma #140 on my Shapton #320 & #1000.


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## Slypig5000 (Jan 2, 2014)

I use the xc for flattening and for major thinning or repair work. I like the grit, the scratch pattern is easy to get put with a 500 bester. My only issue with it is that after a little over a year of regular use it is developing some serious "bald" spots.


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