# Marko's custom order diamond plates 1200, 8000, strop and base



## cookinstuff (Nov 18, 2013)

I received Marko's base with his custom ordered size plates in the 1200, and 8000 grit along with his strop, spray and base. Everything is incredibly polished and professional looking. I will start by saying I'm a pro cook, I work anywhere from 60-90 hrs a week, I hate sharpening. Not that I hate sharpening, but more, I don't have time for it. I had been interested in something like this for awhile. Marko suggested trying these plates out, as they cut fast. 

So, I set out to sharpen some knives with my new toys, because I like to play with new toys regardless of if they are stones or knives. First I grabbed my mom's old Henckels slicer that she uses for everything. I heard you have to work these in a little bit, so I decided better her knife than mine :angel2:, regardless it sharpened up in a little under 6 minutes. More or less the 1200 will produce a burr incredibly quick, it is very even and smooth feeling, I really like how this plate feels. I have left a couple of my knives at 1200 to see how it works out in the kitchen, and it's a very workable edge after stropping, no resistance on tomatoes or peppers, red chiles, some of the usual suspects. This plate seems to want to raise a burr after a pass or two with knives that aren't seriously dull.

The 8000 however gives a good edge that will fall through product really well, depending on your knife of course. I really love how these feel when sharpening, they just have a consistently smooth feeling. I don't like to spend 20 minutes sharpening a single knife, and these are really good to keep each knife under 5 minutes no problem. They provide a really good edge, and no need to flatten them, I was really happy to find these. I would definitely suggest these to anybody looking for new stones, I honestly don't think I will suggest any new cooks stones, but rather these plates if they are looking to get into sharpening, and also to anybody trying to cut the time down on their sharpening regimen. 

One word of warning, if doing single bevels I must warn, the scratch pattern is not the most desirable. I did my mioroshi with it, I finished on 1200 and stropped and the edge is great for breaking down salmon, but the bevel scratch pattern isn't the nicest, I will have to polish it at another time and get my kasumi haze back. I was happy it did the job super fast though, but I know I'm going to put that polish job off atleast until after the christmas season and keep using this to keep my knife touched up.

Also sometimes at work you can get stuck sharpening chips out of peoples knives (usually german), and I used to just hit the work atoma plate, and ceramic rod it back into somewhat shape while at work. But having these will alleviate that, they travel better than stones to work, and you can do a quick repair and give a great edge to some poor kid's knife. (The atoma / ceramic rod combo probably still a better edge than they had )

I plan on picking up one of the lower grits for some repair work, I imagine it will be similar to an atoma plate, and I really like the size of these especially for 270s and up, and I just asked Marko to get me one of those 4000. Looking forward to giving those a try as well, I think I might be losing my mind, looking forward to sharpening..... Either way, these get my highest endorsement.


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## cookinstuff (Nov 18, 2013)

Crappy pictures of my sharpening setup, this little piano bench used to get very cluttered with my two bins of water and stones.


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## zoze (Nov 18, 2013)

Thanks for your write-up.
Besides fast-cutting/time-saving: are there any further advantages of diamond plates to waterstones?


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## Pensacola Tiger (Nov 18, 2013)

zoze said:


> Thanks for your write-up.
> Besides fast-cutting/time-saving: are there any further advantages of diamond plates to waterstones?



No flattening.


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 18, 2013)

Splash and go.


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## cookinstuff (Nov 18, 2013)

Ya I don't soak, I just keep a little bottle of water there beside them to give a drop. Also yes, no flattening, it's just very convenient. I find when I come home from work, I soak my stones, make a tea, and pass out on the couch, that's my sharpening process (I get some good sleep, but no sharp knives). My regimen has changed, now, I just make a tea and sharpen my knives, no soaking for a few mins, or flattening and beveling edges on stones, I think I get my knives sharp faster than I would have my stones flattened.


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