164
5.
SECTIONING
shared responsibility for a single knife is apt to strain personal relationships. In spite of the problem of costs, it seems best that every person
using a diamond knife should have his own, and be responsible for its
proper care.
Unfortunately, it has proved very difficult to standardize completely
the manufacture of diamond knives. Laboratories which have had considerable experience invariably have found that both "good" and "bad"
knives are supplied by the same manufacturer. Some knives simply give the
impression of being dull, and will not properly cut blocks that a different
knife sections without difficulty. Other knives produce undue numbers
of scratches, although it is perhaps impossible to avoid all edge defects
which will produce occasional scratches. There is indeed some reason to
believe that different stones are capable of different degrees of sharpening, or perhaps it is more a matter of the orientation of their crystal
planes. In any case, repeated resharpenings of a diamond often do not
improve its edge, and a diamond that originally was very sharp usually
can be resharpened without difficulty. Thus there seems to be no good
solution to the problem of buying reliably good diamond knives. We can
hope that ultimately improved methods of production control and testing
will resolve this. In the meanwhile buying a diamond knife remains a
gamble.
Diamond knives have been and are available from a number of
different sources. Often the demand for these knives has far outstripped
the supply so that long delays in receiving orders are to be expected.
Small companies have come and gone in this business, reflecting difficulties encountered in producing reliable products generally satisfactory
to the customers. Thus, the list of sources given below may not prove
up-to-date or complete. The original and well-established group making
diamond knives is, of course, the Venezuelan laboratory where FernandezMoran first started producing diamond knives. Most other small companies have been started by people who had at one time or another an
affiliation with the group. The principal exception is the manufacturing
laboratory initiated at duPont by R. E. Sugg. The sharpening process
employed by the latter is said to differ in important respects from that
originated by Fernandez-Moran, but I lack details.
Sources of diamond knives (1964):
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (I.V.I.C.)
Apartado 1827
Caracas, Venezuela
5.
SECTIONING
shared responsibility for a single knife is apt to strain personal relationships. In spite of the problem of costs, it seems best that every person
using a diamond knife should have his own, and be responsible for its
proper care.
Unfortunately, it has proved very difficult to standardize completely
the manufacture of diamond knives. Laboratories which have had considerable experience invariably have found that both "good" and "bad"
knives are supplied by the same manufacturer. Some knives simply give the
impression of being dull, and will not properly cut blocks that a different
knife sections without difficulty. Other knives produce undue numbers
of scratches, although it is perhaps impossible to avoid all edge defects
which will produce occasional scratches. There is indeed some reason to
believe that different stones are capable of different degrees of sharpening, or perhaps it is more a matter of the orientation of their crystal
planes. In any case, repeated resharpenings of a diamond often do not
improve its edge, and a diamond that originally was very sharp usually
can be resharpened without difficulty. Thus there seems to be no good
solution to the problem of buying reliably good diamond knives. We can
hope that ultimately improved methods of production control and testing
will resolve this. In the meanwhile buying a diamond knife remains a
gamble.
Diamond knives have been and are available from a number of
different sources. Often the demand for these knives has far outstripped
the supply so that long delays in receiving orders are to be expected.
Small companies have come and gone in this business, reflecting difficulties encountered in producing reliable products generally satisfactory
to the customers. Thus, the list of sources given below may not prove
up-to-date or complete. The original and well-established group making
diamond knives is, of course, the Venezuelan laboratory where FernandezMoran first started producing diamond knives. Most other small companies have been started by people who had at one time or another an
affiliation with the group. The principal exception is the manufacturing
laboratory initiated at duPont by R. E. Sugg. The sharpening process
employed by the latter is said to differ in important respects from that
originated by Fernandez-Moran, but I lack details.
Sources of diamond knives (1964):
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (I.V.I.C.)
Apartado 1827
Caracas, Venezuela