Thread: Waterstones arrived!!

Originally Posted by Mnb

Do you guys think waterstones should be kept in water? Does it matter?

I don't think it matters (bracing for forcefully put contrary views).

If edge jointing for an edge to edge long grain join put the two abutting pieces together and joint them both at the same time. Almost no skill required if you have a well set up plane with a sharp blade.

What the heck is the ruler trick? Too lazy to look it up.

A few years ago, when I first got some waterstones it was keep in water, now it's just moisten the surface, due to the bonding agents letting go.

It is easier to keep them dry, than to store wet, forget about them after a month or two and then have to drown them again.

If edge jointing for an edge to edge long grain join put the two abutting pieces together and joint them both at the same time. Almost no skill required if you have a well set up plane with a sharp blade.

I can get a square edge. It is the straight aspect that I can't seem to manage. (If I could find it I would insert a crying face


The ruler trick is a David Charlesworth thing (or advocated by him). Just honing only the bit near the edge on the back of the blade instead of the whole thing when sharpening. Put the blade on a ruler on the stone so it lifts the other end and only that front area comes in to contact. It is a time saver. But apparently people have issue with the small back bevel that is created. I don't think it would be an issue but "I know nothing" - as Manuel from Faulty Towers might say.

Back of the blade eh! Never been tempted to do this, and as I'm happy with the results I get without doing it I don't think I'll be tempted. But, in the same vein as your post 'what would I know'. This really is a subject where you ask a question and get 20 different answers, NONE OF WHICH ARE WRONG!

The only problem I've noted with keeping my waterstones in a permanent bath (all King stones) is the algae growth.

I kept my low grit waterstones (250/1000) in a bucket of water. As Aldav says, the water becomes pretty horrible with algae. A little bit of bleach added to the water prevents this somewhat, but you still need to change out the water every now and then. A light spritz of water from a spray bottle is what I use on my higher grit stones 6000/12000. And the ruler trick should be filed away with pocket holes buried deep away from the light of day for a million years. Maybe I be trollin', maybe I aint. trollololololol

Some waterstones are supposed to be kept permanently in water: King are one of these. Some waterstones are not: Shapton are an example of those.

The two most important items in sharpening are:

1. the immediate back of the blade (say 1/2") must be flat and end up polished to the same level as the final grit on the bevel.

2. you need to be able to feel a small wire edge after each stone. That tells you that you have honed to the edge of the bevel. No wire, no sharp.

How you do these two items is up to you. There are many ways. Some are more efficient that others, some more costly, some plain silly ... but all must end there to be sharp.

Regards from Perth

Derek

The function of the water is to carry away the swarf so that the stone grit is fresh for the cutting action.
Exactly the same as the oil on an oil stone. Neither one is a "lubricant."
In no case do you want a smashed gravy of broken abrasive particles and metal fragments. Wash it off.

As Derek points out, you need to find a fine wire edge to be assured that you have sharpened to the edge.
I find that painting the bevel with (waterproof) black felt marker is a good "tell-tale" indicator.
Best of all, I'm watching the progress with a 10X magnifier. That more than anything compensates for my aging eyesight.

I hadn't used the David Charlesworth ruler trick on my plane blades until recently. I acquired a plane whose blade had been neglected by a non woody and allowed to rust especially near the cutting edge. If I was to take enough metal off to remove this I would have needed to take a fair amount off the thickness or grind a fair amount off the length of the blade. I thought I would try the ruler trick and it worked well for me in this situation. I still ended up with a reasonably long bevel on the back to eradicate the rust but removed a lot less metal to achieve a sharp edge. Rod Cosman is a big advocate of this method and his hand tool knowledge is far greater than mine.

I used it for a similar reason. I cleaned my Dad's old plane and the blade was rusty. It sounds like yours was probably worse but it did save time not to have to get the whole of the back up to scratch (so to speak).

I did a similar thing with the bevel actually. When I re ground it I stopped just short of the very end and put a secondary bevel on it without grinding that first. My thinking was that as long as the secondary bevel was consistent and square it should be o.k. I'd be glad to hear if anyone thinks not though as I have little knowledge of planes at this point.

Love the idea of magnification - I seem to peer at the blade a lot and my eyesight is fine. It'd probably be enlightening too.

Aldav - I have tried the method of planning the two pieces at once to edge joint. When I mentioned that I had spent the previous few hours attempting to get it right and failing. I saw a ytube clip where a guy used a sprung joint. He put a slight dip in the middle of the two pieces to be joined. Anyway he did it using the method you mentioned and explained that to create the dip he put extra pressure on the front of the plane while on that spot. Made me realise I had being doing that all over the place. I've been focusing on keeping things consistent and I got one top and most of the other top together well. There is still one piece that just wants to be a different part of the table apparently.

Originally Posted by aldav

The only problem I've noted with keeping my waterstones in a permanent bath (all King stones) is the algae growth.

Try putting a short section of copper water pipe in the bucket, rub it bright with steel wool once in a while.

I notice that all water stones are sold in a dry condition so that can't harm them much.
Mine (including King) all sit dry in their boxes.
20 minute soak is enough penetration that there's no swarf build up at all.

The caution here is not to let them freeze, they break!
60 cm new snow in 48 hrs now -25C in the sunshine.
Shop is just 10C with no extra heat.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

The caution here is not to let them freeze, they break!

Not too many will have that problem here.

BRRR -25c!

Yesterday I had to resharpen because it didn't feel right after just sharpening the blade. I did see a weird metallic looking colour when I was on the 8000 stone. I guess there wasn't enough water. I haven't seen that before.

I guess I had assumed the water was for lubricant. So in that case do the stones need lubricant when being flattened? I have been using water but the sandpaper doesn't last long. I have just started leaving the coarser stones in water - so they are wet anyway - but not the 4000 and 8000. I don't know which way I will go long term