Thread: should new chisel edges be square?

Ball Peen really works a treat for flattening out blades. Makes it easy to work on the bevel. I have found it really quick and easy to use.

Studley

Thanks for the lacquer info, Becky, I'll have to get some the next time I order from Tomonori-san (shoot, just received a stone from him, looks like it will be a while, though).

I take it you think it's better than epoxy, which was recommended to me for leveling stones on the bottom. I've thought about trying it on the sides, too.

Pam

Seems you guys know some stuff I don't. Mind you all my stones are man made so it isn't the same as natural stones. I did dig around for the guy you talked about and he has some good prices on his stones. Some of the prices I have seen have been huge. Hundreds for a single stone.

Interested to hear more about laquering the stones up to get them sitting flat.

Studley

Tomonori-san has some very expensive stones, too, prices that take my breath away.

As to lacquer, my impression is that it's more to protect the integrity of the sides and bottom, not level the bottom, which would be the job of epoxy or something similar.

Pam

Pam's right, Studley: the lacquer will do absolutely nothing to level the back of your stone: too thin. All it does is help protect against chipping and splitting.

Have been trying myself to find a way of leveling the back of one stone... I just haven't trusted anything but what Nakaoka -- let's stop confusing things here -- Tomonori-san recommends: am too afraid of contaminating the stone. But I would guess, if I had to, that anything fairly neutral and water-based wouldn't be too bad.

Pam: have you dealt much with Tomonori personally? Does he know you're a woman?

I had a wonderful exchange with him (yes, communication can be an effort, as I don't speak Japanese, either) when, after about eight months, I got tired of him addressing me as "Sir." I responded to an e-mail of his by saying not all woodworkers were "Sir." He wrote back with this shocked response:

"You are women?????!!!!"

(I so wanted to write back and say, no, I am not "women." Only one. But I was worried about being a smart-ass through e-mail: too hard to make clear you're joking, even without the language barrier.)

At first I was worried my dealings with him would suffer -- so few women carpenters in Japan. But to my delight, he went on to say exactly that: that there are none he knows of, though he's teaching his daughter a bit, right alongside his son, and that I must be very strong. He said he was impressed. I blushed. Now I address all e-mail to him as "Sensei," and he writes back to "Highness" -- which makes me uneasy, but which I take in the good-natured manner it's meant, rather than the more uncomfortable American take on it -- that it's a haughty person. Haughty, I ain't.

So, Pam, have you had any such exchanges with him? Does he know your work and your gender?

Studley -- it just occurs to me that, with the lacquer on the back and sides of the stone to protect it (many layers), you could probably use anything you want -- epoxy, etc. -- to give it a level base, as the lacquer will seal out any contaminants. (That took a long time -- sorry, it's early.)

Tomonori-san/Nakaoka-san also says this lacquer makes an excellent protective finish for furniture, though I haven't had the time or nerve to try it out yet... not much time to diddle around with anything but the commissions... Anyone ever used it as a finish?

Once or twice, back when I wasn't going broke building a workshop, I splurged on a few of his really high-priced stones. Can't say whether it's worth it or not: the feel of a stone is such a personal thing. Some of them I love, others (like the super-hard ones) I'm not so taken with -- though they really are only for a super finish, and used only briefly, so I suppose they're economical: at the rate I use them, they'll last more or less forever. More than half the time, I don't bother with that final finish: only if I have to be imparting a final, smooth finish with the cuts I make, either nomi or kanna.

Becky

I'm not sure that Tomonori-san's command of English is the greatest.

I asked him a question about how much softer one of his 4++ stones was compared to a 5+++ stone. This was his reply:

Sir.
some softer.

Having said that, he's doing a much better job of running a business in English than I could in Japanese.

Classic answer. And I agree: he does a fine job, and except for a few questions I've had a hard time figuring out the answers to, the language is virtually never a problem.

He hasn't a clue about my gender, although I tried several times to tell him, never made a dent.

Pam

Originally Posted by Pam

Or perhaps you want to learn the score and tap method like brick layers and stone fence builders? Using cold/stone chisels? I haven't a clue how to do this, but I've seen it done.

Pam/Becky - a bit of lateral thinking there, but having cut and/or cracked a few thousand stones in my time (viz - pic of sample attached), I would suggest cutting with a suitable circular saw blade (ideally diamond) to avoid ending up with nothing but a pile of small shards and, if you avoid that tragedy, the crack rarely follows the score line in stone which has its own internal structure which it wants to follow.. . Your friends with the tile cutter sounds like the way to go to me.

Neil

Originally Posted by yojimbo

Pam's right, Studley: the lacquer will do absolutely nothing to level the back of your stone: too thin. All it does is help protect against chipping and splitting.

Have been trying myself to find a way of leveling the back of one stone... I just haven't trusted anything but what Nakaoka -- let's stop confusing things here -- Tomonori-san recommends: am too afraid of contaminating the stone. But I would guess, if I had to, that anything fairly neutral and water-based wouldn't be too bad.

...snip...

Studley -- it just occurs to me that, with the lacquer on the back and sides of the stone to protect it (many layers), you could probably use anything you want -- epoxy, etc. -- to give it a level base, as the lacquer will seal out any contaminants. (That took a long time -- sorry, it's early.)

Becky/Studley - on advice from So-san, I just glued mine down to a base with water resistant caulk that I picked up from the local hardware shop (M10), the sort of glue-gun stuff used to bed down sinks to benchtops... just avoid getting any on the working surface...pic attached.

Neil