Thread: Sharpening 101

Silent,

You are correct in that it will take a long time to flatten something that isn't flat already.

Just make sure the stone is flat though because you are only making the blade the same shape as the stone (I guess in reality there is a compromise between the blade shaping the stone and the stone shaping the blade). You may need to flatten the stone - I use a diamond plate for this purpose after Derek alerted me to this method.

Once the blade is flat though, you won't have to flatten it again until you open more paint tins, or damage it in some other way.

I have found the stones cut faster than diamonds.

Phil knows what he is talking about and he knows how to sharpen efficiently however the blades have to be flattened firstly. You could always be a bit slack and flatten it gradually over three of four sharpenings.

It sounds like the scary sharp and the stones are different profiles, perhaps neither of them are flat!

Keep at it, it is worth it in the long run.


- Wood Borer

WB,

Thanks. The waterstones are new, so I'm hoping they're fairly flat. I'm trying to make sure I cover the whole surface of the stone evenly so that it wears flat. I was planning on using one of those mesh sanding sheets to flatten it when the time comes but I'm concerned that it will make it convex like it did with the blade I was sharpening. Maybe I'll have to fork out for a diamond plate after all - was trying to avoid that due to the cost.

Silent,

Use a flat piece of glass and some fine sand and water. A mate uses beach sand which he says is perfect and like you he lives near the sea. He takes his stones and glass down to the beach and does it there. His stones aren't water stones they are Arkansas stones but the same method will work.

Just wet the glass and sprinkle a bit of sand (use a salt shaker with enlarged holes) and then move the stone in circular patterns which will create a slurry. You will quickly see the high spots.

I bought the kit from MIK and sometimes use the grit supplied with the kit but mostly I use the diamond stone.

- Wood Borer

Now that is a brilliant idea. It's a bit cold down there at the moment, so I might just duck down and pinch a bucket or two and bring it back. Why didn't I think of that, surrounded by the bloody stuff

Silent

It is important to flatten the back of the blade for two reasons:

(1) The first is obvious - to ensure that the bevel has two clean sides meeting (which is what makes for sharp).

(2) The second reason is less obvious - to make sure that the blade mates correctly/securely with the frog (otherwise you will end up with chattering).

I would scary sharp if there are such pronounced highs or lows on the blade. Start at about 80 grit and work up to the 800 waterstone. Otherwise you may be there forever.

Make sure the 800 stine has been soaking for at least 24 hours before use. Ditto the 1200. The 4000 only needs 20 minutes, or even just a sprinking.

Make sure the stones are FLAT. Use 220 wet and dry or, better still, 220 drywall mesh on a flat surface. Keep them flat with this or diamond stones afterwards.

I REALLY would resist using sand!!! You have no idea about ther consistency or grit you are using and will likely cause uneven wear.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I'll have you know that Pambula Beach sand is the finest and most consistent sand in Australia, if not the world!!

I might still give it a go with something unimportant to see what happens. It really is very fine sand, similar to castor sugar. Maybe I can find a way of grading it.

The tricky thing with regard to flattening the back of the blade is that this is a bevel-down plane, so it really needs to be flat on both sides. The 'front' has serrations which engage with the height adjustment lever and this is the side that sits on the bed. I suppose it's equally important therefore that the two sides are parallel because the 'back' forms the cutting edge and the 'front' affects the cutting angle. The way my sharpening guide works, the back is the reference point for the setting of the bevel.

Darren,
Waterstones don't go too much out of flat if you use the whole stone. I flatten mine about once a year, and I'm a sharpening maniac. I use 220 or 240 W&D on a piece of laminated particleboard. Haven't tried the drywall mesh.

I've heard of people flattening their stones by rubbing them on a concrete path, but think I'll pass on that one.

Originally Posted by silentC

Now that is a brilliant idea. It's a bit cold down there at the moment, so I might just duck down and pinch a bucket or two and bring it back. Why didn't I think of that, surrounded by the bloody stuff

PSSST do that at night... Word on the street is that pinching sand from beach is not so legal

Oh, one more thing about beach sand ...

I suspect that it contains salt ... And I supect that this might just have a reaction on steel.. called rust. :eek: Yes ... no ..?

Regards from Perth

Derek

A nice clean new coarse carborundum stone works fine for flattening all water stones..
A tip I received and follow from a very old man in his sharpening stone shop in Tokyo. That's all he sells and probably all he has ever sold..

Cheers Matt..

Dean
How could you infer that Darren would "steal"? :eek:
Shame on you.
He's in the IT industry, he meant that he was going to recycle some silicon chips, grade it appropriately and later when it is used to being once again in its natural state, he is going to go down to the beach and release the rehabilitated sand into the wild. He is applying for a government grant to start a sand breeding program program for the endangered Pambula species which is now on the endangered species list.
He was only going down to the beach to get some breeding stock to maintain the biodiversity of the region.
As long as some Queenslander doesn't decide it is worth mining for rutile or something, he should be successful.

There is an article in the April (this year) edition of Fine woodworking magazine on water stones.

The guy there describes his method of using water stones, he flattens his stone after 100 strokes of the blade. I thought that excessive but I suppose removing a little at a time is better than spending an hour trying to rectify a gran canyon of a dip in your stone.

He uses wet and dry on a sheet of glass to flatten the stone.

Has anyone in Oz received the May edition of fine woodworking yet?

Cheers Dave

Dave, I've got that issue at home. It refers to chisels but I guess the same would apply to plane blades. I'll have to read it again.

All the rest, thanks for the advice. A few options to explore there. Alex, if you saw what passes for footpaths around my way, you'd understand why I agree with you on not trying it. We actually have people from Melbourne who've been here on holiday writing to our local paper complaining about the state of them. From Melbourne!!

Just on the salt, Derek is probably right. I suppose I could rinse it. The thing is that everything in my shed has a good layer of salt on it, so I don't think it would be adding too much to the mix. I barely manage to keep my jointer tables free from rust using UBeaut Traditional Wax and keeping it covered. Same goes for all the other machines.

I fight a loosing battle with everything else. It's amazing how quickly things go rusty if you don't pick them up and use them once a day. I lapped the sides of a plane the other day. I took it outside to show a mate and we watched it turn brown before our eyes. Scary.

Originally Posted by davo453

Has anyone in Oz received the May edition of fine woodworking yet?

Cheers Dave

The last edition I got was two months ago and featured a plan for a chest, plus a review of belt sanders and an article on MDF along with much more stuff. Is this the edition you are referring to or do you mean the current issue that should be turning up any day now, I hope?