Thread: Waterstone problem

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I've got far too much SiC grit Paul, so I can post you some to test.

Brett

That's very kind of you. May I keep that as a backup plan if my testing on Wednesday is unsatisfactory?

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Brett

That's very kind of you. May I keep that as a backup plan if my testing on Wednesday is unsatisfactory?

Regards
Paul

Sure thing.

I would be phreaked out to imagine that I got some BIG grit particles stuck in a fine water stone. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I can't store my stones in water, they go bacterial gooey.
So, I scribble all over 2 x 1,000 grit water stones with black felt marker.
Soak them.
Scrub them together.
I can tell you, pretty dang quick, what is flat and what is not.
I scrub 1K against 4K. . . all the same to me to actually see what's flat.
Guessing and eyeballing the fact is not my forte at all.

RV I find that a worry as well!! Huge grit compared to the waterstones! I did not have any problems in the past when I did it but I will cringe when I have to do it again!
I did read about a bloke on the straight razor forum that had that problem.

A few drops of bleach in the Water stops them going all funky!

Thanks Ben: Nice to read that I am not alone in my fears,
Jeezlies = whack a 60 grit chunk stuck in a 4K water stone?
NEVER!!!!!!!!

I am so fortunate that I am never in such a rush that I can't soak my water stones for an hour while I do other things (shovel snow, feed the cat, shovel snow, feed the dogs, wash dishes, shovel snow, do laundry, reload the bird feeders, shovel snow).
My SIL gave me a nice 4K stone to go with the Porsche 301 kitchen knives that he gives me. Think it is just about tiome to tune those puppies. Great knives.
Despite the weird handle shape, they are not at all slippery when wet. The tang buttons are right where you can feel them.

I have not had a problem (thus far) with grit stuck in the 400 stone, perhaps if the stone was porus enough to let grit get stuck in the pores there might be reason not to use an aggresive grit size, it is certainly something to be aware of, I've never had reason to question grit stuck in the stone as I have not seen odd scratches in the surface I am working on.

Paul, I use a sanding mesh sheet to supply the grit, not for any particular reason other than I got them as an auction lot somewhere, so I use these to flatten and thus far seems OK, when I run out of sheets I'll try just loose grit, the grit does fall off the mesh readily and onto the plate so I flatten on the mesh first then on the plate with a good load of grit on the plate.


Pete

Originally Posted by pjt

Paul, I use a sanding mesh sheet to supply the grit, not for any particular reason other than I got them as an auction lot somewhere, so I use these to flatten and thus far seems OK, when I run out of sheets I'll try just loose grit, the grit does fall off the mesh readily and onto the plate so I flatten on the mesh first then on the plate with a good load of grit on the plate.


Pete

Pete

Is that the type of mesh the gyprocker's use?

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Pete

Is that the type of mesh the gyprocker's use?

Regards
Paul

Not real sure but it could be, they are half sheet size.



Pete

For a cheap try ... why not the standard ugly "oilstone" that you get now at bunnings with a set of four chisels?

Or one of the old ( SiC? carborundum?) ones you have lying around somewhere??

Should rough it up plenty.

Paul

Just an aside ... valve grinding paste comes in a double-ended tube ... one US source specifies 80grit/220grit ...
and according to this site (Conversion Chart Abrasives - Grit Sizes) US grit is the same as Japanese grit down this end of the scale.

This ebay page puts the two types at 60u and 106u-150u. (Carborundum Valve Grinding Paste Coarse Fine | eBay)

'Sandpaper', 'wet and dry' (which is Sic grains stuck down) or loose SiC grains can all work effectively to flatten a stone but they do wear out and you'll hear the difference in sound when they do. Just go well under the stone grit and keep the water up. That will ensure no errant grains stick in your stone.

Eg. I use #36 grains on my #120 Shapton (thanks Stu!). Put them on plate glass with water. (Once I used a #240 diamond plate on it and it flattened it well but produced about a #240 abrasive effect as well!) Eventually plate glass will dish and need to be replaced. You could try an OHP sheet on top of the glass and turf that when it wears.

With the #240 stone I use #90 SiC grains.

For the stones upwards of that I use one of Stu's #400 Atoma diamond plates and it works a treat, but you could use sheet or loose abrasives, cleaning up thoroughly btwn grits.

You might get better results using quality AlOx sheets dry (not KMCA!). Haven't tried it. And quality W&D sheets should be used too if that's your pref. (also avoid KMCA).

As posted, cross-hatch your stone first. I use felt tip pen. When all the marks are gone and you're sure your flattening surface is actually flat, you're done.

Using the stones to maintain an edge, with unmounted units, you have several faces to bring into play and it's worth checking their flatness regularly and marking dishes or mounds with a felt tip pen so's to avoid them next run. This is suck eggs territory; don't mean to offend you by mentioning it.

Having just reread this thread, Bushmiller I'd say that your W&D (or other 'sandpaper') grit may have been breaking down into smaller sizes and so effectively was working at a finer grit rating.

Thanks Ern

I did achieve better results with W & D (used wet) than glasspaper and I ended up using fairly coarse abrasives. I think you are on the money that I used the paper for too long and effectively it became finer, possibly filling in the voids on the stones.

I don't think it is so much of an issue with the finer stones (4500 upwards), but it was on the 300 and 1200 stones that it was most noticeable.

As I had never used the reverse sides of these two coarse stones I simply started to use the other side as an interim measure. I then went to work on the "damaged" sides with fresh coarse grades. There was an improvement (and I did use the cross hatching to which you referred), but I suspect it will take time to redress (pun? or is that where the term came from) the smoothing effect.

Regards
Paul

Thanks for the update and feedback Paul.

Here as elsewhere the old saying about abrasives applies: use it like you were given it.

IME SiC breaks down fairly quickly.

When your stock of it is exhausted you might consider Norton 3X sheets: click

I've used those (PSA versions) with powered lapping and it's good stuff. But with metal (and wood) it tends to leave fairly deep scratches in the coarse grades. With benchstones I'd actually regard that as a plus; hold the slurry and increase the effective PSI pressure.

(Edited for clarity).

Originally Posted by rsser

.

When your stock of it is exhausted you might consider Norton 3X sheets: click

Thanks Ern, I'll bear that link in mind.

Regards
Paul