Thread: Wet/dry grinder or bench stones for sharpening

My understanding is you require both.

The wet/dry to get your "main" edge, and then the stone to do that final honing that makes it really sharp.

I'm no expert though.

You can do the 'grinding' on stones too, but a bench grinder will be much faster. A grinder is not going to produce a polished edge, which is essential for planing and paring. So, start with a couple of stones for honing/polishing and some coarse wet & dry sanding sheets adhered to some glass for grinding. If you can afford both, get both.

Second what Kman said.

PS: if you have blades with the wrong bevels or with knicks in them, then get a bench grinder with a coarse white wheel to rehab them, and take it very slowly to avoid bluing.

i think this is what ill do.
get a ozito wet/dry grinder or andother brand and get a fine stone and a guide

or get two stones and a guide

which type of stone should i get water or diamond ect.

cheers Harrison

Alternative is a diamond stone or two for substantial material removal (e.g. creating a new bevel or changing bevel angle), backed up with waterstones for creating the microbevel or final cutting edge.

Unfortunately a good sized DuoSharp diamond plate (medium/fine grits) costs more than a bench grinder with decent white wheel.......

what about an oil stone

Economy Diamond Whetstones & Files : CARBA-TEC
Sharpening Tools : CARBA-TEC

Harrison

I have a high-speed 6" grinder with 80 grit AlOx wheel, 300 and 600 grit DMT plates, and 2000 and 5000 grit Shapton water stones plus a Veritas MkII honing guide. All of this is a relatively big investment.

A 6" bench grinder and wheel can be had cheaply second hand, and I think some 1200 and 4000 grit King water stones would be a good first step. When you eventually find that this edge isn't sufficient, you might consider a better 8000 grit stone or other polishing medium.

If cost isn't an issue go directly to the Shapton stones and optionally DMT diamond plates.

Originally Posted by Harrison

what about an oil stone

Oil stones are just as effective, but it would be wise to keep all of your sharpening media the same. Moving between oil stones and water stone is fraught with issues.

Stay away from cheap diamond plates, I've been there and it's simply not worth the trouble.

thanks for the advice kman-oz
cheers Harrison

kman-oz....I'll echo the comments about cheap diamond plates. I have a set of the cheap Carbatec ones which started out flat when I bought them, but the plastic has now distorted to give about 4mm dish at the centre of the plate !!

Lesson learned.....with diamond its either a DuoSharp or nothing IMHO.

Found a use for my Carbatec bendy diamond plates - I use them working across the narrow dimension (so the curve isn't an issue) to put a new edge on card scrapers.

confused

What should i get/ what do you recomend for sharpening chizzles and a plane blade?

Cheers Harrison

Get yourself the best bench grinder you can afford, it does not need to be a wet style grinder and with a stone the best you can afford if you are a beginner I would choose a oil stone
I am a cabinet maker of 35 years + I use a dry type bench grinder and a oil stone and can achieve the magical "shaving sharp" edge every time, it need not cost you a fortune

So, to summarise the above for myself: given I already have a 10" "viking" i.e. wet stone grinder, it would be wise for me to have a water stone for the final honing (having discovered that with the rouge + cloth wheel I have not been able to achieve "shaving" sharpness. Or is it just my poor technique?). Which one would you recommend? Cost is not an issue, value is.

PS: I have inherited a few sharpening stones, how do I know which ones are water and which ones are oil, unless they are already soaked?

PPS: I have seen in another thread a video of somebody "shaving" after grinding at 320 grit (less than the 400 grit viking stone) and then using the rouge. It looks that I am not doing it right, then. Any suggestions?

From what I understand and have read there is varied opinion about cloth mops. I think felt wheels are the better option but more expensive. Cloth mops have a tendency to round over edges if not used very carefully. I think that felt wheels can also do this but possibly less easily due to thier more stable nature (ie cloth wheels have more give felt is harder.)

I am no master at this sharpening game still very much learning. I sharpened a chisel the other day and when i tried to use the cloth wheel it just ruined the edge even when being careful.

Some people advocate using a MDF disk mounted on a lathe or drill press loaded with green rouge or even used like a bench stone to polish. I think the main reasons we do it is to remove the burr more than polishing

any comments from the masters ie Derek Cohen or others