Thread: Sharpening, oh joy, oh bliss ...

Originally Posted by Carpenter

Lignum,

my one is a DMT, but after my experience I'm wondering if their method of having lots of holes in the plate (to allow for swarf) is maybe a bit of a con.......there's a lot less diamonds on that plate than a fully covered one. I didn't know CMT did diamond plates.

Interesting discussion, I guess this has been on the go since our ancestors sat around the fire and worked out how to sharpen their hunting gear back in the stone age???

DMT have a continuous diamond stone range called Dia-Sharp it has a range of grades and sizes from XXCoarse to Extra Fine and all are pretty well priced particularly for the double sided versions have a look at http://www.woodworksupplies.com.au/category50_1.htm

Just run them under water, if you feel they're clogging.

Regards

The Woodworker

Originally Posted by NewLou

I've sworn never to participate in another sharpening thread....................................

DOH! did it again

Regards Lou(SuckerforPunishment)

I'm with you, Lou...DOH--I did it too!

Ah, glad you found something that works for you, Fletty!

Take care, Mike

I was talking with the people at Abraquip today & found out that 1500grit W&D equates to 12.6 micron, & 2000 is about 10 micron. I'm starting to think 1500g will do me just fine, but I'll wait until the comprehensive "field test" until I pass judgement on the Scary Sharp System. Another thing I realised (I'm a bit slow sometimes) is that this discussion really does not relate to diamond plates, because at 1200 grit they're only good for coarse work & Fletty was talking about final honing. Or, maybe diamonds are good enough for lots of folks because it would be a hell of a lot sharper than a blunt tool.

Originally Posted by Carpenter

I was talking with the people at Abraquip today & found out that 1500grit W&D equates to 12.6 micron, & 2000 is about 10 micron. I'm starting to think 1500g will do me just fine, but I'll wait until the comprehensive "field test" until I pass judgement on the Scary Sharp System. Another thing I realised (I'm a bit slow sometimes) is that this discussion really does not relate to diamond plates, because at 1200 grit they're only good for coarse work & Fletty was talking about final honing. Or, maybe diamonds are good enough for lots of folks because it would be a hell of a lot sharper than a blunt tool.

Abraquip may well be wrong. The link is to a good comparitive chart which includes FEPA as well as CAMI grit equivilents and their respective micron sizes. As long as the paper you are using falls into these world-wide standards, it is accurate. The difference? Much finer than Abraquip states.

http://users.ameritech.net/knives/grits.htm

Take care, Mike

Originally Posted by Gwhat

Interesting discussion, I guess this has been on the go since our ancestors sat around the fire and worked out how to sharpen their hunting gear back in the stone age???

So true.


I've used regular sandpaper on a slab of granite paving stone to flatten the back of my chisels.

Originally Posted by MikeW

Abraquip may well be wrong. The link is to a good comparitive chart which includes FEPA as well as CAMI grit equivilents and their respective micron sizes. As long as the paper you are using falls into these world-wide standards, it is accurate. The difference? Much finer than Abraquip states.

http://users.ameritech.net/knives/grits.htm

Take care, Mike

Great chart Mike, excactly what I was wondering! After perusing it, I'm in the market for some hard felt wheels & chromium oxide compound from Veritas.

I've some questions I'll throw into this thread as they're closely related and I don't want to start another sharpening thread - although I'm new here I sense from the comments in this thread that they've become tiresomely repetitive for some.

a. Can anyone recommend a waterproof glue that I could use for attaching wet or dry sandpaper to a granite slab. It'd also need to be stuff I could remove easily - I haven't got a granite slab for each grade of paper!

b. Does anyone have experience of lapping a very dished silicon carbide stone flat? If so, how long did the whole thing take - hours, days, so long you gave up? I'm in the middle of lapping my second oil stone and it's so dished and taking so long that I'm wondering if it's a lost cause.

Originally Posted by woden

a. Can anyone recommend a waterproof glue that I could use for attaching wet or dry sandpaper to a granite slab. It'd also need to be stuff I could remove easily - I haven't got a granite slab for each grade of paper!

You can use a spray contact adhesive, but its one of the bugbears of this system having to stick the paper to a sheet of glass every time you want to use it :mad: . I reckon its easier to just get a sheet of glass large enough to hold all the grades of paper you want to use (bearing in mind they must be near an edge so its possible to back lap things), or even better I'm getting a set of individual plates made up by my local glazier so I dont have to keep changing paper. To overcome the adhesive issue, why not just get some adhesive backed (PSA) W & D to make life really easy? If you'de like to know more, send me a PM.

Can anyone recommend a waterproof glue that I could use for attaching wet or dry sandpaper to a granite slab. It'd also need to be stuff I could remove easily - I haven't got a granite slab for each grade of paper!

Without going back and reading previous replies and so at the risk of repeating someone ....

I do two ways:

1. For heavy, stiff beltsander belts, I use a poster contact glue. This is easier to remove when necessary - pull off and wipe down the glass plate with thinners.

2. For thin, typical W&D sandpaper, I wet both the glass plate and the sandpaper and use surface tension to hold it in place. Then it is easy to swap over sheets.

Note about glass plates: get offcuts from your local glazier. 10-12mm float glass is ideal. About 3" wide is sufficient but as long as possible (mine is 1 m long). Glue the glass to a couple of sheets of MDF.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Is it safe to put my head up again?

I agree with Derek on both suggestions. There were some doubts expressed earlier in the thread about the effectiveness of just water holding the lapping film to a glass plate, especially when lapping the broad surface represented by the back of a blade. I can't comment on the 'stickiness' of paper backed W+D but I can assure you that water gave more than enough 'stickiness' on the nomex backed lapping film from 3M to do the broad face of an HNT smoother blade without the film moving or rippling.
If I had got the self adhesive film I would have had to beg/buy/borrow/steel 4 or 5 pieces of float glass but water adhesion means only one piece of glass and only seconds to change grit.
So, IMHO, post-it or other spray adhesive for the heavy sandpapers and water only for lapping film.
Alan

Originally Posted by woden

...I'm new here I sense from the comments in this thread that they've become tiresomely repetitive for some.....

Umm... maybe not, lets just say that there are some different opinions shall we... a somewhat 'polarising' subject that has become VERY heated on more than one occasion.

Try doing a search one day when you have about 5 hours to spare.