Chamfer on Norton waterstones ?

[pompon44]

Hi,

I've finally bought Norton waterstones to replace my narrow King combo stones (which I found a bit inconvenient).
Now, following David Charlesworth DVDs' advice, I was prepared to chamfer the edges of the stones, but it seems that the 1000 grit do not have one by default (while the 4000 and the 8000 do have a small one). Is that one purpose ? Is a chamfer really needed of that coarse stone ?

Regards,

 

[Inspector]

I haven't seen the DVD so I don't know if he gave a reason for the chamfer. The only reason that I can see for having one on a stone is to make it less likely to chip during handling. I don't maintain a chamfer on my stones, so the factory one disappears as the stone is flattened over time. If you are rough on them and don't want to have them look like a caveman's spear point then keep the chamfer.

 

[SeanG]

The chamfer is also to reduce the risk of cutting yourself on the arris of the stone (I think).

 

[David C]

The finer stones are quite soft and nasty crumbled edges are upsetting aesthetically if nothing else.

When sharp they can also cut you.

David Charlesworth

 

[Nick W]

David,

If waterstones are sharp, why not use them to shape wood, cut out (as it were) the nasty steel blades altogether.

 

[David C]

Nick,

How about laser or waterjet?.......The astonishingly accurate marquetry seen on much modern stuff is done by laser.

With the advent of CNC much work is now done with disposable tct or polycrystaline diamond.

The biscuit jointer and domino are capable of replacing almost all traditional joinery.

David C

 

[pompon44]

Thanks for your answers.

I guess I overlooked the fact that waterstones can cut flesh too ;-) and actually I did sharpened a bit of one of my fingers on the edge of my 1000 stone. Guess I'll chamfer it then...
(the other stones too, BTW, but it's just maintenance of the chamber, not creation of it)

Regards,

 

[woodbloke]

David C wrote:

.......The astonishingly accurate marquetry seen on much modern stuff is done by laser.

David - the few times I've seen this laser cut marquetry, it always seems to have a very thin, black, 'burn' mark around each part of the pattern, presumably this is caused by the laser. Although very accurate, I found it quite off-putting as I was concentrating on the burn mark rather than the marquetry - Rob

 

[David C]

Good point, the perfection can be a bit sinister.

However, I believe if you examine old marquetry you will often find a glue line round each piece (depending on the precise technique used). Roughly the width of a very fine fretsaw blade, Hot Hide glue colour unless the glue had been deliberately darkened.

I am no expert on the art but think I read an opinion which suggested that this gap/line added not detracted from the overall picture?

best wishes,
David