flatening a sharpening stone

[woodmani]

Hi All,

My dad has an old sharpening stone he has been using for a quite a few years and its developed a uneven surface due to wearing and I wanted to ask if there are ways or tools to sand it down to get an even flat surface or are there places that can do it for a small fee. He has tried to smooth it flat on a concrete slab with water but it has had little effect. Its a dark grey coloured stone and has 2 stones put together - one for roughness and one for smooh finish for chisels and plane blades.

Thanks,
Mani

 

[woodbloke]

The way that I would do it is to use a bit of float glass and use some spray mount glue to stick a bit of 100g silicon carbide w/d paper to it, which ought to flatten it reasonably quickly but you may need to change the paper a few times - Rob

 

[carpenteire]

If you haven't already done so it would be a good idea to declog the stone first (presuming this is an oilstone, carborundum or similar). I've done this very successfuly by gently simmering the stone in a bath of water, in an old roasting tin, with some detergent added. Washing powder and dishwasher tablets are good for this. Be sure to line the pan with an old rag or towel to protect the stone from excessive heat through direct contact with the bottom of the tin. Once you've remove the bulk of the oil you can stick the (almost clean) stone in the dishwasher to remove any remainder ( :wink: don't let the missus see you doing this!).

 

[George_N]

Hi Mani,
from your post it sounds like you have one of these. If that is the case, I would carry it with all due ceremony to the nearest bin and drop it in. It's just not worth the time and effort to try and get it flat. What you replace it with depends on how much sharpening you plan to do and what standard of "sharp" you want to achieve. A quick search of this forum will, unfortunately, turn up a bewildering range of alternatives from the "scary sharp" method that uses wet and dry abrasive stuck to a glass plate, through water stones, oil stones and diamond stones all the way up to the Tormek wet stone grinder. That is not an order of preference but probably reflects the initial outlay. I currently use Japanese water stones FWIW.

 

[David C]

The old recipe was silver sand and water on a York paving stone. Today a concrete paving stone would probably do.

Valve grinding paste on scrap glass does a reasonable job. As would very coarse silicon carbide grit.

This of course wears hollows in the glass.

A recent strategy from Larry Williams is to use an extra coarse DMT diamond stone, not only for flattening but for frequent dressing as well.

David C

 

[Digit]

The old recipe was silver sand and water on a York paving stone. Today a concrete paving stone would probably do.

In my neck of the woods it was the front door step David. But frankly, aside from wanting to do it, it's not worth the effort these days.

Roy.

 

[Woody Alan]

If you want to keep it cheap, as David C says, silver sand on a concrete slab. It may be old school but I can attest to this, it really woks and you cannot get simpler. Do be aware you will wear the surface of the slab so don't pick the most prominent one in your front path. Use all of the slab surface in big circular and figure 8 strokes and take care to keep pressure even with both hands it's easy to wear one side more than the other DAMHIKT

Alan

 

[MrJay]

Gah, Nay sayers. I really like my old oil stone. In fact, it's one of the few things I like without reservation (except it's too narrow) from my sharpening kit. Regular fluffing up with an extra coarse stone really gives it some zing.

A recent strategy from Larry Williams...

Whoever he is, he owes me a pint

 

[pam niedermayer]

This is Larry Williams' (he's one of two or three partners) company, which makes great planes:

http://www.planemaker.com/

Pam

 

[Paul Kierstead]

A recent strategy from Larry Williams is to use an extra coarse DMT diamond stone, not only for flattening but for frequent dressing as well.

I also use a black extra coarse DMT. It will flatten a stone like nobody's business. Well, a waterstone. I expect it will be a little slower on an oil stone, but I'd bet it will be still pretty dang fast.

 

[dchenard]

A recent strategy from Larry Williams is to use an extra coarse DMT diamond stone, not only for flattening but for frequent dressing as well.

I also use a black extra coarse DMT. It will flatten a stone like nobody's business. Well, a waterstone. I expect it will be a little slower on an oil stone, but I'd bet it will be still pretty dang fast.

Where did you get your stone, Paul? LV only stocks the coarse stone in the small size (6"), what I would like to get is the large (10") 200/320 one.

TIA,

DC-C

 

[Paul Kierstead]

Where did you get your stone, Paul? LV only stocks the coarse stone in the small size (6"), what I would like to get is the large (10") 200/320 one.

I have the 6" one. Although smaller then my bigger stones, it isn't by much and seems to have no problem getting them extremely flat. I'll admit I would like the 10" one, but I picked up the 6" on a few years back on some kind of sale at LV (it was a return); got it very very cheap.

 

[00dannyboy]

I would carry it with all due ceremony to the nearest bin and drop it in.

LOLOLOLOL

I have to agree. I wouldnt use that stone for my neighbors pocket knife.

I use waterstones when i want an extremely keen edge. for working and saving time though, i use the Jet slow speed water grinder (same as tormek)

dan