Float Glass for flattening waterstones

[Rob_H]

Watching the David Charlesworth DVD, he suggests flattening waterstones using float glass. Is that something I can get from a standard glazier/glass supplier? Busy at work so I'm going to ask Mrs H to get some for me and she'll be cross if I send her to get the wrong thing!!!

 

[DarrenW]

Yes you can..... but don't be fooled like I was and go for toughened.... it sounds like a good idea... stronger and all that... but it isn't flat! It goes through an extra process which adds a curve to it... not want you want for flattening!

Darren

 

[Woody Alan]

and...it isn't all that cheap unless you are very lucky. 10mm is required for any stability, even then it needs to be on flat mdf or similar

Alan

 

[Mailman14]

There's a link on someone's profile to videos on Youtube, regarding "Scary Sharp" - if you can find it, there are several videos, showing someone (name eludes me), sharpening blades with grades of "glasspaper" spray glued onto glass - a long narrow piece - NO under substrate... Don't ask me what he does when he drops it!

 

[Dave S]

and...it isn't all that cheap unless you are very lucky. 10mm is required for any stability, even then it needs to be on flat mdf or similar

Alan

Alan - if you need some and are passing through Wymondham, there is a small business park on Allenbrooks Way, just off Station Rd. There's a place there which does stone and glass work - worktops, display cabinets, that sort of thing. I got some good sized offcuts there and he wouldn't take anything for them.

cheers
Dave

 

[Woody Alan]

Thanks Dave,

That's worth knowing. The miserable scroats round here all wanted to charge even for an offcut, (picture :- fingerless gloves and scruffy tape measure) and as I say it's not cheap.

Alan

 

[SVB]

Not sure if it is as good, but I have purchased a polished granite kitchen 'chopping' board (sold as this but I expect it would blunt knives instantly if used as such) from Morrisons for about £10.

Approx 18" x 12" x 3/4" and inital inspection shows it as being flat.

As I do not have space for a permenant sharpening area, I will have to put away / get out when needed as I was worried about breaking a glass plate.

Not sure - what do others think of this idea.

 

[milkman]

I got an A4 ish piece and it was about £30. Not that cheap and it took ages to get. Since then I've realised I should have made it just over standard sandpaper size but w.t.h it works when you've trimmed the glasspaper down.

 

[AndyT]

I got a mirror from a skip (shop being refitted). Nice and thick. Very cheap too!

Almost all glass is float glass these days - made on a bed of molten tin.

Andy

 

[yetloh]

The alternative is to use a coarse diamond stone for flattening your waterstones which is what I do. None of that faffing around with (very breakable) bits of glass and abrasive paper and you have a tool which you will use for other things too. You do need to invest in one of the large diamond stones but I reckon it is worth it.

Jim

 

[bugbear]

The alternative is to use a coarse diamond stone for flattening your waterstones which is what I do. None of that faffing around with (very breakable) bits of glass and abrasive paper and you have a tool which you will use for other things too. You do need to invest in one of the large diamond stones but I reckon it is worth it.

Jim

For that money (ouch) you can get a BIG (and very flat) granite surface plate!

BugBear

 

[yetloh]

True, but I'd rather have the diamond stone.

Jim

 

[Karl]

I got a nice big (18" x 12" x 3") granite surface plate for £46 a couple of years ago. Great for flattening my waterstones (which I no longer have) and for truing up the soles on planes.

I have a smaller 12" granite plate which anybody can have for £30 inc postage by Royal Mail standard parcels to mainland uk.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Digit]

I use the glass shelf fitted on some fridges above the salad tray.

Roy.

 

[xy mosian]

Folks making marble backs for fire surrounds have plenty of off cuts, has anyone tried any of this. My mashed up marble fire hearth looks flat against a straight edge but I have to wait for swmbo to go out before I can use it.

xy

 

[matt]

I use the glass shelf fitted on some fridges above the salad tray.

Roy.

Do you carry your blades around with you, constantly checking out people's fridges to see if they have a glass shelf you can sharpen on? Bet the salad is gritty.

 

[Digit]

Nope! I used to mend the damned things till I retired!

Roy.

 

[Nigel]

I have just bought 2 pieces 12"x9" from a glass supplier in Bracknel
that cost £7.50 each + Vat the edges are not precise so I trimmed them with wood,
It took a while to locate a supplier with 10mm glass in stock a case of phoning around

Nigel

 

[TheTiddles]

I got a piece of a simlar size for about £1.90, as in, that was all the cash I had in my wallet. You only need a small offcut and they normally have loads of that.

One thing I find is that if you use spraymount then the bumps in it leave the paper not so flat, I use double sided tape but I'm considering making some clamps to hold the paper down as the guide I use doesn't need to run over the ends

Aidan

 

[bugbear]

True, but I'd rather have the diamond stone.

Jim

IMHO surface plates are also quite versatile. One might like to have both, funds permitting....

IIRC some people use super-coarse drywall screen (on a flat surface) for water stone flattening.

BugBear