Norton India Fine Oilstone.

[bugbear]

I can't imagine sharpening kitchen knives on synthetic waterstones...

Pretty easy. Even I can do it. Lots of videos on line showing how.

BugBear

 

[bridger]

Can ipa be used with shellac instead of meths?

Yes. Basically you want the purest alcohol you can get/afford. Beware of "rubbing alcohol"
which is 30% water, and won't work at all.

BugBear

Ah yes... two nations divided by a common language.

This side of the pond (usa) meth refers only to methamphetamine, a particularly nasty street drug. Rubbing alcohol refers to isopropyl alcohol, in any concentrarion. My local cheap source ( big lots) carries it in 50%, 70% and 90%. For cleaning I prefer the 90%. For honing I have come to prefer the 50% as it doesn't evaporate as quickly. However, I live in the Arizona desert- your mileage may vary.

 

[D_W]

I can't imagine sharpening kitchen knives on synthetic waterstones...

Pretty easy. Even I can do it. Lots of videos on line showing how.

BugBear

Of course, I get that. It's just not nearly as good as using harder stones. An IM 313 for kitchen knives, followed by some kind of exotic finish stone if you have to have a certain finish (like a suita for a japanese knife) is miles better, and faster. Let alone if someone asks you to sharpen their kitchen knife for them and it comes full of nicks. It's a couple of minutes from start to finish. No flattening or anything of the sort.

 

[G S Haydon]

The fine India is a fantastic stone and low cost. Very, very good value, I would imagine you'd struggle to wear one out within a lifetime. They bite pretty hard when new but settle down to a nice level after a short while. I use mineral oil on mine and sometimes switch to a little white spirit for a few honings if it feels like it has slowed down too much. The edge from an India is perfect for just about all woodworking tasks, add a bit of autosol to a block of wood and it get's the edge even better.
The only thing I've used on it that I didn't get good results was A2 steel.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks Graham. Not all woodworkers want to spend hundreds on sets of stones, some​ it's good to see a comment from a working joiner which praises something basic and inexpensive.

 

[MJP]

I'd just like to thank everyone for their comments - as a newbie, I'm learning from every contribution, there's so much knowledge out there.

Martin.

Have India, will sharpen.

 

[D_W]

The fine India is a fantastic stone and low cost. Very, very good value, I would imagine you'd struggle to wear one out within a lifetime. They bite pretty hard when new but settle down to a nice level after a short while. I use mineral oil on mine and sometimes switch to a little white spirit for a few honings if it feels like it has slowed down too much. The edge from an India is perfect for just about all woodworking tasks, add a bit of autosol to a block of wood and it get's the edge even better.
The only thing I've used on it that I didn't get good results was A2 steel.

An inexpensive soft arkansas between the india and the autosol will make the wire edge on A2 tolerable. A2 also sharpens fine just on a washita, though. It's not a something to prep on a washita, but most of the irons now are flat when sent - even LN's (who used to not be flat, their newer planes come with fantastically flat irons). I broke out a new LN last week and sharpened the fresh iron on a washita (with nothing additional other than maybe a minute more than normal sharpening route) and it was perfectly capable of anything after a few minutes (perhaps two to three, as I needed to work a small amount of camber onto a secondary bevel). Actually, far preferable to the course of waterstones that I used to run new irons through. No farting around with flattening, either.

 

[Jacob]

The fine India is a fantastic stone and low cost. Very, very good value, I would imagine you'd struggle to wear one out within a lifetime.

I've still got my first one from about 1960 something. Have a few more now, should see me through several lifetimes

They bite pretty hard when new but settle down to a nice level after a short while.........l.

I freshen up the surface every now and then with a 3m diapad .
I never got into waterstones - everything you read about them makes them seem such a bad idea, and not cheap either

 

[memzey]

Can ipa be used with shellac instead of meths?

Yes. Basically you want the purest alcohol you can get/afford. Beware of "rubbing alcohol"
which is 30% water, and won't work at all.

BugBear

Ah yes... two nations divided by a common language.

This side of the pond (usa) meth refers only to methamphetamine, a particularly nasty street drug. Rubbing alcohol refers to isopropyl alcohol, in any concentrarion. My local cheap source ( big lots) carries it in 50%, 70% and 90%. For cleaning I prefer the 90%. For honing I have come to prefer the 50% as it doesn't evaporate as quickly. However, I live in the Arizona desert- your mileage may vary.

Thanks. Without wanting to derail this thread is there any benefit to using pure ipa over methylated spirits for mixing up shellac? It costs a bit more and is not as widely available so if there is no benefit I'll stick to meths (not the druggie kind).

 

[Jacob]

.......

Yes. Basically you want the purest alcohol you can get/afford. Beware of "rubbing alcohol"
which is 30% water, and won't work at all.

BugBear

Ah yes... two nations divided by a common language.

This side of the pond (usa) meth refers only to methamphetamine, a particularly nasty street drug. Rubbing alcohol refers to isopropyl alcohol, in any concentrarion. My local cheap source ( big lots) carries it in 50%, 70% and 90%. For cleaning I prefer the 90%. For honing I have come to prefer the 50% as it doesn't evaporate as quickly. However, I live in the Arizona desert- your mileage may vary.

Thanks. Without wanting to derail this thread is there any benefit to using pure ipa over methylated spirits for mixing up shellac? It costs a bit more and is not as widely available so if there is no benefit I'll stick to meths (not the druggie kind).

Isopropyl alcohol is one of the additives to ethanol which makes it 'de-natured' i.e. undrinkable. Methanol being another - making it 'methylated'.
Don't suppose it 'd make much difference which mix you use but some smell nicer than others!
I guess french polish supplied liquid would just have ethanol as there would be no need to make it undrinkable - as far as I know, never tried it (as a drink that is).

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There's another option for mixing shellac polishes; Fiddes make a 'finishing spirit' which is basically ethanol with a very dilute shellac addition, so very thin polish, basically. However, there's no blue stain as with meths, so it might be a better bet for very pale wood/polish combinations, after throwing a few more shellac flakes in.

http://www.jpennyltd.co.uk/shopping/pgm ... php?id=221

(Oh - and I thought ipa was India Pale Ale. Dunno if shellac dissolves in that, but it's definitely better reserved for drinking!)