Oil Stones

[MattMoore]

Hi all,
Recently i have been using an old norton oil stone for my sharpening,
and i can get a much better edge using this opposed to diamond stones,
i have been looking for some but havent come up with much
any ideas where i could get some?
I'm looking for coarse, fine and extra fine stones

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Philly]

Hi Matt
Check out Classic Handtools webite, here
Cheers
Philly

 

[MattMoore]

do you have any experience with these oil stones Philly?
i wondered whether there would be much difference between the natural and man made

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Philly]

Sorry, Matt, I love my waterstones :roll:
Norton make great stones though, so I would think they are pretty good. I know their waterstones are highly regarded.
Hope this helps,
Philly

 

[Woody Alan]

Hi Matt

I bought the 8x3 stones here
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=237
check out their range of sharpening stones from the home page.
I do live in the UK and they posted after a quote to me. To be honest this sharpening business is a minefield. There seems to be this strange thing going on, where different people get different results with the same methods, yet when they find the right medium for them they are away. I learnt to sharpen with a double side 8x2 manmade india really cheap stone, and I came across secondhand what I believe to be black hard Arkansas. But believing all the hype about waterstones I went for it. Well I must be doing something wrong because I just don't get on with it. The stones don't stay flat or my blade sticks on the back to the fine stone and I can't get a polish,and I seem to end up mess everywhere. Hence my ordering the other stones haven't had a chance to bed them in properly yet but they seem OK, Not terribly thick but will take years to wear out.

Cheers Alan

 

[MattMoore]

thanks for the link woody,
i will have a look about at what else i can get my hands on
i know what you mean about differences in sharpening from person to person
a guy i worked with a while ago was raving about diamond stones,
i bought a couple an whilst i found they were ok i couldnt get a decent edge
then i found an old norton oil stone that hasnt been used.
its one of my dads old ones so probably from about 1975ish.
the first chisel i done on it was better than anything i had done before. the fine side i would guestimate is somewhere round the 400 grit mark.
im just looking for something finer now!

 

[JesseM]

thanks for the link woody,
i will have a look about at what else i can get my hands on
i know what you mean about differences in sharpening from person to person
a guy i worked with a while ago was raving about diamond stones,
i bought a couple an whilst i found they were ok i couldnt get a decent edge
then i found an old norton oil stone that hasnt been used.
its one of my dads old ones so probably from about 1975ish.
the first chisel i done on it was better than anything i had done before. the fine side i would guestimate is somewhere round the 400 grit mark.
im just looking for something finer now!

I was using a combination of diamond for the primary bevel and ceramic for the final hone for quite a while. I had tried some waterstones up to that point but had difficulty with them. I revisited the waterstones after watching Rob Cosman make quick work on them, and I haven't turned back. I get really good results with them now. The final hone is much better than the ceramic I was using. One key thing that Cosman did was to flatten the stone everytime you pulled it out of the water.

 

[Brent]

You might try here, Joel has a great selection and a lot of knowledge of stones

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merc ... y_Code=THO

Brent

 

[Chris Knight]

Matt,
Tilgear often have Norton stones available in a special deal and they almost always have cheapish stones on a special at their shop.

You can also pick up stones at car boot sales. They look awful but can be restored easily. Basically get the excess oil and crud out, then flatten them with your diamond stone. Some of the older stones one sees are actually excellent quality natural stones (eg Arkansas) that you can pay an arm and a leg for if you try to buy them new.

 

[Alf]

do you have any experience with these oil stones Philly?
i wondered whether there would be much difference between the natural and man made

Manmade "fine" only gets so fine. For really fine edges you need at least one natural stone. Lief, the Norse Woodsmith, has a handy look at oilstones here. FWIW I've never yet seen an Arkansas at a car boot, but you do often find a sort of Welsh slate type and they can be very effective. It's a bit in the lap of the gods as to what grit they'll turn out to be though, so going that route you might end up eventually paying as much as for a new, named stone just to get the grade of old stone you like. Looks don't always tell you anything, unfortunately.

Cheers, Alf

 

[MikeW]

I'll second Joel at Tools for Working Wood as a source for oil stones--or just plain doing business.

Also, another source for natural stones, albeit in 2" widths instead of Norton's 3", is:
Dan's Whetstone Company

A comparitive chart for grits:
Rarebear's site

Take care, Mike

 

[MattMoore]

thanks for the links, alf and mike, both very informative.
so for a good set of stones. I should really be aiming for a coarse/fine india stone,
soft white arkansas and then a black/translucent arkansas?

 

[Chris Knight]

Matt,
That will be a fine set of stones.

For wider Arkansas stones, look here http://www.hallsproedge.com/wide_bench_stones.htm I have the surgical black stone from Halls and it is very good. I got an excellent translucent stone (2 inches wide ) from Tilgear.

 

[MikeW]

Ah, I forgot about Halls--good one Chris.

Good people to do business with.

Take care, Mike