Sharpening Stones??

[Mike B]

Hi

What is the general consesus regarding sharpening stone types - Diamond or Waterstones?? Also, what grit sizes for plane blade and chisel sharpening??

I am considering either a Trend Coarse/Fine diamond stone, a DMT red/green, or some Japanese waterstone kit from Axminster with 800/6000 grits.

Apologies if this has been asked before but I'm new and cannot workout how to search within the forum...

thanks
Mike

 

[Anonymous]

Mike

Sorry to say that I use a Trend Coarse/Fine diamond stone, a DMT red/green, and some Japanese waterstone

For a really badly chipped blade, I start on the course side of the DMT stone. After 20 strokes or so, I turn it over and do 20 on the reverse (fine side).
I then move to the Trend on the fine side which is about 1000grit and polish the bevel to a lovely shine. I use these two sotnes as they are always guaranteed flat :wink: t

Finally, I move to the 6000 grit watersone to finish it off. Sharpening a blunt plane iron this way takes me about 6-7 minutes which is fine by me.

I use an eclipse guide by the way

Here is my setup

 

[Midnight]

Mike... welcome aboard...

I started out my waterstone selectopn with that King 800 / 6000 Axminster set; they're a fine place to start with provided you don't have to do any major work on the primary bevel to begin with i.e. cutting back to remove a chip. Only thing you'll need to keep an eye on is the flatness of the stones. That said, they only take a minute or two to flatten when in use.
The 800 grit stone will shape a bevel pretty quickly while the 6000 grit stone will do a nice job of polishing backs and honing secondry bevels.

Keep the 800 stone in a pond, keep the 6000 dry until you're ready to use it; a light spray of water and it's good t go...

the best instructions for their use that I've seen are in DC's sharpening video / DVD... money well spent...

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Ditto on getting the 800/6000 King stones. I would also add a 1200 grit.

I have used diamond stones before and, like others, found them great at first, but they wear out quite quickly, and so make for an expensive sharpening kit.

The King stones are quite easy to keep flat - I use 220 grit drywall sanding sheets.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Alf]

Me, I use a DMT duo wotsit in coarse/fine as my coarse and medium, then a natural, unidentified oil stone for the fine stone. Personally I haven't had a problem with diamond stones at all; still cut blooming fast and I don't have to worry about flattening them every 5 minutes. But then I use paraffin oil on them, rather than water, which maybe helps? I don't know. However they're not great as a final polishing stone, hence my use of an oil stone. A waterstone would do just as well, of course. But if you don't have a water supply in your workshop, I would say seriously consider forgetting waterstones altogether. Ghastly messy things IMO, but certainly a nightmare if you can't clean up after them. Of course I'm largely all alone in my love of oil stones and hatred of waterstones, so I expect to be out voted on this.

To search, go here and stick a likely search term in there. Er, f'rinstance something like sharpening AND stones which gets us threads like this and this. Hmm, putting in waterstones is even better. Use the "Search for any terms or use query as entered" option, and just click search.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Alf writes

But if you don't have a water supply in your workshop, I would say seriously consider forgetting waterstones altogether

Alf, I used to sharpen in the laundry with my waterstones in the trough, MUCH to my wife's dismay. Then I watched DC's video on sharpening in which he either keeps the stones in a pond or mists them with a spray bottle of water. I now use the mist on my polishing stones when it is time to refresh them, and I can say it is a very clean process.

That hasn't stopped my wife ordering me to get a water supply for my workshop :roll:

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek

 

[Alf]

Alf writes

But if you don't have a water supply in your workshop, I would say seriously consider forgetting waterstones altogether

...Then I watched DC's video...

Chuckle. Funnily enough, IIRC, it was DC's advice...*

Cheers, Alf

*Overheard at Tools'04

 

[rich1]

I have been using the Shapton stones for about two years now. I love them. Go here http://www.shaptonstones.com/. My old waterstones are just collecting dust. I use 1000, 1200, 5000, 8000. They seem to stay flat longer and produce a great edge.

 

[beech1948]

Just a 2d worth.

I have tried SS and found it to be a bit messy, felt insecure on the bench and that the sandpaper wore out quickly. Eventually got fed up of buying sandpaper/wet and dry.

Next bought a coarse DMT and a Rexon Wg180a wet grinder.... the Tormek was just poor value for money...this set up works OK and I have not used the coarse DMT for several months unless there was a nick or edge defect to clear up.

I have last month just added a Shapton professional series 8000 grit stone to finish grinding and have been surprised to see that I can renew a just dull blade with only 7-10 strokes on this stone alone. I was considering the 12000/15000 Shapton stones but won't bother now. Might try to strop with Autosol though...don't really know yet.

 

[StewieH]

Hi Mike, in our workshop we use the red and green DMT diamond stones and now wouldnt use anything else now in fact we have even managed to convert our ( ageing) workshop foreman ( lovely guy , one of the old school)
the only problem we can find is that we had to replace them all recently due to someone deciding they had more use of them than us :evil:

Stu.

 

[ydb1md]

I checked out the Sharpton site after seeing this thread. I about choked when I saw their prices. Did you see the price on their lapping plate?!

Has anyone tried the Norton waterstones? Are all waterstones pretty much the same? I've had my waterstones for a few years now and am very happy with their results. I think they're some japanase brand, Sun or something like that. I think their grits are 800, 1200 and 4000.

 

[Mike B]

I checked out Shapton Stones and sent them an email asking the approx shipping cost of a couple of waterstones - did not even get a reply.

I also checked out LN's website (mainly to gaze at their planes and check out the RC dvds) and noticed that their diamond stones appeared to be reasonable price given the current currency rates; so I sent them an email again asking for approx shipping charges. This time I received a very polite reply quoting shipping for the dvds but recommending that I do what THEY DO (!!) for sharpening/flattening and buy some float glass and some wet & dry sandpaper...!!!!

And their Norton stones link states "We've been using Norton Waterstones at our shop for some time now and are pleased with the results." somewhere...

cheers
Mike
Mike

 

[ydb1md]

(Lie Nielsen) recommending that I do what THEY DO (!!) for sharpening/flattening and buy some float glass and some wet & dry sandpaper...!!!!

I've thought about trying float glass / scary sharp etc but it just seems too "inorganic" to me, if that makes any sense. Maybe for the 800 - 1200 grits but the polishing on the higher grit stones seems so Zen . . .

 

[Alf]

...I received a very polite reply quoting shipping for the dvds but recommending that I do what THEY DO (!!) for sharpening/flattening and buy some float glass and some wet & dry sandpaper...!!!!

And their Norton stones link states "We've been using Norton Waterstones at our shop for some time now and are pleased with the results." somewhere...

Chuckle. :lol: Well that's honest - in parts. My guess is they've taken to stocking the Norton's 'cos Mr Cosman uses them (presumably in his sharpening DVD as well as his demos?). I think they're suppose to wear marginally less quickly than the King brand etc. Their biggest advantage as far as I can see is the extra width.

Cheers, Alf