Show us your sharpening stone boxes.

[swagman]

Excellent idea Jacob. Enjoy your nap. =D>

 

[essexalan]

I find the traditional stone boxes a bit over ornate so I have just made a bunch out of Sycamore and Cherry offcuts, simple mortised oblong boxes flat on the top for stacking. The Sycamore was a bit wormy so I nuked it in the microwave, advantage of that is that it dries the wood out, kills any little beasties and the wood soaks up thinned BLO a treat. I can remove all my stones for maintenance etc and those I use with water I use out of the box. Thinner pieces of stone were often mounted on a chunk of Pitch Pine or Mahogany with some sort of bitumen gunk. Two thin but very nice stones I have will be epoxied to 10 mm Acrylic and then loose fitted in a mortised box.

 

[D_W]

I have a lot of boxes, but nothing to show that would be worth taking a picture for. As essexalan says, some of them are carved and ornate, but the ones I've made are generally just mortised with a bevel cut on the top at most. I consider them valuable for preventing surface contaminants on stones and getting my stones to a relatively common height, but not interesting enough to spend time making ornately.

 

[ED65]

I notice that no one has inserted blocks of wood at either end of the stone.

New home for my old Washita:

Mystery wood (luaun?) finished in French polish. End grain on the inside sealed with a smear of epoxy, then the entire inside treated to a few coats of shellac sanding sealer.

 

[Biliphuster]

ED65

Interesting, could you tell me how they work out? I don't use a guide but sometimes at the very end of the stroke I slightly overshoot and the blade comes off the stone. I am curious if the wood prevents stone contact or if it chips away over time.

 

[ED65]

Interesting, could you tell me how they work out?

Will do. Early days yet but so far I think they'll hold up fine. As for how well they work, being able to come onto the stone straight from the edge is interesting. Interesting in a good way. I'm less sure of the advantage coming to the end of a stroke but I haven't used it for long or very frequently because I maintain edges with a loaded strop, so my blades need to see stones very infrequently!

I don't find overshooting a problem myself, I've actually taken to deliberately doing it when working the flat of the chisel/plane iron.

Anyway I'll post an update at some point in the future with my impressions of the end-grain blocks.

 

[Trafalgar]

Few years ago? Dunno. I pretty much just use the fine India and a hard strop with AlOx powder. The black Ark and Washita are in the attic now. Anybody want to buy them? I drag the Washita out every now and again and then wonder why I did. I liked it at first but it doesn't add anything to the mix given that I finish with the AlOx powder. The India raises a burr very quickly (quick is good). The AlOx powder polishes it off about as fast. Everything else seems like a wasted step. I don't have run-off blocks but I back off at the ends of the stone to equalize the wear. I side-sharpen almost exclusively as well so I can run across the end of the stone. I do have a couple of irons that I use Jacob's method on too.

I have a medium India that's not in the photo and it sees a lot of use on turning tools. Slips and gouge cone not in photo either. I canned the coarse India. For some reason it never cut as fast as the medium stone does. The yellow vise is one that Record used to sell. I've always loved the little bugger. And in the very background is my Nobex miter saw. This little monument to 2x lumber sits behind my main, piece-o-junque bench. Gotta build a new bench.

 

[MIGNAL]

Mine aren't worth showing. They are like ED65's but just the base, not the lid. Effectively just a base of wood and two end blocks to trap the stone. The blocks aren't level with the stones surface, so i don't use them as run off areas. Bit of cork glued to the bottom of the base to prevent them sliding around. I have one for my Tam 'O (water) and another for my Arkansas.

 

[D_W]

Not much, just the most recent box (got it yesterday). I do like to order stones in boxes, it often doesn't cost much to get one in a box - sometimes none because those are the stones that are not branded etc.

I think this one is probably a charn of some type. Ignore the washed out color, that's due to the bright white flash of the phone - it's a bit more olive green, and uniform. I had a uniform charn (no red streaks) before, and it was a fine cutting and uniform stone.

Whoever lapped this one (not me) decided that they didn't need to go all the way. if the surface that's lapped is smooth, I will probably use it for a bit without lapping it further (since that would essentially make it fresh and harsh cutting for a little bit). Nice plain slim and well fitting box.

I think I'm done buying stones for a while, and need to go through my drawers and pull out about a dozen that I have zero chance of using again.






picture host

 

[Jacob]

....
I think I'm done buying stones for a while, and need to go through my drawers and pull out about a dozen that I have zero chance of using again...

Basically just two or three should last for life.

 

[D_W]

....
I think I'm done buying stones for a while, and need to go through my drawers and pull out about a dozen that I have zero chance of using again...

Basically just two or three should last for life.

Definitely, just as one straight razor should last for life (as long as it's never accidentally brushed into the faucet). I probably have 100 sharpening stones in my machinist bench. I sort of collect them (as todd hughes used to say).

 

[Jacob]

....
I think I'm done buying stones for a while, and need to go through my drawers and pull out about a dozen that I have zero chance of using again...

Basically just two or three should last for life.

Definitely, just as one straight razor should last for life (as long as it's never accidentally brushed into the faucet). I probably have 100 sharpening stones in my machinist bench. I sort of collect them (as todd hughes used to say).

I've got a few too but not that many!
Over the years you listen to the self proclaimed experts and are persuaded that you really need this that and the other, but as the years go by you don't use a fraction of the stuff, but it is a learning curve I suppose.

 

[essexalan]

Must admit to turning into a stone collector as well more of a hobby outside of woodworking. Seeing a stone used by a craftsman a lot older than me emerge from layers of gunk and restoring it to it's former glory gives me a degree of pleasure. Learning how to get the best out of the stone I find interesting and enjoyable. But they are just tools and should really be used.

 

[D_W]

I've got a few too but not that many!
Over the years you listen to the self proclaimed experts and are persuaded that you really need this that and the other, but as the years go by you don't use a fraction of the stuff, but it is a learning curve I suppose.

Norton's IM setups with stone baths would be nice if I was limited to only one thing. There are folks, I guess, looking to experts and buying one stone set after the other because they think there is something substantially different, but I've pretty much bought 95% of my stock just because i like stones. None of them work much better than the first I got of each type, but they're interesting. Like gemstones, except you can actually do something with them. That and the fact that they don't take up much space makes them interesting to me, more so than collecting power tools or cars or some other such thing.

 

[adrspach]

Collecting stones is just another hobby

 

[bridger]

Collecting stones is just another hobby

Yes, But.

I teach sharpening, a couple classes a month. I do pick up stones when I find something interesting and cheap enough. I probably have around a hundred or so. Not only do I find them interesting, but having some knowledge and experience with different stones is helpful in the classroom.

 

[swagman]

Finished the Jarrah natural stone sharpening box (8000 grit). Both box halves were book matched to maximize the grain orientation. All the new brass fittings were given an antique finish. The fit of the stone within its mortise halves were double checked for clearance using a traditional chalking technique. Nothing more than a straight forward beveled edge was decided upon for the top half, to promote the wood grain as the main feature of this box. 4 coats of garnet shellac was applied, followed by a 2 coats of cutting paste buffed to sheen.

All up the presentation of the box turned out quite reasonable.



A spring loaded bullet catch was fitted to the bottom half of the box. This aids to maintain moderate tension between the 2 mating surfaces of the box when the front clasp is secured in the locked position. With the front clasp in the open position, that spring tension is then released.



Close up of the front spring loaded bullet catch.



Sharpening Box fully opened.



Stewie;

 

[swagman]

I should make mention, this 2 part Garnet Shellac mix (dewaxed) I am using was dated August 2015. Its been stored within a sealed jar and kept out of direct sunlight in a disused refrigerator in my workshop. On opening the jar to use on this sharpening box, the mix was as good as new, and will likely last another 12 months before its starts to going off. Had it been a mix using dewaxed Blonde Shellac, previous experience would indicate it would have well and truly expired beyond use, inside that same time frame. I can only assume the bleaching process used to create Blonde Shellac has a major impact on its shelf life.

Stewie;

 

[MIGNAL]

You'll be lucky to get 6 months out of mixed blonde shellac. Even the blonde dry flakes have a much shorter shelf life in comparison to less refined types.

 

[swagman]

Revisited the 1st box and installed 2 brass clasp latches to lock the top lid down.