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Thread: Newbie questions on waterstone flattening

  1. #1
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    Newbie questions on waterstone flattening

    Hi Folks -
    I've been reading some old sharpening articles in Popular Woodworking by David Charlesworth and I'm fully psyc'd up to embark on the hand tool path, starting with the only plane that I own - a Bailey 5 that was left to me when my dad passed away some years ago. The blade was reasonably sharp when I started tinkering with it, but it's getting dull and so that's what led me off to the articles on sharpening.

    I have a question on the flattening of waterstones. Charlesworth mentions that you can use a coarse DMT stone to flatten them - if I have a 800 and a 8000 grit stone, would I need to get a coarse and a fine flattening stone as well? I'm not all that keen on using the sandpaper and float glass plate - I'm suspecting it will be more costly in the end if one plans to flatten frequently. Perhaps I'm off on this thought.

    Thanks for any tips people can pass along.

    Cheers,
    Lewis

  2. #2
    I use a 220 (black spot) DMT to flatten my 1000, 4000, and 8000 Norton's. Works like a charm. That being said, I'm about as far from an expert as you can get, so I'll stand around and wait for one of them to chime in.

  3. #3
    I use the Red and Blue DMT DuoSharp. If you get that, you can say buh bye to the 800 stone, with the added advantage that you will no longer need to soak any stones (the 8000 only requires a spritz of water to work). You don't need to use a finer grit diamond stone for the finer water stone. I use the same right up to my 16,000 shapton.

    I use the coarse side of the Duosharp to flatten stones and backs. Also to change the bevel (though I use a Tormek now). I use the fine side to touch up an edge that's a bit rough. Then I go right from that to the 8000.

    Actually, I'm using Spyderco now, but up until a week ago, that's what I was doing with great results.

    By the way, I found that my Duosharp was dead flat. The coarse diamond stone I bought from them was NOT.

  4. #4
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    You only need one stone for sharpening...not two. To start, just get a piece of reasonably flat granite tile from your local home center & glue a piece of 220 W/D sand paper to it, perhaps with 3M 77. Once your sharpening skill improves, you could explore other options.

    The DuoSharp backing can get out of flat after some time...mine was out of flat after about 2 years. The 10" version costs over $100...so it not cheap.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post
    I use the Red and Blue DMT DuoSharp. If you get that, you can say buh bye to the 800 stone, with the added advantage that you will no longer need to soak any stones (the 8000 only requires a spritz of water to work). You don't need to use a finer grit diamond stone for the finer water stone. I use the same right up to my 16,000 shapton.

    I use the coarse side of the Duosharp to flatten stones and backs. Also to change the bevel (though I use a Tormek now). I use the fine side to touch up an edge that's a bit rough. Then I go right from that to the 8000.

    Actually, I'm using Spyderco now, but up until a week ago, that's what I was doing with great results.

    By the way, I found that my Duosharp was dead flat. The coarse diamond stone I bought from them was NOT.
    Hmmmm - not soaking things has an appeal for sure. I'll have a dig into those duo sharps in my research as well. What's a good mail order place for all this stuff?

    Also - this brings up another question which I think you have answered - you can use these to establish the primary bevel as well ?

  6. #6
    I've had good results ordering from both Tools For Working Wood (though they don't carry DMT) and SharpeningSupplies.com. One nice thing TFWW has is a Norton DVD for $12 on sharpening featuring Joel (TFWW is his site, and Norton commissioned him to make the video for them). It's not long, but it covers waterstone usage nicely.
    Steve, mostly hand tools. Click on my name above and click on "Visit Homepage" to see my woodworking blog.

  7. #7
    Just be careful to dry your DMTs inbetween uses. It tends to get rusty!

  8. #8
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    In one of his hand tool DVDs, Frank Klausz uses 120 grit taped to a sheet of melamine covered MDF. The waterstone must be dry and the paper is dry too. In the video he uses a precision straight edge to demonstrate that glass is not always flat. I have a piece of glass that happens to be flat so I use that and 220 wet or dry. Seems to work fine for me.

  9. #9
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    Another vote for granite and sandpaper. As a matter of fact I just finished a sharpening session and it worked like a charm
    America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
    Alexis de Tocqueville

    You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.
    C. S. Lewis

  10. #10
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    I flatten my stones with a granite tile and 120 sandpaper. Works just fine.
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

  11. #11
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    $5 granite tile from Lowes (12"X12") and a dry wall sanding screen for water stones.

    If you use rolls of sandpaper, the borgs have tile and marble thresholds that are pretty reasonable. You only need 1. They will give you a longer stroke.

    I picked up a granite cut off from a kitchen counter fabricator, 3 X 24 " for free. I use that with 120 grit to rehab old plane blades. Square up and establish new bevels. Mostly it collects dust but its handy when you need it.

  12. #12
    In using my waterstones, I've also noticed that you really need to pay attention to the blade that you are sharpening. As soon as you notice an irregularity in the blade, check your stone. If you reflatten it at that point, it will go quicker and you can use a finer grit. By the time it occurred to me to flatten my stone the first time, it was pretty bad. It took some time with 80 grit on my granite, and then tweaked it with some 150. All flattening was done dry. The next time, it only took a few minutes (after letting the stone dry out a while) to flatten it on the 150 grit.
    If it ain't broke, fix it til it is!

  13. #13
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    I didn't think that 150 or 220 grit sandpaper would be anywhere capable of actually putting a good sharpened edge on a woodworking tool. I figured you needed to be 800 grit WD minimum. I can't see getting an edge sharp enough with the lower grits.

  14. #14
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    Pat, we're talking about flattening sharpening stones, not sharpening tools. Waterstones work fast but they dish fast too. To bring the sharpening surface back to flat, you need to lap and that's what this discussion is about.

  15. #15
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    Rich - thanks for clarifying. Gotta learn somehow.

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