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Thread: Using waterstones to flatten chisels and plane irons

  1. #1
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    Using waterstones to flatten chisels and plane irons

    I have the Shapton 1000, 2000, and 8000 glass stones and like them a lot for sharpening. (thanks again Jim) I usually just use the 1000 and 8000 and that seems to work well for me. What I don't like is using this combination to flatten chisels and plane irons. I think it takes too long on the 1000. This leads me to believe that I should be using something coarser.

    What do you guys think of adding a Shapton 500 to get the blade flat and then jumping up to the 1000? I was also thinking of adding a Shapton 5000 to use between the 2000 and 8000 so I don't have to spend as much time on the 8000. I don't see my accumulation of chisels and plane irons slowing down any time soon, so the need to flatten will always be there.

  2. #2
    I have read that a low grit water stone gets out of flat real fast. I have tried loose 90 grit silicon carbide from Veritas on a steel bar but it dulls real fast. Maybe diamond paste? I got a cut off of steel from a yard for free. Derek Cohen has made lapping plates out of old plane bottoms.

  3. #3
    I have used Shapton 120 and 320 for flatten. Works well. If the chisel was chipped. Use the 120 works very fast. No kidding.

    After heavy use, you can use the Shapton 1000 if there was a slight nick. If the edge crumbling *reflecting light.* use the 2000.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Noah Wagener View Post
    I have read that a low grit water stone gets out of flat real fast. I have tried loose 90 grit silicon carbide from Veritas on a steel bar but it dulls real fast. Maybe diamond paste? I got a cut off of steel from a yard for free. Derek Cohen has made lapping plates out of old plane bottoms.
    I would think you should still get a minute per side or so. Flattening a stone isn't that a big of a deal to me, I do it a lot. Probably too much. I've used sandpaper in the past, but I have a tendency to round edges when I do that. I'm more comfortable with waterstones, but if they aren't worth using for initial flattening I will try something else.

  5. #5
    Norton 3x stuck down uniformly with adhesive to a granite or glass substrate. Loose diamonds are also good, but only worth pursuing if you're going to do a lot of flattening of very bad things.

  6. #6
    I have only used a King 250 which is a different animal than the Shaptons. It wore completely out in a couple months but i was using it in lieu of a grinder.It was much faster than an extra coarse diamond plate and that plate was dished.On Tools for Working Wood they mention that the lowest grit Chosera is not "uncomfortably soft" like other coarse water stones. But you may like having a one brand system.

    I do not think you need a stone between 2,000 and 8,000.

  7. #7
    I wanted to see if i remembered correctly what they said about the Chosera and i found this:
    http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/s...late_(Kanaban) if you are interested.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Fleck View Post
    What do you guys think of adding a Shapton 500 to get the blade flat and then jumping up to the 1000? I was also thinking of adding a Shapton 5000 to use between the 2000 and 8000 so I don't have to spend as much time on the 8000. I don't see my accumulation of chisels and plane irons slowing down any time soon, so the need to flatten will always be there.
    Go lower!

    Right now I'm using a 240 grit Sigma Power Select II to start the flattening process, and at times I have still wanted to go faster. I plan on making a belt grinder some time this year, just for this reason. Personally I think you need a range of stones to make back flattening fast. My current stable of stones are as follows.

    1. 240 Sigma Power Select II
    2. 1000 Sigma Power Select II
    3. 5000 Naniwa Super Stone
    4. 8000
    Naniwa Super Stone
    5. 13000
    Sigma Power Select


    at some point in the future I want to replace the 5k and 8k SS with 3k, 6k, & 10K Sigma Power Select II, just because i love how fast the select IIs cut.
    -Dan

  9. #9
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    I have the Shaptons and they work really well for me. If something needs a lot of flattening, 220 wet/dry sandpaper on granite. Coarser if something is really bent out of shape. From the 220, I can go to the 1000 Shapton. Real easy. I try not to use disposable stuff but I don't go through that much paper - once flattened, always flattened. (I also sometime reach for a coarse oilstone that's around).

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Noah Wagener View Post
    I wanted to see if i remembered correctly what they said about the Chosera and i found this:
    http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/s...late_(Kanaban) if you are interested.
    Thanks for the link. That stuff looks interesting, but I already have a granite plate, ws3000, float glass, 2 grinders, and now waterstones! I'm trying to simplify my sharpening process and get really good at one, rather than average at all. I like waterstones the best, but it's looking like rough flattening may be better suited for something else.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Peterson View Post
    I have the Shaptons and they work really well for me. If something needs a lot of flattening, 220 wet/dry sandpaper on granite. Coarser if something is really bent out of shape. From the 220, I can go to the 1000 Shapton. Real easy. I try not to use disposable stuff but I don't go through that much paper - once flattened, always flattened. (I also sometime reach for a coarse oilstone that's around).
    That's good to know. I was wondering what grit paper to go to before I jumped to the 1000. I may give paper another chance with the norton 3x that David suggested.

  12. #12
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    Andrew, you also don't need any adhesive to keep sandpaper down to a granite block. Spray water on the (clean) granite, lay the paper, then another spray on that. It may move at first but once it lays flat it will stay down quite well. And no cleaning up of spray adhesive. I've devised some stretchers on either end of my granite block that capture the edges of the sandpaper for longer life (the paper will curl after use without those).

  13. #13
    Water is OK, but you will still get some dubbing. spray adhesive with no bubbles under it on a granite or glass substrate will allow a lot of pressure with no dubbing. The adhesive doesn't have to be used that heavily, it just has to be used uniformly.

    To get the paper off, just keep a junk chisel around and literally lift the corner and run the chisel down the length as you pull it. It's very easy to change that way. I don't necessarily bother to use a junk chisel for that, just any sharp chisel.

    When I have used 3x, I have gone from 100 grit to a 1000 grit shapton without issue. Any aggressive medium stone will follow it fine, especially if the last strokes on the paper are on paper that's worn in some before you change it.

    The only thing better than the 3x is loose diamonds, but loose diamonds are not necessarily faster than fresh paper - they are just more durable if you are going to do really heavy work (like removing pitting from a plane iron).

  14. #14
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    I use Scotch Spray Mount adhesive, which allows the sandpaper sheet to be easily removed. The residue is cleaned off the granite using mineral spirits or acetone.

  15. #15
    Same here. I think I bought a can of 3m 77 or something too strong a while ago. it still comes off with the chisel, but next time if I ever run the can out, I'll get the weakest spray adhesive on the rack.

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