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Thread: Using waterstones to flatten chisels and plane irons

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Weaver View Post
    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.
    Last time I tried that, rehabbing some old blades, I still had a heck of a lot of dubbing to remove when I got to the stones. It was a pain in the rear!

    I wonder if my granite substrate wasn't that flat, or if it was a matter or technique, or maybe I grabbed a different paper from the drawer. . .
    " Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice

  2. #17
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    Unless you're really heavy handed, I've found stencil adhesive to work quite well for this, back when I used sandpapers to sharpen. Enough tack, but easy to remove when you needed.
    " Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Joshua Pierce View Post
    Last time I tried that, rehabbing some old blades, I still had a heck of a lot of dubbing to remove when I got to the stones. It was a pain in the rear!

    I wonder if my granite substrate wasn't that flat, or if it was a matter or technique, or maybe I grabbed a different paper from the drawer. . .
    Paper must've been moving some, or not totally adhered uniformly, or maybe some other subtle difference. I've always rubbed the adhesive around so that it's uniform. I do like loose diamonds a little better because there's no chance of any such issues, and there's no point where they "gave up" and stopped cutting. A quick sprinkle keeps things going. The downside of diamonds is that once in a while, the substrate needs to be flattened if the diamonds are very coarse diamonds. You can see when lapping the substrate that it will wear hollow in both length and width, but it takes a long time for that to occur.

    If the dubbing is steep and just at the edges, it's probably paper moving. then something else.

  4. #19
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    Sep 2007
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    I have some coarse stones that are seldom used due to how fast they wear.

    For fast and heavy metal removal my preferred method is abrasive paper adhered to a piece of granite. My Veritas® Mk.II power sharpening system is also sometimes used but it tends to create a lot of heat due to the speed of the metal removal. I can get a blade warm by hand, but not so warm as requiring to take time to let it cool.

    One needs to take care and avoid rocking the blade during the process. The adhesive needs to be able to hold the sheet to the surface without any movement as the blade is passing over it.

    My granite came from a monument maker and is a little over 4' long. I mostly use 80 grit adhesive backed roll paper. I also have some 220 and 360 grit roll stock.

    Flattening a back goes pretty fast and then it is usually quick work for the 1000 grit water stone.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #20
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    Jan 2013
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    Mt Jackson, VA
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    You guys were right. Paper on a granite plate did the trick quickly. I picked up a can of Loctite light spray adhesive and stuck the paper down with that. I was relying on water to hold it down before and I was getting dubbing on the sides. I used paint thinner to wipe the plate off between sandpaper changes and it took the residual adhesive off with ease. For anybody reading this that may be new to flattening I did learn that on my narrow chisels (under 1/2") I tend to rock them ever so slightly when I go back and forth on the paper. This has the opposite effect of what I am trying to achieve. To stop this I only move the small chisels in one direction to flatten. I don't know if this makes sense but, I push the chisel down the length of the paper and stop. I then pick it up and return it to the starting point and do the same thing over and over until it is flat. I don't have to do this on chisels that are larger. I just go back and forth on the paper.

    Thanks for all of the input on this thread. You guys saved me some money.

  6. #21
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    To stop this I only move the small chisels in one direction to flatten. I don't know if this makes sense but, I push the chisel down the length of the paper and stop. I then pick it up and return it to the starting point and do the same thing over and over until it is flat.
    For me with small chisels my strokes are along the axis of the chisel and not side to side. It is important to stop, pick up the chisel and move over a bit to pervent the abrasive wear pattern to influence the shape.

    As with all things ymmv.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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