The One Stone Challenge

[David Weaver]

Maybe more of a challenge for everyone else, I've pretty much been following it already.

But by the one stone challenge, I mean picking one stone (that you already have) that you will use for your entire sharpening process, and using it for everything (all of your planes, all of your chisels). And no breaking from it to cheat with any other stones.

You're allowed two other things:
* a grinder or a coarse stone if you don't like to use a grinder, but only one, not two coarse stones, etc.
* some kind of bare strop with no compound. Leather would probably be best, but folded newspaper or burnished MDF would also work. Some kind of strop is needed if you're using a stone that's got enough bite to remove wear from the edge of a tool.

You can slurry your stone or whatever is needed to make things work.

I've been working almost entirely with a single washita stone, but I've got other stones that I could do it with if I was willing to let them settle in (some of the modern arkansas stones that are called "hard arkansas" but not translucent or black, a 1200 sigma power II, a fine india, a bester 2k, ...).

Anyone up for it?

One of my woodworking buddies was raised by a father who was a carpenter in england. He had 4 planes and two stones in his box and he had pretty much worn the planes out. His two stones were a carborundum coarse stone and a soft arkansas or washita (I didn't know enough at the time to know what they were, and he threw them away - the fine stone was probably a washita).

[Steve Friedman]

I suppose a double sided stone would be cheating, huh?

David, interesting exercise, but kind of like trying to play a full round of golf with a 7 iron (Tin Cup reference). Might be fun to try once, but why not use the other clubs if it makes your job easier.

Or, what about prepping some stock with just one plane? I'm just trying to be funny, but I could probably flatten and smooth a board with a #7, but it would take a lot longer and involve a lot more work that doing the same thing with 3 planes. Same thing with stones. I could probably sharpen with one stone, but other than as an exercise, why would I want to when it's easier and quicker to use 3 . . .. or 4 . . . or 5 . . .?

Steve

[David Weaver]

Well, if you get a decent stone to do the exercise with, it's not nearly as bad as playing golf with one club. It's more an exercise in how to get the most out of a stone.

I haven't lost any time using one stone, but we'd obviously lose a LOT of time if we tried to dimension with one plane.

It's definitely quicker and easier to use one stone than it is to use 3 or more, though it does take a little experimentation.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Not much of a challenge David! Concave grind, washita and strop. Occasionally my translucent and my strop is charged with green compound.

[David Weaver]

You're right tony, with a good washita and a strop, it doesn't amount to much. A couple of my washitas (though I almost only use one of them) are knocking on the door of translucent sharpness, and because they do the same thing every time a little easier than the trans and there's no searching for angles when you use only one stone, I'd say it makes woodworking a more pleasant experience.

The next thing that I'm going to do with them is see if I can get a chisel at 25 degrees or more to pass the hanging hair test.

It's not unreasonable to get a half thousandth thick shaving out of a stock stanley sharpened with a washita stone. The shaving is a bit different than the same type of shaving out of a shapton 15k edge (the shapton is keener, and the shaving more waxy), but it still holds together and it's still only a half thousandth thick.

I like the feel of parers off of the settled in washita better than off of the shaptons. They are plenty sharp, but they have a more regulated feel in a cut where not overcutting matters. A shapton edge can get slippery paring a bevel.

There are other stones that should be able to do it. I know the hard ark from "natural whetstone" that I have is lacking some of the fineness you'd expect in a hard, but it has plenty of cutting ability to do the same as the washita after it's settled in and still be fine enough to shave hair. When I got that stone, it was $29 for a 10x3x1 stone, which I've since figured out is too big for practical purposes, but it should still illustrate that one stone might be better for general work than a whole lot of stones. It's quick!

[Sean Hughto]

While I used to use water stones a lot, and still use them occasionally, I pretty much always go to oil these days. Of my oilstones, my favorite is one a relative bought me at an antique place. I think she liked the craftsman made box with the leather glued to the top. But I have fallen in love with the stone inside. It is yellowish with mottled brown running through it and is fast cutting - its kind of weird how it does not seem hard like a black or translucent, but doesn't dish noticeably even with a good deal of use. I have no idea what it is, but can tell it is natural, and the box puts it from no later than the 30's I'd guess. I suppose I cheat as I finish with a green oxide charged strop - just a couple strokes to polish.

BTW, how can a stone be too big? To big to keep flat or what?

I flatten mine with the DMT plate. In fact that plate helped me see what this old stone was as it quickly cleaned off the aged dirt steel and hardened oil or kerosene that covered it when it came to me.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, too big to keep flat easily. It's nice if you can get the whole stone width covered with a plane iron or chisel back fairly easily, it keeps it from hollowing in the middle.

What works well freehand and what works well with a guide are two different things, though and the guide users probably are the reason we see 8x3 stones. I don't like oilstones with guides, you can't get the most out of them.

Can you take a picture of the surface of your stone? Washitas have a bit of the quality you're describing, they don't feel hard, but at the same time you can push an edge into them and not gouge them. I could gouge a charnley doing that, which is a fairly hard stone that's also novaculite like arkansas stones, but it's not as hard as the novaculites in the US. So the washitas must be pretty hard, despite the trade label on some of them as being soft. It's probably more that they're coarse.

[James Taglienti]

Sean's stone sounds like a washita... David you said some of your washitas near translucent in edge quality- I was candling some hard arks with a flashlight earlier (I know living on the edge right) - I candled a few washitas and surprisingly they transmitted some light too.

I'm wondering if I could handle this challenge with a grinder and a coarser coticule.

[David Weaver]

I have a coticule that I got from george that would do this if it's slurried. It says it's a barber deep rock stone on the label, but it's pretty coarse if it's been agitated and takes a lot of razor strokes on clear water before it settles down - it's very strong cutting.

Give it a shot. They have the abrasive shape to be good at this.

I'm sure the dirty looking stone that I linked a couple of days ago (that I've since lapped and cleaned) would transmit a lot of light. It looks like yellowed tooth enamel, and some of the others that I have (the woodworker's delight and probably this one pictured above don't have any translucense to them at all).

[Tony Zaffuto]

Let's go in a different direction for a moment: For the benefit of those fairly new to the trade/hobby, are there presently any new stones/suppliers that have a product that can achieve "one stone" results? With these new stones, what is the break in period?

For the record, I would suspect that a company such as Spyderco could come up with concoction that could approach a Pike Lily White.

[Chris Griggs]

Not at all the same as a Washita, but I would think you could use a Chosera 3k as a pretty good 1 stone solution. Aggressive enough that it will raise a burr, and the edge of it is pretty darn fine. Been a while since I've used a Cho 3k though ...do you still have yours Dave? Thoughts?

[David Weaver]

Let's go in a different direction for a moment: For the benefit of those fairly new to the trade/hobby, are there presently any new stones/suppliers that have a product that can achieve "one stone" results? With these new stones, what is the break in period?

For the record, I would suspect that a company such as Spyderco could come up with concoction that could approach a Pike Lily White.

I think the closest thing to a lilywhite in terms of edge finish would be an inexpensive "hard" arkansas from natural whetstone. All of the stone makers seem to have somewhat different stones when you get below the non-porous level. NW's hard will break in, but it's still got quite a bit of porosity. It is, of course, not as desirable to use as a lilywhite, but it's a lot cheaper. I haven't liked anything of dan's that wasn't their hardest stones (which aren't going to work for this), but their hardest stones are great.

Chosera 3k is good, it would give a few hones before needing a regrind.

I think probably a lot of the 5 micron type 3000/4000 stones that are floating around would be able to do it. I'd rather use a natural stone, though, because of how well the edge responds to a bare leather strop.

If spyderco made something between their medium and fine, it would do it - you could let it settle in like an oilstone.

[Sean Hughto]

stone is 8x2x1

[Chris Griggs]

That sure looks like a Washita to me Sean! Nice! That color pattern screams Pike mine.

I wish Norton would reopen that mine.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, that's a washita.