Shapton 8000k stone questions

[Mike Cherry]

I have had some local people extend their willingness to help with other matters before, perhaps I'll ask them. Thanks Prashun. So you noticed a significant change when being much more careful when moving between stones? Was this your moment when it all started working for you?

Im starting to think I should just use the scary sharp for flattening the backs and only use my stones for honing.

[Prashun Patel]

The shiny thing seems to have been an issue of wiping for me.
The sharp thing was/is a matter of practice and patience. The more (and more frequently) I do it, the easier it gets. I'm still not there, but I'm further than I was a year ago

One thing I notice on your pictures is perhaps you are trying to flatten TOO MUCH of the back. Have you tried only working the area 1/2" from the tip? It just may be that you're not spending long enough on the coarse stone to get the whole back in a state that can be polished by the higher grits. When doing a whole back, it can take a long time. (I use a Worksharp for that, but I wouldn't recommend you buy yet another device.) Beware when doing this that you don't create a back bevel. That's a no-no on chisels I hear. I believe you want a large enough flat area to serve as a reference when paring.

Are you able to get your bevel shiny? That's usually a lot easier to do, and especially easy to do if you are only honing a micro bevel.

I will try to take a pic tonight of my chisel back. They aren't pretty, but the area near the tip is flat and shiny.

[Mike Cherry]

Yea I am certainly able to get highly polished on the bevel normally. Which I guess is what causes my frustration with the backs of blades because I know my stones are capable of shiny. I'm just. It getting them there. When I look at what I just stated, perhaps it makes sense that I am not completely flat and therefore not getting shiny on the backs.

[David Weaver]

I wonder if those scratches are from a prior stone, or if they're occurring on your final stone because of contamination or a problem. We'll never know until you clean everything off and work one of those chisel backs for an hour with no improvement. Those lines should disappear earlier than that, though, if they're from a prior stone.

I wouldn't do it, though - I'd just use the tools, and if the lines would come out, they'll eventually do it just from successive polishing of the back as part of the sharpening.

[Prashun Patel]

Do you have coarse sandpaper (150,240,600) and a flat stone or glass that you scary sharp flatten the back with first? I suppose the 1000 is just too fine to flatten a large surface efficiently with.
You might be able to try using your flattening plate this once - just to test the theory. I suppose long term it's not a good idea.

[Daniel Rode]

If you really, really want it shiny, some green stropping compound on MDF will do the trick. I don't know that they will be any sharper but they will be shiny.

[David Weaver]

If you really, really want it shiny, some green stropping compound on MDF will do the trick. I don't know that they will be any sharper but they will be shiny.

The wax in those sticks hides the scratches a little, too. Autosol also does that, makes the polish look better because it has a slick of stuff in it that fills the grooves.

For anyone playing, by the way, autosol on MDF is a fantastic polisher for the backs of tools. Just a bit of care needed on the MDF not to run the end of the tool in the middle of the MDF for a while and develop sway in the middle or the chisel, etc will get a microbelly. The only detriment to autosol (which I believe is closely graded 3 micron aluminum oxide) is the black coating that it leaves on tools. That comes off of the back of a chisel and onto whatever's being chiseled - looks like soot.

[Mike Cherry]

I don't know, I have a strop coming Ill try that out. I think I am going to try really hard and just leave good enough alone. The tools are sharp and in the end I'd rather be working wood than polishing metal. Thanks for trying to get me sorted everyone. I'm sure I'll get there one day haha.