Sharpening stone box.

[Phil Mueller]

Beautifully done, Stewie. I think Garnet Shellac is going to have to be on my Christmas list. Would you mind sharing your application technique...cut, brush, wipe, padding (?) and finishing...sand, polishing compound, wax (?).

[Robert Engel]

Romancing the stone........

Wow I just keep mine in a drawer.

[Stewie Simpson]

Robert; maybe you should take some time out and make some dedicated boxes for those stones you have. Historically there is a long held tradition amongst woodworkers of storing their sharpening stones in there boxes. Large or small within project size, in makes no difference, as it provides an opportunity for the woodworker to commit to level of detail that will exhibit his/her depth of knowledge within their craft.

[Thomas Schneider]

Hi Stewie,

I think you stone boxes look fantastic! Thanks for sharing. I have a question, the pictures of the first stone look like you have the stone pitched from one end to the other, yet the pictures of the second stone look like it's not. What's the reason for the pitch?

Thanks
Tom.

[Stewie Simpson]

Thomas; the difference is in the bias of the 2 natural stones. The 1st stone (shown within the opening post) has a straight line thickness variation of a 1/4" along its length. The 2nd stone was of a constant thickness. The floors on the box mortises received a final cleaned out using a router plane. To do otherwise would have taken too much time.

Appreciate your feedback; Stewie.

[Stewie Simpson]

Revisited the 1st box and installed 2 brass clasp latches to lock the top lid down.

[Patrick Chase]

I should make mention, as there is a related post on the use of shellac. This 2 part Garnet Shellac mix (dewaxed) I am using was dated August 2015. Its been stored within a sealed jar and kept out of direct sunlight in a disused refrigerator in my workshop. On opening the jar to use on this sharpening box, the mix was as good as new, and will likely last another 12 months before its starts to going off. Had it been a mix using dewaxed Blonde Shellac, previous experience would indicate it would have well and truly expired beyond use, inside that same time frame. I can only assume the bleaching process used to create Blonde Shellac has a major impact on its shelf life.

Stewie;

Yes, that's right. Both dewaxing and bleaching are known to impact the shelf life of shellac. It can be stabilized to a degree though - Zinnser has some patents for what they do with their stuff.

[Patrick Chase]

Beautifully done, Stewie. I think Garnet Shellac is going to have to be on my Christmas list. Would you mind sharing your application technique...cut, brush, wipe, padding (?) and finishing...sand, polishing compound, wax (?).

I like the Garnet version of this stuff a lot:https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/...Flakes_Shellac.

[Stewie Simpson]

Yes, that's right. Both dewaxing and bleaching are known to impact the shelf life of shellac. It can be stabilized to a degree though - Zinnser has some patents for what they do with their stuff.

Patrick; not applicable in my case as I don't like premix shellac.