All,
A few weeks ago I picked up a Norton oil stone..Cryst*sumpthing that measures about 12-14″ long..it cost all of $5. It’s flat across but swaybacked toward the middle quite a bit(maybe 1/8″+). I wasn’t expecting much from this stone but I must confess it works on truning tools and chisels fairly well…and, quite frankly, the smell of oil with steel just seems right. At any rate, now I want to flatten the stone. I’ll go through a ton of W&D sandpaper if I try to do it that way..and while I have been eyeing a cinder block, I think Sgian was kidding about that solution. Any suggestions?
Replies
try a course grit sanding belt to get the worst of it flat... then switch to wet-n-dry to bring it home...
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Mike,
Thanks for reminding me of the belt sander. I've got quite a few belts with nothing to do...
I ummm..... didn't mean the belt should be in the sander at the time... far from it..
cut out the splice and glue the belt to a flat surface... infinately usefull thing...
hope I didn't cause any confusion...Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Mike,
Sorry I misinterpreted, but I gotta believe if it didn't work on the belt sander things won't improve much by cutting it open and gluing it to a piece of granite..do you think?
On the stuff you make for Santa, do you write the assembly instructions?...he.he
On the stuff you make for Santa, do you write the assembly instructions?...he.he
ummmmmm.... lemme put it this way.... I dinna care that we don't have the 1st thru 4th ammendments this side of the pond... I'm pleadin the 5th on that one....
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
if it didn't work on the belt sander things won't improve much by cutting it open and gluing it to a piece of granite..
High speed and friction will kill the belt.. Your hand sanding.. It WILL last MUCH longer...
Will,
The belt gets all clogged up with oily crap...and just stops cutting. I'd clean it and within seconds it was clogged again. This was a $5 dollar investment...doesn't make sense to spend hours trying to get it flat for plane blades...I'll just use it for things that don't require a big flat surface and buy something else for the blades.
geeee. I been wrong before.. But why give up now??
Get a cinder block.. LOL.. Not at you.. With you! Cinder blocks work OK if ya can find a old one.. New ones made these days are to smooth...
Edited 6/21/2005 2:27 pm ET by Will George
I bought a 'mystery lot' at auction and found several old oilstones -- including a welsh slate one. They were all badly dipped [hey, what can you expect for $2?] and I bought a cheap chinese oilstone, cramped the good stone in the vice and rubbed it with the cheap stone, using oil as a lubricant. It worked like a dream and let me tell you the welsh slate is so hard and fine that I use it to put a shaving edge on my straight razor.
IanDG
IanDG,
Yes, I got mine at an antique tool auction too, or I should say the parking lot where about 100 vendors had set up. What gets me, just a few strokes on the stone with a chisel and it was significantly improved...if your of a bit on the angle just correct it.
I've got to be careful though, my wife says i'm just a shopping cart away from being a street person... thanks of the suggestion.
If 60 or 40 grit paper won't do it in ten minutes or so then the stone is garbage.
Crystolon stones are man-made and are not worth the effort. A Lily-White ####*a or other Arkansas stone would be a different matter.
Had to put the asterisk in the name as the forum automatically sanitizes.
Edited 6/13/2005 1:06 pm ET by cstan
cstan,
I had a sheet of 60 grit which did dent it a bit but just don't feel like spending more on 60 grit paper. I tried the belt sander with 100 grit(two belts) for about 20 minutes and then the back side of a piece of granite...very little impact. I'm giving up on trying to flattening it..used it to clean up a 5-in-1 tool and it still somewhat useful for turning tools and odd tasks (garden tools). I did free hand sharpen a chisel and it was fast..so there must be some good spots left on the stone. Somewhere I've got an old oil stone from my dad, if I find that I may try Ian's trick..
Natural stones are worth the effort when required. Happily, they usually stay flat if the previous user knew shi* from Shinola.
If you've determined that you need a Crystolon stone, I'd simply buy a new one. Again, they are man-made and not terribly expensive. They are not heirloom stones by any stretch of the imagination or by anybody's definition.
cstan,
I may pick up a medium grit oil stone just to get away from all the sandpaper and the slop and glop of the set up. It seems every time I turn around there is some grit I'm missing and its off to the automotive store..gees. I've been looking for used stuff at swaps and am surprised how few there are in that market. New makes more sense when I think about it.
You won't be sorry.
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