Hi,
I use Norton waterstones for sharpening and was just wondering if a Nagura stone could be used to create a slurry on my 8000 grit norton stone. I know they are used on Japanese waterstones. Perhaps they are not necessary if you use synthetic norton water stones.
wanda
Replies
Also for truing
Wanda,
I use that nagura stone on my Norton 8000x stone. It does create a slurry and also works to expose fresh abrasive and flatten the stone to a degree (between more thorough/accurate truning with my diamond stone).
Neccessary? No. Helpful? Yes.
Chris,
to create a good slurry on your waterstone quickly, you can put a circular sanding head on an electric drill, and use 80 grit sandpaper. But that threw the slurry all over the place, so I switched to using a belt sander. That only throws the slurry in one direction. You can build a "catcher" to catch the slurry and pour it back onto the stone. I did notice that this reduced the number of times I could reuse my waterstone to about ten. So now I work without a slurry.
By the way, since you are from Canada, here is another hint that is almost as useful as my first one. For background music in the shop, use the soundtracks from the old "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" series. Or you could use the music of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald.
All seriousness aside, I gave a two hour "lesson" on fettling handplanes at Woodcraft yesterday. It was fun. One guy who is just getting into hand tools brought in some of his old planes that he had fettled. He had flattened the soles and taken them down to 2000 grit sandpaper. Same with the backs of the irons. They were like mirrors. I hinted that he really didn't need to do to 2000 grit, but he really has his heart set on it, and I didn't want to discourage him. So I asked him if he had been using his planes. He said that he tried but that one kept clogging up. I looked at it. He had "fetled" the bottom of the chipbreaker, down to 2000 grit, and it was very shiny, but he had done it at an obtuse angle, so that the front edge of the chipbreaker was a bit "up" from the blade, and wood kept getting stuck there. He was upbeat, and said that he would fix that as soon as he got home.
It was a fun session -- about 20 folks showed up - no charge to them. After we went through the fettling discussion for an hour, someone asked about actually using a plane, so we went through a bit of that. Then someone asked about "flattening a board", and that led to "four squaring" boards. Needless to say, we didn't cover that completely, but I gave them an overview, and showed them a couple of books and articles that would be helpful. I told them that if they want a session on that, to just ask the manager, and maybe he'd set up one for the near future.
I like this venue of giving two-hour demos with question and answer sessions at no charge.
Have fun. ( and be sure to use your belt sander for making a slurry. :-)
Mel
2000x?!?
Mel,
20 people for a 2-hour demo sounds like a pretty good turnout. What does a sole flattened on 2000x sandpaper look like? Wow, he must have been bored without a board.
I have a new business idea that makes good use of my waste. I will collect all the slurry I create sharpening and sell it in a convenient bottle, saving other woodworkers the need to decide between and invest in either a nagura or diamond stone. If sales climb, I might have to borrow your beltsander technique and a funnel.
+1 nagura
Nagura on Nortons
Wanda,
I agree with what Chris wrote, I find that both my 4000 grit and 8000 grit Nortons work better when I use a nagura to raise a fresh slurry periodically. It brings up a fresh cutting surface on the stone and evens out the wear a bit. I don't remember where I ordered mine but it is about time for a new one.
Chris
Thanks for the input guys, I was thinking of ordering a nagura stone from LV . I think they have it listed for $10.00
wanda
Herte is an alternative to an nagura.
As I understand it, the nagura is simply a hard stone, often referred to as "chalky", that simply creates a slurry on the surface of the stone. The fact that one is introducing another wearable medium into the equation can affect the results - some naguras leave a residue on the finishing stone, and this affects the finish.
Try using instead a diamond stone to create a slurry. This has worked well for me in the past (I do not use one with Shaptons).
Regards from Perth
Derek
Diamond as nagura
Intersting idea Derek. Have you tried a Nagura before? When using a diamond stone to flatten my 8000x, I always rinse both off before proceeding. But I will have to try working with the slurry.
Hi Chris
I used to use Kings and a nagura with the 8000 Gold. About a year before I switched to Shaptons (about 3 years ago) I began using the diamond stone (400 grit as I recall) instead of the nagura. I found it much easier to create a slurry this way.
Regards from Perth
Derek
slurry effect
I'm skeptical about how much the slurry actually contributes to the sharpening process. I guess it does break down to create an even finer abrasive than the 8000 grit stone, so would add to the polishing, and somewhat to the edge, but probably not much. What using the nagura does do is remove glazing from my finest stone while minimally effecting the flatness, and expose fresh abrasive, and lengthen the time before more definitive flattening with sandpaper on glass. I use it on the 8000 only.
John
Chris,
When you make your box which holds slurry, be sure to put fringe on the top of the box.
Then you will have "The Slurry with the Fringe on Top"
You may be too young to get my weak attempt at humor. If so, look up:
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=surrey+with+the+fringe+on+top&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Have fun.
Mel
Value of Slurry
John,
I suspect you are right - the nagura is more valuable for removing the glazing on the stone than for the slurry that it creates, at least in my experience. I find that both my 4000 grit and 8000 grit Nortons tend to get glazed and clogged up pretty quickly. I can go over then 2 or 3 times with the nagura and remove most of the black stuff without resorting to taking them to the sink and employing the coarse diamond stone.
That said, sharpening seems to be one of those tasks where there are many ways to skin the cat.
Chris
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