Replies

1. 
   WoodRivWW | Mar 24, 2008 05:47am | #1

   It's my understanding that one of the advantages of water stones is that the surface grit comes loose continually keeping a "fresh" surface while sharpening. I've also heard the "slurry" that forms on the stone as you sharpen is an important part of the process. I use 1000, 4000, and 8000 Norton stones and have never had the "glazing" experience you described. I keep a spray bottle of water handy and regularly give the stones a spritz while I'm sharpening. I think since you said you are getting a nice edge on your blades, that everything is working fine.

1. 
   gmpatterson | Mar 24, 2008 08:56pm | #2

   Thanks.  I think I will try the spray bottle as well.  It will probably be easier than regularly dunking the stones back in water.

1. 
   xmike | Mar 24, 2008 11:17pm | #3

   I don't have a set yet, but the literature also mentions using something called a Nagura stone to create the slurry needed to keep the stone cutting nice and fast.

    

2. 
   nboucher | Mar 25, 2008 09:43pm | #4

   Greg, make sure that 1000-grit stone is flat. You may be missing some areas on the edge of the blade if the stone isn't kept dead flat throughout the sharpening process. When using my 1000-grit stone, I stop every few minutes to clean it off and test it for flatness with a straight edge. I find I have to flatten the coarser stones more often because more material is being removed. If the stone is dead flat, there's no need to clean it off while using it. As was mentioned, the slurry you're creating is doing a lot of work for you and you don't want to flush it off.

   The Nagura stone that was mentioned is usually only used on the 8000-grit stone to speed up the process of getting a slurry at that super-fine level.

   Norman

1. 
   gmpatterson | Mar 30, 2008 03:15am | #5

   Mike D, thanks for the info on the nagura.  I will get one here before too long but from what Norman says, it may not help me yet on the 1000 grit stone. 

   Norman, can you see the slurry on the 1000 grit stone?  I flattened it again this weekend on wet/dry sandpaper on a slab of granite.  In fact, I wanted to make sure that I hadn't badly glazed the surface so I made sure I cleaned off any rust that I saw on it.  Even with a totally fresh surface, I never built up a slurry that I could see/feel.  The filings seemed to float better but that was about it.  I can see a slurry develop on the rare occasions that I use the 220 grit side, but not the 1000.  Any advice?

   Thanks,

   Greg

1. 
   xmike | Mar 30, 2008 03:57am | #6

   Forgive me for asking a really dumb question, but you are soaking the stone in water (submerged) for a half hour or so before you use it, right?

   Mike D

2. 
   nboucher | Mar 30, 2008 04:17am | #7

   Greg, you won't see a sloppy slurry (try saying that 3 times fast), but you should see darker streaks and markings on the surface of the 1000 grit stone as metal is removed from the beveled edge of the plane iron. If your stone is flat and you have soaked your stone in water for at least 10 minutes before starting and you're applying firm pressure with your pointer fingers on the edge of the plane iron, you should be fine. The goal is to hone with the 1000 grit stone until you can feel a very slight wire edge come up on the back of the beveled edge. When you're starting out the wire edge can take a while to develop, but keep at it. It will form sooner or later, and only when you have the wire edge do you go on to the finer grit(s). Norman

3. 
   saschafer | Apr 01, 2008 04:11am | #8

   I have the same stones, and I agree that the 4000 stone has the best "feel." The gumming up of the 8000 stone seems to be something that happens with A2 steel; I don't really see it with other steels. Keeping the stone very wet helps.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   gmpatterson | Apr 04, 2008 05:43am | #9

   So A2 does that, huh?  Interesting...  Are old Stanley plane blades made out of A2 then?  Thanks for the tip with the water.  I will try to keep it more lubricated than usually recommended.  Even with the gumming, it still produces a nice polish.

   Greg

1. 
   saschafer | Apr 04, 2008 04:48pm | #10

   No, I don't think they had A2 steel back in the day. But some of the older (but not too old) blades are chrome-vanadium steel, and I think it's the chromium content that leads to the gumminess.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   dalefv | May 04, 2008 09:45pm | #11

   Hello!I have been using water stones for over 30 years. I think you may be confusing the slurry left by using the stone with the ability to take metal off the blade. Do not worry about what you are seeing left on the stone, look at the work it is doing on the blade. I used to figure that the lack of slurry ment that the blade was not being cut. I now know that different metals cut differently and look differently as they are being cut. Also remember that an 8000 grit stone is going to look like it is cutting off a lot more material that a larger grit stone. The cut material is smaller with the 8000 grit so it look like there is alot more of it. I have noticed with my 240 grit stones there is almost no metal looking material in the slurry. Actually the particles are larger and so there is not so much to see.Dale