Replies

1. 
   alanplanesaw | Feb 19, 2003 05:38am | #1

   Lee Valley has a 200.

   Alan

2. 
   Petey | Feb 19, 2003 07:01am | #2

   I keep my stones flat by rubbing them against each other. You might try a lapping plate and abbrasive powder for the backs of chisels and plane irons, or I've heard good things about diamond stones. Good Luck

3. 
   davearnone | Feb 19, 2003 08:48am | #3

   I flatten my waterstones on a 3/8" thick glass plate.  Got it as a rem from the local glass shop. 

   I lay a sheet of 220 wet or dry sandpaper on the glass, pour on a heavy puddle of water, and move the stone in a figure 8 pattern.  

   The stones get visibly flat within a couple of minutes. 

   To flatten the back of a chisel, I use that same 220 sheet of paper and a puddle of water on the glass.  It the quickest way i have found.  Once the back is flat I'll go through sheets of 320 and 400 before switching back to the stones.

1. 
   doc1 | Feb 19, 2003 07:30pm | #4

   I like the porter cable self stick sandpaper--just rip off a section of 120 or 220 and stick it to your jointer bed and that will give you a nice flat stone.  Then you can go up to 400 or 600.  For the finer side of your stone, I use a piece of Mylar or plastic and put pumice or rottenstone mixed with water on it and polish it out with that.  The reason plastic works better than glass is because the abrasive embeds in the plastic whereas the glass just allows the abrasive to roll around.  Happy flattening!

4. 
   RW | Feb 20, 2003 12:23am | #5

   You can also buy a ceramic contraption from Woodcraft that is supposed to keep your waterstones flat and true. To reduce the wear on such a fine grit stone, perhaps an investment in diamond stones would aid & abet in getting the worst of it out when sharpening tools, and you can save the waterstones for the final few licks. Incidentally, you can use a diamond stone to flatten a waterstone, now that I think about it.

   " To the noble mind / Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind" - Wm Shakespeare, Hamlet, III,i,100

5. 
   SgianDubh | Feb 20, 2003 03:47am | #6

   Nothing fancy generally needed, guys. Got a cinder block (US) or breeze block (UK) kicking about? Flop it on its side and rub your waterstone on the face. It takes about 20-30 seconds to to do the job usually.

   Just double check with a reasonably reliable straight edge that the face of the block is actually flat in the first place. Most are, but the occasional clunker gets through. Clean the choked block--after many flattenings-- with a jet of water from a hose pipe. Slainte.

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