Jump to content
Maestronet Forums

Sharpening stones- what do you use?


Michael Doran

Recommended Posts

I'm very interested to see what people do to sharpen their gouges. 

For the outer edge I was taught to hollow grind and sharpen that side as usual on a flat stone--with a careful rolling motion....just as with finger plane blades. I no longer hollow grind as I'm too lazy and went a long spell without a grinder---I do have a simple grinder made from a 3 speed floor fan that I  use for initial shaping of knife blanks for people sometimes. As a kid I did a lot of lapidary work without any jigs.....it developed a skill to keep flat surfaces/facets which I apply to my sharpening of tools. For me it's faster than hollow grinding when the point is reached to do that.

For the inner curve I have sections of my stones rounded and just pull backwards to sharpen.

I was recently given a bunch of small Shapton cut-offs that I might shape for inner curves. I would just rest the gouge on my bench edge and move the small cut-off against the tool surface rather than the other way around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 61
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

You need some give or you'll only sharpen a minute area - basically what the steel "gives". MDF has a lot of dust in it. Scratches.

I glue one sheet of good copier paper on a piece of MDF. Copier paper is dust free. Use one of those positioning glues, non water based. Paper shrinks.

 

I like that idea ... how long does the paper last (impossible to be precise, I know).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonder how a flat strip of bamboo would work as a strop. I ran across this before. I think it's the silica contained in the bamboo that is the fine abrasive for the final stone polishing.

Final polishing for jade cabochons is often done with a piece of bamboo mounted on the end of a lathe. This photo was taken in Mogaung's jade market. lotusgemology.com

post-4943-0-33189900-1445003472_thumb.jpg


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Then I stumbled over Brent Beach's waterpaper on glass. Initially I was a bit skeptical - smacked of snake-oil - but gave it a try.

 

It works.

 

Yes, it works wonderfully for all flat surfaces - its the method I've been using now for about a decade.

Curved surfaces, well they're a different animal - whether flat with a curve or curved in profile - they are always a bit more complicated to sharpen...

 

 

I also really like this method.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have water stones, but I find myself using a Spyderco Sharpmaker for my knives, and sandpaper on glass for my chisels, gouges and plane blades. Faster, less messy, and an edge that will shave curls off the shank of one of my super-fine hairs or cut a hanging hair is sharp enough for me. They also have the advantage of use-anywhere portability for when I set up at festivals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought several 00 frictionite stones 40 years ago and have been using them ever since, with water. I have a collection of other stones but I just always seem to use these frictionite stones. I bought them straight from the lady that makes/sells them. I spoke with her briefly and she said they were her biggest sellers. I have heard of them being auctioned on ebay now for $250(!). I think they were $4-5 at the time. I found this interesting link to the history of these stones: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/495956-00-Frictionite-Razor-Hones-by-American-Hone-Co

Just looked those up and now I know that's what my uncle had when he was teaching me sharpening as a six year old kid. If I remember right, it was green on one side and maybe red on the other.....very smooth. I always wondered what kind of stone it was........kind of like very hard rouge as I remember.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...