When buying tools I usually purchase the best I can afford. Recently I purchased an 8 x 3 diamond stone that was a lot cheaper than I expected. However I have found that it is not flat... Miles out in fact...
So are the more expensive varieties flat? Or are they all like this? What would be a good make to go for that is flat?
Many thanks, Roy
I've been using an old 8"x2 1/2" combination oil stone which cost about 5bob 30 years ago and its worn curved both ways but this is no prob. It will probably see me out. Its a bit of a myth all this trying for precision engineering perfection with sharpening wood tools. It doesn't matter if a chisel has a slight curve across the blade. A plane actually needs a curve - if too straight then you get blade corner marks etc unless you are only planing edges narrower than the blade. £80 for a sharpening stone is about £75 more than you really need to spend in a lifetime!
cheers
Jacob
flat...
Ditto here. I had previously bought the miniature (2" x 1" ?) DMT stones at someting like £8 or £9 each and they are flat, as well as having surfaces with a finer grain. Comparing similar grit ratings, the cheap stones feel far coarser.
However, the cheap ones seem to do the job adequately. The effect of the curvature will be the change the sharpening angle slightly, maybe not giving the same angle over the stone depending on how you are guiding the thing being sharpened (e.g. a guide rolling on the stone itself versus a guide rolling on something else) and whether the cuvature is even and how much it flexes in use.
I dun't think it makes a lot of difference for everyday things - especially if you don't use any sort of guide - but is possibly not up to standard if you are a cabinet maker or you are using it to flatten, say, the sole of a plane.
I frequently use mine freehand with a water spray to smooth off minor plaster and concrete - i.e. I pick it up, turn it upside down and use it as I would abrasvie paper on a block. Lack of flatness should be an issue here, but I can't say I can see a difference in the work.
W.
Gents... Many thanks for your responses.
I was using my stones to flatten the backs of chisels. I am sort of starting out on some woodworking courses and had been told that backs of chisels needed to be flat - for a couple of inches or so. I did not really understand why untill I was squaring off the shoulders of some practice joints. I was using a jig to ensure the shoulders were square. I found out then that the backs of my chisels were not flat. It made a made a big, big difference when I fixed one of them and tried again! I used a sheet of glass and Spray Mounted wet and dry. Hard work.... I have broken the bank and ordered a better quality stone - I was hoping that someone out there may have pointed me to a cheaper source!!!
Anyway, many thanks for your help. Roy
You are easily tired. I ground back about 1.5mm on a skew chisel, flattened the backs and sharpened two more and touched up another two chisels last weekend on a series of wet & Dry from 80G to 1200G. Hard work? nope, quite relaxing in fact, and if it wasn't for the black hands afterwards entirely pleasurable, and cheap. Also I don't need to buy huge stones to accomodate the iron on my #7 Stanley try plane, last time at looked at the prices of stones big enough I nearly fainted.
Peter
Peter, You're right - It wasn't that hard - I was exagerating. And I agree - very relaxing and satisfying. The fact of the matter is that I ran out of the coarser W&D (it does wear out quickly) and then it becomes a pain... At least the DMT won't need replacing as often :-) Roy
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