Hi All. My sister is giving her 13 year old a block plane for Christmas
- I'll be sending him one of my type 12 Stanley #3's for his summertime birthday. The block plane will be his first tool with a large blade and I'd like to give him a sharpening stone to go along with it. I'm thinking a combination stone to keep costs down and simplicity and convenience up.
I use a combo coarse/fine Norton India and a couple finer ceramic stones for my bench needs. I'm considering getting him the Norton combo stone as well, but I'm not sure he (or his mom and dad) would be too thrilled with using and keeping kerosene or oil around for the stone. That leads me to waterstones, but I have no experience with them. I see there are combo waterstones in the 8"x2" size in (250/1000) grits and (1000/6000) grits - both of which are in my $20-25 price range.
Any comments oil vs. water for a first-time sharpener as well as which grit if I go with the waterstones?
Also, please don't suggest the "scary sharp" sandpaper methods - I'm looking for a "real" stone that he can keep for a long time without the need to keep a selection of supplies on hand.