Post by mrgrimsdale on Nov 19, 2007 10:34:17 GMT
Feeling bored and it's a dull old morning so I thought I'd throw in some more sharpening bo**ocks ;D
There was a post a bit back abt flattening real stone stones, with a diamond stone I seem to recall.
I meant to respond so here it is better late than never.
There are at least 3 problems with flattening stones:
1 it removes a lot of stone so they wear out faster
2 It's a lot of work, another job - there's enough to do already if you want to keep stuff sharp
3 You need more kit of one sort or another; a diamond stone frinstance.
4 Flat stones produce dead straight blades - which in the case of a jack plane is a distinct disadvantage, and hasn't any particular advantage with all the other chisels/planes you might use.
So why do it?
The answer is of course - that you can't easily sharpen an edge on a less than flat stone, if you use a honing jig.
It's all about how to use a honing jig.
So instead of 1-4 above why not dump the honing jig and do it freehand. ;D ;D
You then find that:
1 It's a lot quicker.
2 It's a lot easier .
3 It needs less kit and so is a lot cheaper
4 Your stones will last a lot longer. You can keep the stone flattish enough by moving the blade about a lot
5 It's much easier to get a cambered blade
6 Your woodwork improves because your blades are likely to be sharper for more of the time as the process is quicker and easier.
And finally there is a less obvious advantages in freehand honing:
Because you can use a lot more pressure without a jig you can effectively use a finer stone for the same effort, with the result that:
7 Your blades will be a lot sharper
8 You can delay/defer grinding indefinitely, and so avoid distempering the steel, and prolong tool life.
;D ;D
cheers
Jacob
There was a post a bit back abt flattening real stone stones, with a diamond stone I seem to recall.
I meant to respond so here it is better late than never.
There are at least 3 problems with flattening stones:
1 it removes a lot of stone so they wear out faster
2 It's a lot of work, another job - there's enough to do already if you want to keep stuff sharp
3 You need more kit of one sort or another; a diamond stone frinstance.
4 Flat stones produce dead straight blades - which in the case of a jack plane is a distinct disadvantage, and hasn't any particular advantage with all the other chisels/planes you might use.
So why do it?
The answer is of course - that you can't easily sharpen an edge on a less than flat stone, if you use a honing jig.
It's all about how to use a honing jig.
So instead of 1-4 above why not dump the honing jig and do it freehand. ;D ;D
You then find that:
1 It's a lot quicker.
2 It's a lot easier .
3 It needs less kit and so is a lot cheaper
4 Your stones will last a lot longer. You can keep the stone flattish enough by moving the blade about a lot
5 It's much easier to get a cambered blade
6 Your woodwork improves because your blades are likely to be sharper for more of the time as the process is quicker and easier.
And finally there is a less obvious advantages in freehand honing:
Because you can use a lot more pressure without a jig you can effectively use a finer stone for the same effort, with the result that:
7 Your blades will be a lot sharper
8 You can delay/defer grinding indefinitely, and so avoid distempering the steel, and prolong tool life.
;D ;D
cheers
Jacob
;D ;D ;D
