Tip for flattening waterstones

details please?

marketymarkmark

>i didn't see this post - can you point me toward it or give me some more details about how this is done?

thanks.

Re: Tip for flattening waterstones

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Hi Derek -

I too tried the drywall sheets, and have gone back to W/D sandpaper. I don't say this to detract from your point (or experience) because I've found so much of "success" in woodworking and related activities is technique dependent. It could just be that I used poor technique.

I only used my on my 220 Norton - and 3/8" glass. I found that a number of my drywall sheets were not flat. They had a rise in them in the middle. I assume that this rise got pressed down from the pressure of the stone but was never sure.

I also found that there was considerable swarf left on the surface of the stone making it difficult to see if my pencil grid lines had been removed by the flattening. I suppose if your sink was closer to your sharpening station than mine is, that wouldn't be as much of a problem.

I also had a hard time adhering the drywall mesh to the glass, so I ended up using two strips of wood on either side as a kind of batten. However this also left me uneasy feeling that this might not be the best way to keep the mesh flat.

Finally - and this is even more unscientific than the preceding - it seemed like I went throught my 220 faster when using the mesh than I did my subsequent one (I had a lot of blades to do) when I was using sandpaper.

I am thrilled that you had a positive experience. It may tempt me to try again (I still have left over meshing). Any details on what might be considered "technique" would be appreciated.

Regards -

Dave

Exact opposite of my experience

Russell Seaton

>I tried drywall sanding screen and sandpaper, Wet/Dry and regular aluminum oxide. Never could flatten a waterstone with these. Not the cheap soft 1000 grit and definitely not the Shapton stones. But silicon carbide of various grit sizes on a cast iron or steel plate flattens my waterstones very quickly and very easily. I've also tried rubbing the stones on a concrete sidewalk and against another stone. Didn't work.

Re: Tip for flattening waterstones

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Dave

A couple of points.

Firstly, I do not attempt to tape or stick the dry wall sheets down to the granite. They are held down by the suction from the water that comes off the wetted stones.

Secondly, the sheets I used were all flat as far as I could tell. I would rince them out and mop up the granite surface once the sheets appeared flooded.

Lastly, I used a straight edge on the stones after sanding and they were perfectly flat in all directions.

One suggestion is to look at your flattening technique. I took a tip from Mike Dunbar, who emphasized pushing DOWN on the sanding surface rather than pushing the plane (here the stone) ALONG the sanding surface. This reduced the possibility of tipping the stone.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Exact opposite of my experience

Steve knight

>shapton stones wear out the drywall sheets fast. I had just gotten a deal on it off of ebay before I got my first shapton stone. now I ahve a bunch of sheetrock paper and no need for it.

Re: Exact opposite of my experience

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Hi Steve

Do you think that Aussie dry wall sheets could be tougher than the USA equivalents, or are Shaptons so much harder than KIng stones?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Exact opposite of my experience

Dan Donaldson

>Can't speak to the drywall screen, but shaptons are definately a lot harder than King stones. I have some of both, and there is a lot of difference in them as far as hardness goes.

Re: Tip for flattening waterstones

kevin toomey

>I have the same luck with my granite lapping plate.

My technique is much like yours. Have everything close at hand when lapping and sharpening. It's easy to blow off a needed flatening if it's a drag to get to the sink, or set up to lap. Do what ya gotta do to have clean water and a place to spill into.(IMO)

I use norton 220 screens and follow with a few passes on 600 paper. I had noticed some "toothing" when paring and thought maybe the stones had minute ridges from the screen? Finish flattening with the 600 solved the problem so far, though maybe the root cause was something else, like a mishandled burr?

Sure these screens have inconsistant dimensions, so does the paper. Thats one part I try not to worry about, I just use a good brand and test the results.

If you have waited too long to flatten heavy pressure from above may speed things along, flip it end for end, time to time, then lighten up and let the stone ride as you get flatter, two hands are better than one mostly, eventually there is too much suction and the sheet gets dragged along so one hands keeps that still.

If things dont seem right when sharpening, I'll check the stone with a straight edge.

These are King waterstones.