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Water Stones! Thanks C. Schwarz!

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Water Stones! Thanks C. Schwarz!

#1

Water Stones! Thanks C. Schwarz!

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

>Hi Folks.

Yesterday I said I wouldn't ask any more dumb questions about water stones. So I wont.

All I want to say is it (1000/6000 water stone) works great! After reading Chris' article in last Autumns issue of WoodWorking Magazine, I decided to give it a shot. Looked pretty simple to me. Last night I spent just a few minutes playing with it and it really was quick and easy.

I tried it with a 1/2" chisel. It was pretty sharp to begin with. Over the last few years I've been using expensive something or other micron paper I bought from JapanWoodWorker. Expensive and wears out almost immediately. Never again am I going to use sand paper to sharpen irons or chisels! With paper I was able to sharpen to the point were I could shave super thin savings off end grain. But it took a while (and repeatedly changing out paper) to get there. With this stone I was there in just a few minutes.

Now I'm looking forward to sharpening the rest of my chisels and irons.

What's a good primary and secondary bevel for something like a LN block plane used mostly for cleaning up end grain!

Well, maybe I'll keep the paper around for flattening the stone.

Thanks for every bodies help!

Joe

Re: Water Stones! Thanks C. Schwarz!

#2

Bevel angles

Christopher Schwarz

>Joe,

For a low-angle block plane designed for end-grain cuts, keep the bevel as shallow as you can. I use 25� with a 1� or 2� micro bevel.

I've found that A2 steel seems to be at its best at 30� (pure and unfoundered opinion!). So if you get premature edge crumbling, gradually raise the bevel until you find a balance between good cutting and reasonable edge life.

Chris, who still very much likes his 1,000/8,000 Norton.

Re: Water Stones! Thanks C. Schwarz!

#3

Chris - Speaking of Bevel angles

Joe Hurst

>Chris-

Your comment on crumbling reminded me of the problem I'm having with my Ashley chisles (long blades--they were on sale).

Did you encounter this problem during your chisel tests/subsequent use? Would adjusting the bevel to 30 stop the crumble?

For what it's worth, I'm not beating the tar outta these guys. My older Marples may not take as keen an edge and may dull faster, but honing is much easier than grinding.

-Joe

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