Re: Rhetorical Questions?
William Duffield, on the Cohansey
>Sorry, Schwimm. I guess none of that came out the way I intended. I was trying to make a few, mostly unrelated points, and jumped around and it certainly came out confusing.
In the following, a new paragraph means a new point. It's all together here just so I don't have to punch the Post Response key more than once.
Re, Cadillacs. I would not fault anyone for restoring something like a hot pink '59 Caddy convertable and cruising around in it on weekends and other special events. That's a hobby, and if that's what makes him happy, and that's what he enjoys spending his discretionary time and money on, I'll encourage him, and even feel a bit of envy and a lot of admiration at what he has accomplished. The more glitz and chrome, the better. That's an important piece of American history, and some of that needs to be preserved.
We don't need to use cars like that to commute to work, or to run our businesses, because they are inefficient, and there are much better choices.
Regarding Cadillac reliability, statistics show that there are much more reliable cars out there. Even Joe, who I know is a Cadillac mechanic, I am sure will agree with that. There are also lots of cars with much lower reliability, so I shouldn't have picked on GM. Automobile reliability and price/performance doesn't have anything to do with the coice of sharpening systems, however. Hey, I even know Joe drives a Caddy. I suspect he got a good deal on it, and knows how to keep it running, just like my Corolla wagon.
Enough said about automobiles. I'm changing the subject.
I should not have tried to guess which sense of "cheap" you meant. I apologize. You are correct, torn and curled sandpaper does look cheap, in the worst sense of the word. It takes up a lot of room, and is difficult to hide, and is a PITA to work with. I think it's main advantage is low initial cost. It is quick and easy to set up, and when you want to try something better, it is easy to throw it away.
Now, I'm changing the subject again.
I am not disparaging the performance of Shaptons or any other waterstones. The number of woodworkers who recommend them makes me sure that excellent edges can be obtained from them. Once I got used to them, I probably would not mind using them at all.
Nor am I trying to say that waterstones are at a disadvantage because they are messy. All sharpening systems are messy, in different ways. I am also not trying to say that waterstones are unacceptable because you spend more time and effort flattening them. I don't know that. All sharpening systems require maintenance. It's up to each one of us to decide for ourselves what kinds of mess and what kind of maintenance schedule we are most comfortable with.
Do Shapton stones cut faster? Lots of people say they do. I don't know. What I do know is that, with the exception of the time it takes to flatten plane and chisel backs, there are other methods where the actual cutting time is completely insignificant in comparison to the other things that have to be done to sharpen, things like disassembling and reassembling the plane, keeping the medium flat, keeping the medium sharp and clean, walking over to the sharpening bench and back to the woodworking, dealing with contamination, cleaning up, discussing it on WC, grinding a hollow bevel, etc.
One final point that I guess I was least clear about: I probably should have just said this up front and then shut up. I think Shapton stones are very expensive, compared to other sharpening methods I have used and that I find to give excellent results and to work quickly, once I have gained an understanding of their idiosyncracies and have developed the necessary skills to use them. I realize that scrounging in flea markets and in the dumpsters behind manufacturing plants looking for scrap to make tools out of is not how a lot of people like to spend their discretionary time, but I don't have a lot of money to run out and try another expensive sharpening method, especially if I already have methods that are starting to work well for me.
OTOH, there are always new tools to sharpen, so if I'm going to keep learning new and better woodworking methods, I'm going to have to continue to expand my sharpening skills and methods, too. When I come up with another cheap trick, I'll be sure to let everyone on this forum know what I have discovered. I'll also try to let you know what it does well, and what it does poorly.
