mbcabinetmaker wrote:Why water stones? I admit I was on the waterstone bandwagon way back in 80's and that is pretty much all I have used for my wood working tools since. The waterstones are messy and I have always dreaded pulling them out, cleaning them up and making sure I got all the water including finger prints cleaned off to prevent rusting my expensive tools. I have always used oil stones that I inherited from an uncle for my pocket knives and such. They were already badly dished out from years of use but worked fine for the Case XX. Christmas of 2013 my wife and I treated ourselves to a new set of J.A. HENCKELS kitchen knives and I ordered a new Norton oil stone system. Being the way I am (bigger is always better) I ordered the IM313 With the 2 1/2" x 11 1/2" stones. I was impressed at how massive it was and just could not bring myself to use it for sharpening knives and dishing the stones so it sat unused in my sharping cabinet for about a year.
Back before Christmas I was working on a project and need my smallest block plane. I mostly use it for breaking the edges of banded plywood so it is never really sharp. I went over to the sharping bench and on a whelm pulled out the IM313. It came with a course, medium and fine stone. Now the course and medium were fine if you were sharpening axes and machetes and the fine was what i would consider course but I used the finer of the 3 to quickly freehand sharpen the plane blade. I was really surprised at how quickly the stone cut and even being that course the plane worked great. It took less than a minuet and no Water.
I have since ordered a soft and hard Arkansas stone to replace the 2 courser stones (in the back ground of above picture. I plan to build a simple wooden jig to use them in the event I need to hone out a nick or sharpen an ax!
Now this is sharp! I can pull it out and sharpen any tool quickly and just wipe the excess oil with a paper towel. No more rusty tools and I will never go back to water stones.
Oh and those old dished out oil stones still work great on the new kitchen knives.
Well thanks for that confirmation! I've been using that same sharpener for decades on just about all my blades from the kitchen to the backpack to the pocket (no axes).
I just recently started playing with wood I inherited my Dad's one chisel and one block plane. They had been neglected for a long time. In fact, I suspect a renter used the chisel as a screwdriver or a pry bar. But I was able to bring both of them back to life using that multi-stone. Definitely not honed to crazy sharp for planes & chisels, but I ran out of patients. I can normally sharpen a knife that will just about drop through a loaf of bread.
I'll likely try some other things on the chisel/plane blades - maybe. I never thought about getting the Arkansas stones for the Norton. Maybe I'll get another dedicated to the shop and do just that. I'm taking longer than I wanted to set up a little garage SS shop, so we'll see.
BiminiTwist Check out these folks if you do decide to order. They have the best prices I could find, all products you could want and fast free shipping. I have ordered from them twice with great results.
mountainbreeze wrote:Hi Mark. Hope your mom is doing well.
Thanks Bill. My sister is going to check on her today. I drove back last night because she was resting so well. She is at that stage where this is routine and there isn't much they can do. She is in an assisted living facility that she loves but I fear she wont be able to stay there much longer if these spells continue.
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Mark
2017 Power Pro Mark 7
2002 50th anniversary model 520
and a few other woodworking tools.
What are you making Mark? My guess is very sturdy bunk beds.
Jim
Hello from Somerset in the beautiful Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands.
Mark 7, Mark VII, Mark V 520, Mark V 510 x 2, Mark V 500
SPT's - Band Saw, Jig Saw, Belt Sander, Jointer, strip sander, Oscillating Sander, Speed Increaser
SS Freestanding - Pro Planer, Scroll Saw, Overarm Pin Router, Power Station, DC3000 x 2
Made for SS - Incra iBox, Ring Master
dusty wrote:This is the difference between myself and the pro. I don't see anything in that last image to hide.
Oh is is there alright. Like most things when one knows where it should be and what it is shaped like one can see 'it'. A casual observer would not notice.
I am sure with the ability to observe from more than a single vantage point(camera lens) would make it more discernible.
Look pretty damn good to me! What the stain will reveal????
Ahhh the joys of making 'furniture'!
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Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
and the fine was what i would consider course but I used the finer of the 3 to quickly freehand sharpen the plane blade. I was really surprised at how quickly the stone cut and even being that course the plane worked great. It took less than a minuet and no Water.
I can pull it out and sharpen any tool quickly and just wipe the excess oil with a paper towel. No more rusty tools and I will never go back to water stones.
