Sharpening Stones

[reddog5362]

I'm thinking of treating myself to some new Sharpening Stones for Christmas. I've got a set of oil stones that I've used for well over a decade and they're not as flat as they were nor as thick. I've flattened them several times. I'm trying to decide whether to go with the newer diamond stones from DMT or a set of water stones. What do you guys use for Benchstones and how do you like what you use?

[edflorence]

I really like my DMT "stones." Sharpening for me is done with either DMT stones or sandpaper on a dead flat stone surface or the SS sharpening jig and sanding disks, and usually some combination of all those. I do my turning tools on the SS jig, I do my planes and chisels on the sandpaper, and then use the DMT stones to freshen up an edge on any tool.

I just touched up my spindle gouge with the SS jig, followed with a few swipes with a DMT fine stone and was turning curlicue shavings off dried cherry. You will find that the world of sharpening is nearly as large as the world of woodworking and every sharpener, just as with every woodworker, has his/her favorite way of getting the job done. I would suggest trying the SS jig and a couple of DMT stones (medium, fine and maybe superfine) to start with. Some folks swear by waterstones and from what I hear that system works really, really well, but I have no experience with waterstones, having always been put off by the idea of that much water sloshing around in the shop.

I am sure you will get a different answer on the subject of sharpening from every one you ask, but that's mine and hopefully it will be helpful.

[reible]

I'm a fan of sandpaper on optically flat glass, and the shopsmith stripsander version jig. I have a bunch of stones that have sat in boxes since the mid 1970's when I learned how to prepare glass fiber ends.... but that is another story.

I do have some touch up diamond sticks that I use, they are great. I have however added to my wish list a larger more solid version, say 2" x 6" and in just "fine" for some sharpening. It sounds like I'll like it, so it is on my list.

As has been noted it is each to his/her own and even that changes. I use to work with a hand crank water bath wheel way back when cause I thought it was the best, now I have no idea why I thought that.

Ed

[forrestb]

The wheel creates a concave surface on the tool. It is easy to flatten just the tip and the heel by hand on a stone or diamond plate

The nice thing is that you are not removing lots of metal just at the pointy end and the heel. When you need to resharpen, go back to the flat plate and remove just a little more material. You can quickly recover a nice edge several times before going back to the wheel.

Forrest

[benush26]

I'll add more confusion to the mix!

I use wet dry sandpaper on tempered glass for general woodworking chisels (grits from 150 to 2000 three strips of varying grits on each side),

diamond impregnated vinyl strips on glass for fine edges on parting chisels and plane blades needing (or maybe wanting a micro bevel)(50, 10 and 0.3 microns) the 50 micron removes a lot of material very quickly, but the 10 is great for touch ups and then 0.3 for the last bit and micro bevel.

and I use the SS sharpening jig for lathe chisels but 6" circle discs made from 3/4" MDF mounted on a lathe plate and the I use the WorkSharp abrasives. I just went out and counted and I have 10 different discs (that I interchange on one lathe plate), 7 with varying grits of sandpaper (I think the coarse and fine sets), two with circle glass plates and VERY fine abrasives and one with a leather pad and a gray paste (cannot remember what grit and didn't take the time to try and find it, but I "think" 0.10 microns)

I think that when the diamond impregnated vinyl strips wear out (or tear a bit more - not very rugged and you have to pull every stroke = found pushing isn't the best ), I will switch to the DMT "stones". If they work like the vinyl strip I have, I'll truly enjoy them.

Just my 2 cents

Be well,

Ben

[billmayo]

I cannot even sharpen my knife free hand with any success. I find that I need some mechanical jig or tool to hold what I am sharpening and then use a very fine honing stone lightly to remove any burr or metal raised from the sharpening. I admire anyone who can hand sharpen or hone an edge on any thing. I get joiner knives that honing has rounded the ends of the knives so I have to sand more off the knives to even the edge using my Shopsmith sharpening setup. Yes, I do joiner and planer knife sharpening if anyone has a need.

[terrydowning]

I have the EZE-Lap 3 x 8 diamond stones in Coarse, Fine and Super Fine.

They're always flat and work great for my chisels and plane irons.

I also have some DMT small stones and credit card size sharpeners which are great for touching up and in small/tight spaces like the jointer blades. Super easy to touch up with a credit card size diamond plate.

[reddog5362]

It's really kind of amazing how many ways there are to form an angle on a piece of steel. I have one of the old Tormek systems that I use for my turning tools and it works fine for that. But I don't like the concave face it gives me for plane irons and chisels. I also find that the length of time it takes to set up deters me from honing while I'm working. That's why I've kept using the old oil stones as a bench honing system. With the new finer grits available in the DMT plates I'm thinking that may be the route I go. The ease of cleaning and durability are pretty appealing to me for a set of stones that are going to sit on my bench while I'm working. I appreciate the input and really do find it interesting how many different methods we use to achieve the same end.