I finally got me a Diamond/Waterstone.

[David Song]

So I took deliver of my Norton Water stone 1000/8000 and Diamond stone Duosharp C/XC today and sharpened my wife's knife followed by my chisels.

I have few questions.

-What does it mean when a person say "lapped" your chisel? I'm assuming it has somthing to do with the back of chisel but I'm not clear as to what it is or does.

-Do I have to use distilled water? or can it just be tab?

-Do I need to wet the Diamond duo sharp stone?

-after sharpening is done, I use sheet of lether to swipe my chisel back and forth. Is there anything else I need to do after the leather?

-What is the best way to store the two stones I got?


Thanks for the help, David

[Dave Samborski]

Nice choice on the stones David!

I just recently bought a Duosharp coarse/xtra-coarse stone also. Seems I was always reconditioning old, pitted tools. Works great doesn't it?

Lapping refers to hand honing, usually on the back side when sharpening. You want to hone the back side to as fine a finish as possible, just like the beveled side. You probably will only need to so this once, and later just to knock off the burr after sharpening on the bevel.

Any water is fine. The waterstone should be soaked until it is saturated before honing. Remember, the water is used to carry off the swarf, or tiny metal shavings. Use plenty of water on both stones, the diamond too.
I usually rub the tool with some wax after sharpening and drying just to seal against any oxidation.

If you're stropping, that's great. That is more than lots of folks do.

Wash (with water) and dry your stones to clean, and keep them in a safe, flat place. You don't want to damage them and risk them getting unflat, especially the expensive diamond.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[george wilson]

Use some silver polish on the leather.Not a whole lot. I prefer Simichrome. Lee Valley sells a green honing compound,which in reality is a buffing compound for stainless steel,but it is fine.

Just sparingly apply your polish or compound to the leather,and let the compound get really worn out before replacing it. I prefer to glue the leather onto a flat board so it doesn't curl up and round over the edge as toy are stropping.

[David Song]

I usually rub the tool with some wax after sharpening and drying just to seal against any oxidation.

Wash (with water) and dry your stones to clean, and keep them in a safe, flat place. You don't want to damage them and risk them getting unflat, especially the expensive diamond.

Hope this helps,
Dave

Thanks Dave!

When you say rub wax on the tool after sharpening to keep from oxidating, do I only put wax on the part that I sharpened or the whole steel? So if I am sharpening chisel, do I only rub the tip/bevel or do I wax the whole blade? if just the tip, what helps the non-waxed part not to oxidate?

Second, leaving stones in a flat place? How do you store it, i mean just leaving on the flat bench top or shelf is ok? or do you put small amount of weight on the top to help keeping flat? Or shuld I make a wooden case for it?

Stropping? I'm guessing the swipes on the leather is call stropping.

Thank you very much, David

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Dave!

When you say rub wax on the tool after sharpening to keep from oxidating, do I only put wax on the part that I sharpened or the whole steel? So if I am sharpening chisel, do I only rub the tip/bevel or do I wax the whole blade? if just the tip, what helps the non-waxed part not to oxidate?

Second, leaving stones in a flat place? How do you store it, i mean just leaving on the flat bench top or shelf is ok? or do you put small amount of weight on the top to help keeping flat? Or shuld I make a wooden case for it?

Stropping? I'm guessing the swipes on the leather is call stropping.

Thank you very much, David

David,

Welcome to the slope.

For my tools, there is a rag in my shop that is saturated with a wood polish of wax and oil. After cleaning a blade that has been sharpened, it gets rubbed all over with "the rag". It is OK to get it on the wood, because it is what I also use on the wood.

I usually just wipe my stones after rinsing and leave them on the bench. My shop has a small bench dedicated to sharpening. It seems on the average, a blade or two is getting worked on every day when time is spent in the shop.

Stropping is putting the final polished edge on a tool by swiping it across a strop usually made of leather and charged with a polishing compound. Many people have found other materials to use besides leather. Sometimes my blades get stropped, usually not.

jim

[Richard Dooling]

I'm settling in on my sharpening techniques and have started getting pretty consistent results, but I’m still frustrated with lapping the backs of plane irons. New stuff is generally OK but some of the older plane blades take a heck of a lot of work, especially when 90% of the surface is flat and getting that last bit means removing a lot (relatively speaking) of metal.

What is your favored approach to flattening 2” plus backs?

[Dave Samborski]

What is your favored approach to flattening 2” plus backs?

Awhile back, I bought a box of old planes from a workmate, and the irons were so pitted on the back - something terrible. On one of them, I spent 5 1/2 hours one day with sheets of emery cloth on a marble tile trying to get that backside smooth.
I recently picked up a Duosharp coarse/extracoarse diamond stone. That things cuts nice. Lot faster.

I saw in a book where one guy describes using a thin pocket ruler to prop up the tool to put a very slight bevel to the backside so you don't have to smooth the whole thing. Maybe just the 1/2-3/4" next to the sharp end.
Would work if you are consistent.

Storing stones? They go in a drawer in my Craftsman toolbox. I lined all the drawers with felt so as not to damage any edges.

[Jim Koepke]

What is your favored approach to flattening 2” plus backs?

Mostly a power sharpening set up is used for this. Otherwise, every time a blade is honed, it gets a little work on the back.

One thing that was kind of funny today about that is one of my chisels has an almost full mirror back. While cutting out a dado for a lap joint, the chisel was being used bevel down. Must have been sitting just right because the lamp overhead was reflecting off the back and giving me the darndest time of seeing what I was doing.

The backs of my tools are far from being perfectly lapped, but each time they get honed, they do come a little closer with a little time spent on the back.

A lot of used plane blades will have a line of bad pitting where the cap iron hits near the edge. Sometimes, it is just easier to grind past this.

jim