King waterstone

[Jorge Castañeda]

Hello,
I was out in a tool outlet today and they had a clearence table, a japanese waterstone, 8000 grit jumped to my hand and came home with me. It is a King stone, and other than that word the rest of the box is in japanese, so I have no idea what are the instructions if any .
It is a large stone, about 2" thick by 3" by 8" of a golden color and and a small other stone comes with it, mounted in a plastic base, at $30.00 I couldn't pass it.

Any does and don'ts? I never used waterstones before.
Thanks!
Jorge

[Tom Scott]

Assuming you are familiar with general sharpening procedures, there's not that much difference in water stones. As the name implies, water is used as the lubricant. Most people who use them a lot will keep them soaking in a plastic tub of water. The 8000 King is an extra-fine finishing-type stone. You don't really have to soak these constantly like you would the more coarse ones. Maybe 10 minutes before you start, you can start to soak, and keep water handy for the actual sharpening process to keep it from drying out.
The small stone you have is probably a Nagura. You rub this on the stone with water before you begin sharpening to create a slurry. This helps the polishing process.

Also, at some point you will need to flatten your stones, with either sandpaper on glass, a diamond stone, or other similar flat abrasive element.

Here is a link to a Japan Woodworker article on synthetic water stones that still applies The Japan Woodworker (http://www.japanwoodworker.com/wet.html) .

Here is another link to a good general sharpening article at The Museum of Woodworking Tools Museum Article (http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/index.html) .

Maybe someone else will chime in with a little more experience with some tips.

Good luck and enjoy those polished blades.

[Jorge Castañeda]

Tom,
Thanks for the explanation and the links. I am familiar with sharpening so there is no learning curve in there, my main concern was how to keep the stone in top shape, after reading in both links, I got the feeling that I will have to get other stones, maybe a 1000 and a 4000 to have a little system. I am looking forward to use them, specially with my japanese planes.
Thanks again
Jorge

[Tom Scott]

You are correct. To have a system you will need additional stones or grits to work your way up the the 8000. Your King is the final step of the process, and you need a few additional grits to get you to that point. The 1000 and 4000 would work well for that. If all you need is a little touch up, you can start at the 4000. If the edge needs major work, then start at the 1000 and work your way back through.

Tom

[Mike Shay]

Jorge,
Tom is right on about the stone.
One thing about the Nagura stone. Do all your shapening first. The Nagura stone is used to put a final polishing hone on your edge.
Also keep in mind that as you use your stone, you need to keep the surface flat. You can use another stone of courser grit rubbed on top of your 8000 grit stone after use to keep it flat.
Best to you,
Mike