Grinding advise needed

[Peter Gavin]

I finally felt that I was getting a sharp edge on my plane blades and chisels this weekend! Yipee!! I've got the bald spots on my forearm to prove it too. I'm using a 4000-8000 oil stone (I think) and finishing up honing with green rouge on a felt pad. My problem is that one of my plane blades had some chips on the edge and it took Way Too Long to grind the edge back to behind the chip. What do you recomend for a quick and easy way to reshape metal? I don't like using my dry grinder (I guess I'm scared of it) and I don't have the money for a Tormek et al. Would the DMT Coarse diamond plate do the trick? I would like to get something from Amazon because I have a gift certificate to use up there.

Thanks for the advise.

Peter

[Brett Baldwin]

You're grinding wheel and a nearby bucket of water would really be fastest. Just take light passes across the wheel and then down in the bucket to cool down. The thing you are avoiding there is blueing the metal. If you keep dipping the iron into the bucket to cool the metal, it shouldn't take more than a minute or two to get beyond the chips.

[tod evans]

peter, i head straight to the belt sander if i get chips....02 tod

[Peter Gavin]

Doh!! Why didn't I think of the belt sander. Problem solved.

Peter

[Hank Knight]

Peter, I tried the scary sharp method and eventually discarded it for Norton water stones. I do, however, find that coarse aluminum oxide paper on glass is about as fast a way to safely reshape an edge as there is. I use a grinder too, but if I want real control over what I'm doing and don't mind spending a little extra time, I'll use glass on sandpaper to shape the edge and finish up on the water stones.

My $.02

Hank

[Peter Gavin]

Hank,

I've really found that I like the edge I get with oilstones better than scary sharp or waterstones. Plus, apparently oilstones don't dish as fast as watrerstones. THey do get kind of messy though, but I'll put up with that.

Peter

[Hank Knight]

Hank,

I've really found that I like the edge I get with oilstones better than scary sharp or waterstones. Plus, apparently oilstones don't dish as fast as watrerstones. THey do get kind of messy though, but I'll put up with that.

Peter

Peter,

I have recently resurrected my oilstones and started using them again. I acquired a large surgical balck Arkansas stone and I'm trying it out. I can't seem to get a high polish with it like I do with my 8,000 Norton water stone. You're right about the dishing. It's nice not to have to flatten the stones every time I use them. My comments about shaping a bevel with sandpaper and glass would still apply using oil stones to finish with. Sandpaper is a lot faster than a coarse carborundum stone - at least it is for me. It's not as fast as a grinder, but you don't have to worry about burning. Like most things, it's a trade-off.

[harry strasil]

I have been following this thread but have stayed away from posting as I don't use water stones, and just use wet dry paper on my table saw table and then work on an oil stone, then strop on the rough side of a piece of leather and finish the very tip on the slick side that I have rubbed with jewlers rouge. But then I am old fashioned too. I don't use sharpening jigs either just my hands.

[Peter Gavin]

I agree about the coarse paper on glass for rough shaping, but it was still taking too long with several deep chips. Now that I've remembered (thanks Tod) about one of the reasons I bought the belt/disc sander I'm good to go. I agree that the oil stones don't give a highly polished edge- that's what the jeweler's rouge on the felt disc is for. It works for me.

Peter