Wanted: Slip Stone Recommendation

[Jeff Wright]

For those of you experienced in using slip stones to hone your turning tools, what stone would you recommend? As a new wood turner, many of the instructional books, videos and DVDs I've watched suggest using a slip stone.

[Bruce Pennell]

Jeff I use my flat diamond card, the finest grit (red). I got a set of three from HF (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=36799).$10. I did buy a wet slip stone 1000 grit from grizzly, but don't use it. Lately I use a homemade hone, two 3/4" pieces of MDF,trued on the lathe and mounted to on old motor, takes only seconds on this. I find when I sharpen, I use the honing machine. For touch ups I keep the red or yellow card in my pocket, it only takes a few strokes on each side. You must be careful not to round the edges over. Hope this helps ...Bruce

[John Sheets]

Jeff,
I saw Alan Lacer do a demo and he's pretty heavy on honing, and of course his results cannot be argued with. He has a nice diamond slip that's very high quality and should last a long time. Look on his website. There are two "grits" available, one of which he recommends for turning tools. Other, if I remember, is for carving tools.

[Allen Neighbors]

I've been turning for 5 years now. I've wanted a good slip stone for about 4 years. I'm still confused about them. I use an MDF wheel on the inside of gouge flutes... but that's all I have. Now I have to make wheels for the Vee flutes I just received.
But I'm all ears (or eyes) for this thread. Thanks for asking.

[Terry Quiram]

I have to vote for Lacers diamond slip as well. It isn't cheap but it takes very little effort to put a razor edge on a gouge.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I am another one voting for Lacer's diamond slip. As Terry said not cheap at I think $45 but you can put a edge on a gouge.

[Jeff Wright]

Thanks for some great ideas guys! I will check out Alan Lacer's site for his slip stones. I got his videos and find his teaching very good. FAR less 'stuffy' than Raffan.

[Jeff Wright]

Egads!! Unless I'm mistaken, the diamond slip stone is $88 on Alan's website! I'll have to ponder that one. :(

[John Sheets]

You're not mistaken. It's $88, but you are also in the vortex. You'll buy it.

[Gordon Seto]

Ditto for the Lacer diamond slip stone. It is double sided and the long edges are rounded with diamond as well. You can use the same stone to hone the inside of flute. You don't have to worry that it got dropped like the oil slip stone. There is no other diamond stone that has these features. It also comes with a leather slip case. Yes, it is expensive, but worth it.

I asked Alan how durable his diamond stone is. He said he was still using his first one. (That was couple years ago at the KY Symposium)

[Jeff Moffett]

You're not mistaken. It's $88, but you are also in the vortex. You'll buy it.
:D:p:D:p Thanks for making my night, John!

[JerHall]

I have the Lacer Diamond stone. It does last but needs to be cleaned periodically with a scrubby and soap to get rid of the accumulated grit. A production turner, who had been turning since a teenager in a family business, introduced me to the Norton medium india stone, only $11.50 at Woodcraft item #07B05. The website is a bit confusing. It is a bit more agressive than the Lacer but works just fine. It also needs to be cleaned periodically. It breaks easily when dropped.

I really believe in hand honing. It is fast. It saves me easily 2/3 of my earlier trips to the grinder and gives me a superior edge for final cuts on gouges. It is essential for a skew. Hone all four interecting surfaces of the skew. It has to sharpened almost as well as a bench chisel. You have to hone both the flute and bevel of a gouge. Sharp is two equally smooth intersecting surfaces. So you have to hit the flute briefly also. I do the flute last and just one or two strokes exactly parallel to the flute. Since it is never ground it just needs a touch up. Hence the value of the two radii, large and small, on a slipstone: to fit the different flute sizes. It takes a little while to get the hang of honing, and consistently bridging the hollow grind to create a polished micro-bevel all the way around the edge.

Go with the $11.50 solution. Get a spare at some point. If you have money to spare the Lacer is sweet. But don't lose it or you will hating yourself!

[Jeff Wright]

. . . Go with the $11.50 solution. Get a spare at some point. If you have money to spare the Lacer is sweet. But don't lose it or you will hating yourself!

Let me show my ignorance about sharpening by asking: Do you use the India stone dry or wet?

[John Sheets]

Watch out, Jeff. You are about to increase the price of your Lacer slip to $99.50. ;)

[JerHall]

works fine for me. I think the oil and water is intended to move the grit out of the way and lead to a kind of continuous cleaning. Just wash and scrub it up when it's time, you will know.

[Dick Strauss]

One quick comment about the HF set Bruce mentioned....I eventually had the metal matrix come loose from the plastic backing due to it flexing too much on two of the three files. I may just have had a bad batch. If I did it again, I'd mount it to a block of wood for added stiffness to prevent the delamination.

Alan's diamond hones are very well made...