JosephThomas Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 I've been meaning to ask you guys about the sharpening stone I have... I have really just started getting my feet wet with hand tools, so I don't know much about it. It has 2 sides labeled "8000" and "4000" and says "made in japan" as you can see below, but there is nothing else written on it. I got this from a guy on craigslist when buying a few hand planes from him...99% of his other stuff had been bought at rockler, so I'm guessing this was from there as well. My question is, should I be worried about whether it's meant to be used with water or oil? Or can I just use either one? How do I know if it needs to be soaked ahead of time, and for how long? Sorry for the noob question. But doing an internet search is yielding more info than I can consume all in one sitting, so I thought I'd ask you guys...thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob493 Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 Its a king water stone. You "can" use oil, but water is best to get the slurry going. So, just use water imo. Its not expensive, those sell for like 30 bucks, but they work really well, and are some of my favorites. Soak it for a while, I just leave my stones submerged, but that does soften and shorten the lifespan of them. But i hate waiting.. 800/4000 never made much sense to me, but I would honestly buy a 1000/6000 stone set to compliment. 800 -> 1000 -> 4000 -> 6000. I normally just go 1000 to 6000 wtihout any issues, but a step between would be ideal. Amazon sells them cheap enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted May 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 Thanks bob! What's your favorite method for keeping the stones flat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Harvey Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 The best way is to flatten with a wide diamond stone. A three inch wide coarse or extra coarse diamond stone costs $50-$60 and is used to establish or correct blade bevels before honing on the water stones so is very useful anyway if you are buying used tools. Or you can buy a Norton flattening stone for <$30, they are made of very coarse hard carbide and will stay reference flat for a long time. The cheapskate method is using a sheet of the coarsest wet sandpaper you can find on a sheet of flat ground glass. If you can't find a piece of flat glass, use melemine coated shelving, it's usually very flat and is what Frank Klaus uses in his sharpening video. It helps if you develop a method of sharpening that minimizes uneven wear on the water stone. I use a guide and rub 50 strokes from stone center to just off the far edge, then rotate the stone 180 degrees and repeat. I'm trying to avoid the overused spot in the exact center of the stone. Get a small Nagura stone and rub around the edges when you start. That cuts down the high spots and develops an initial grit slurry which speeds things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob493 Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 As jim mentioned, I use a small diamond plate to square up my water stones. Its a painless process, and the sandpaper/glass trick works just as well to be honest. One thing, if you have blades wider than the stone, don't try to use it. It just doesn't work well enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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