An Introduction to Stones in the Machine Shop

[michaeljfaulkner]

sad thing is, that tool drawer is priceless, most people will never understand his points of view, we want to avoid the made in china state yet, he said "arkansas is fully mined out" this video is priceless for american tool makers of the future

[leosedf]

The best sharpening stone i've used is the Cretan stone. Unique in the world, never fails and makes razors. Very rare however.

[sarelle500gr]

Also you can clean your indian or silicon carbide stones with thinner. Also both indian, silicon carbide and ceramic stones tend to became clogged with use, as their particles bonded with very firm and hard binders. So they need to be resurfaced regularly. A coarse diamond stones is best here.

This is why I like japanese stones. They always serve optimum performance lifetime and dont need to be resurfacing.

[sarelle500gr]

I find arkansas, indian, silicon carbide, turkish oilstones to be unsatisfactory.

I also strongly suggest everyone to try sharpening tools with high grit sandpapers. Like matador brand in 2000 to 5000 grit. They are astonishingly good for any sharpening job.

[sarelle500gr]

While I dont tried 8000grit diamond stone yet, i find diamond stones to extremely helpful. They remain flat and clean. They cut extremely fast. They do a reasonably good job on the edges.

So in summary at workshop I sharpen my tools with diamond stones first, japanese watersones next. And a slight stropping on a hard leather.

At home I prefer ceramic stones as they give kitchen knives extreme polish without damaging the edge with their slow cutting action.

[sarelle500gr]

While japanese watersones do not polish as good as ceramic ones, they cut much faster with a high degree of polish. And ı find their shapening feeling on the stone is the best. Also who cares an extreme polish on a cutting tool, it will still get dull, and you dont need an extreme mirror surface for good results. I'm talking with ease cause I'm a luthier and have done some tests on different stones and sharpening angles.

[sarelle500gr]

I dont agree with most people. I dont find arkansas stones polishing properties good. I dont satisfied with black or translucent. Also their cutting action is extremely slow as they are high density oilstones.

For polishing ı find ceramic stones best. For me they are much better than japanese stones. But to achieve that they must be used dry and it takes long to sharpen and polish again.

[Axbent]

most japanesee waterstones are composites.