Preferred set of water stones

[Bill Kraus]

After reading the previous chisel post, I thought I would throw this out there.
It is time to replace my water stones and I would like to get some opinions. I have been using a set of King water stones for many years now. It seems that these stones are very soft and dish out very easily. This has been confirmed when I found a Fine Woodworking Magazine review of sharpening tones that stated that the King stones were the softest of the sets in their comparison. I realize that softer stones expose sharp abrasive quickly, but it seems these are a bit too soft, and I have to flatten them too often . I would be interested in the thoughts of the builders and repair people on the forum regarding their favorite water stones (diamond sharpening is a little steep for me price wise).

[JCave]

First off, why water? I'm real old school, it's oil for me. Not sure there's any difference in the actual stones.

[charles Tauber]

As with one's choice of chisels, there are many options for sharpening that will work. Which is the best is a matter or personal preference and to what one has been exposed. Sharpening, like fashion, has trends, with newer things and methods coming available and people adopting them. Sometimes newer things are an improvement, sometimes just a step sideways.

For the first decade or so of my woodworking, I used oil stones, including a surgical black hard Arkansa oil stone. I found oil stones slow and messy. In the next decade of so of my woodworking, I switched to water stones and would never return to oil stones, as I see no advantage to them. I find water stones slow, particularly for re-shaping edges, but not as slow as oil stones, and messy. I got tired of having to flatten the water stones after every use, which is required if one wants FLAT water stones, regardless of brand or cost. I use Norton brand, 1000, 4000 and 8000. (I don't use the 4000 in daily sharpening, just fettling irons and chisels and could probably be avoided if one is on a budget.) I still use the water stones for some tools.

Water stones are very different than oil stones: water stones cut faster, wear faster and, but for the higher grits, should be soaked in water prior to use. Oil stones do, eventually, clog with metal particles and need to be cleaned: they do, eventually, also need to be flattened. Water stones, as you've experienced, will provide years of use but do eventually need replacement.

Next, I tried diamond "stones". I find them faster, particularly at the coarser grits, though only a little less messy than oil or water stones. The price of a diamond stone isn't much beyond that of a good water stone. Unlike oil and water stones, one can sharpen carbide router bits/inserts on diamond stones. Diamond stones will last for many, many years and require essentially no maintenance or flattening.

As discussed in the thread on chisels, my current preference is a WorkSharp, which sells for about what a good set of water stones will run. It is fast, easy, requires only occasional maintenance - to change sandpaper - and pretty versatile.

One that I haven't tried, but is popular with some, are Shapton glass/ceramic "stones".

Then, of course, there is "scary sharp", that requires only a piece or two of float glass and a few sheets of sandpaper: about $20 investment. No flattening required.

One of the more interesting sharpening methods I've seen is MPower's "fast track" sharpening system. I have one, like it, but, rarely use it. It hasn't really caught-on. https://www.m-powertools.com/diamond...qg66e8f7g2l264

Anyway, I know you didn't ask for an overview of sharpening methods, but, my point is that there are many possible ways to do it. Water stones are fine, but good ones aren't inexpensive and can be comparably priced to diamond stones. Again, waterstones, regardless of price or brand, require flattening after each use: it's the nature of what they are. I was taught to use two 1000 grit water stones, each used to flatten the other, as well as flatten the finer stones. (A diamond stone works well for flattening as well, as can be faster.)

Lots of options. Fine Woodworking's test results are as good as any in assessing which water stones to buy.

[Howard Klepper]

I find it most convenient to use sandpaper on a granite surface plate, working dry. The B grade plates are more than good enough, and came way down in price about 25 years ago when they began to come from China. The method has been around since long before some guy gave it a name as if he had invented it.

I go from 1500 grit to an 8" MDF wheel on a 1725 rpm grinder, charged with green CrO2 compound. I take off the wheel guards (these wheels can't shatter) and turn the grinder around so the tool edge can point up--you must point the tool edge in the same direction the wheel is turning. For carving gouges (where a slightly convex bevel is acceptable or desirable) I have a hard wool felt wheel on the other side; same compound. I size a new wheel with shellac to harden it a bit more.

[JCave]

Truth is, we all use various sharpening tools, not just a stone. A favorite jewelers tool is a paint stick wrapped with what ever grit might be needed. I keep several on my bench with 80 - 3000 grit. I do like the granite idea, nice hard flat surface. I sharpen locals timber framing chisels using a belt sander.

[Carey]

King stones are fine, IMO. I mainly use and like Shapton 1500 and 5000, but
they need flattening, too, so they're not a silver bullet.
How are you flattening the stones you have? Atoma diamond plates, like the 400, are not too expensive and are quite flat, so work well for that job.
Maybe worth a look, assuming you want to stay with waterstones.

[packocrayons]

I'm with the diamond gang. I recently bought diamonds and am not going back. There is still place for my waterstones. I have a very coarse (150) and fine (1500), I use coarse to flatten my waterstones.

I use the waterstone to jump between coarse and fine, but for retouching I only hit the fine diamond then a very fine waterstone that rarely needs flattening.

DMT diasharp were like 80$ apiece for an 8x4 inch

[redir]

I have Norton water stones and I don't resurface them after every use. Maybe they should be but it works for me. Of course they do have to be resurfaced often so it's more work. I also have a thick piece of glass and that with a wet piece of sand paper works fantastic. Still I mostly use the water stones. I keep them in a Tupperware box full of water and pull them out when needed and they are ready to go.

[amohr]

I just experimented using my water stones (not sure of brand) vs. 600 and 800 sandpaper taped to a piece of 1/4 tempered glass. I purposely dulled the edge of a 1/2 chisel and sharpened free hand like I usually do,the glass is working best for me at this time, the quickest sharpest edge I can produce with my limited skill. I came across the glass technique by necessity as one time I was without my stones and needed to sharpen a plane and it worked very well.

[runamuck]

Originally Posted by Bill Kraus

After reading the previous chisel post, I thought I would throw this out there.
It is time to replace my water stones and I would like to get some opinions. I have been using a set of King water stones for many years now. It seems that these stones are very soft and dish out very easily. This has been confirmed when I found a Fine Woodworking Magazine review of sharpening tones that stated that the King stones were the softest of the sets in their comparison. I realize that softer stones expose sharp abrasive quickly, but it seems these are a bit too soft, and I have to flatten them too often . I would be interested in the thoughts of the builders and repair people on the forum regarding their favorite water stones (diamond sharpening is a little steep for me price wise).

Until now, I always thought King stones were among the best. I'd go with whatever FW recommends.

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by redir

I have Norton water stones and I don't resurface them after every use. Maybe they should be but it works for me. Of course they do have to be resurfaced often so it's more work. I also have a thick piece of glass and that with a wet piece of sand paper works fantastic. Still I mostly use the water stones. I keep them in a Tupperware box full of water and pull them out when needed and they are ready to go.

I have a set of Norton water stones and I have trouble with the higher grit stones clogging/glazing (I'm not sure which). I find myself needing to use the flattening stone just to expose fresh grit after which they just seem to clog up again. I feel like I'm using plenty of water to carry off the swarf, but they still clog.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[charles Tauber]

What grits?

I find the 8000 does glaze, but I flatten the stones after each use, so it isn’t really an issue. The flattening typically only takes a minute, but is still a nuisance.

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

What grits?

I find the 8000 does glaze, but I flatten the stones after each use, so it isn’t really an issue. The flattening typically only takes a minute, but is still a nuisance.

I’m experiencing it in 1,000 4,000 and 8,000. I can’t get but a few strokes in before it stops cutting from the glaze and I have to remove it with the flattening stone. The higher the grit, the faster it happens.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

I’m experiencing it in 1,000 4,000 and 8,000. I can’t get but a few strokes in before it stops cutting from the glaze and I have to remove it with the flattening stone. The higher the grit, the faster it happens.

The 1000 and probably 4000 need to be soaked in water prior to use, not just surface wetted. Mine live in water and are removed from the water when used, adding additional surface water as needed during sharpening. Do you soak the stones for at least 20 minutes or so prior to use?

What are you sharpening on them? Very soft steel could clog the 1000 grit, though I’ve not had that problem. There is some glazing on the 8000 but very few strokes of a blade are done on an 8000 so there isn’t much time for it to glaze excessively, then it gets flattened anyway.

[redir]

Yes the 8000 does glaze. Like Charles, mine live in water too. I think that is the key to success using these stones. Go find a tupperware like container that will fit all your stones and drown them in water.