8000 grit Norton water stone

[ksprings]

I am having some trouble with my 8000 grit Norton water stone. Instead of really polishing, I am getting some scratching. I flattened the stone on sandpaper and this is the first time I have used it. Anyone got any ideads or suggestions?

Also, do you have to use a nagura stone to work up a paste on this? When I rubbed the nagura stone on it, it seemed like it might have been scratching the stone.

 

[Mike Davis]

Probably imbedded some grit from the sandpaper.

I use a big DMT diamond plate to flatten stones. The diamonds cut fast, stay flat and won't come off to get trapped in the stone.

Maybe a good washing and scrub brush will get the grit out.

Also did you soak the waterstone before you used it? Not trying to insult just checking all the possibilities.

 

[Travis Porter]

I have one and use it without issue. Well, it does take time. I would rinse the stone good first off. When moving up to the 8000 from say 4000 or 6000 grit be sure to rinse the tool good so you don't carry any grit from stone to stone.

 

[ksprings]

I did not soak the 8000 stone, but from what the instructions said it seemed that it just needed a spray of water. I did wash the stone after flattening, but I guess it could have some grit embedded from the sandpaper. I don't like the sandpaper flattening either, it's just cheaper. I will eventually get a diamond stone to use for grinding and flattening.

 

[cpowell]

I did not soak the 8000 stone, but from what the instructions said it seemed that it just needed a spray of water. I did wash the stone after flattening, but I guess it could have some grit embedded from the sandpaper. I don't like the sandpaper flattening either, it's just cheaper. I will eventually get a diamond stone to use for grinding and flattening.

I have used sandpaper and a friend's diamond stone. Diamond stone is much easier but apparently diamonds are not cheap. I'm gonna stick with paper.

I soak the 8000 but it is not necessary...no bubbles at all, just easy to sit it in the bowl for a few minutes.

I believe you have some stray grit contamination.


Chuck

 

[willarda]

Scratching is undoubtedly due to carry over of grit from one stone to the next. Especially if you use sandpaper to flatten the stones. Regular sandpaper will fall apart and release a lot of grit. Use the wet/dry sandpaper to flatten stones (100 or 150 grit) and do this on a known flat surface (I have a flat black granite plate from Woodcraft, very cheap and totally effective). After flattening, I rinse and hang the sandpaper out to dry. I also rinse the stone and scrub the surface with a mild abrasive sponge. Once I have a blade in a honing guide for example, I will rinse the whole assembly between each stone. I keep a 5 gal bucket of water with a plastic holder suspended in it for the sponge, next to my sharpening bench. That way I can dunk my stones and blades frequently. The grit settles to the bottom.

 

[ksprings]

Thanks, Bill! I had a piece of plate glass from LV that I was using, but guess what, it turned out to be pretty far from flat! I think I used wet/dry 220 grit for the flattening. I was actually wondering if I should have used a finer grit for the 8000 stone. I'm just going to have to be more careful and diligent about washing to reduce contamination. I like the 5 gallon bucket idea since there is no sink near my bench.

 

[willarda]

I use 100 or 150 grit simply because it flattens the stones faster. You can see scratch marks on the finer waterstones, but I do not believe this impacts the performance of the stone. I flatten my stones very frequently, generaly right before I begin a sharpening session and sometimes in the middle if I am doing a lot of tools (resharpening after a workshop for example). I have had my stones for many years and they are getting thinner, but not as fast as you might think with frequent flattening.