sharpening stone

[brianw]

Does anyone have a view on what is the best type of sharpening stone to buy for gravers and screwdrivers?
I have been looking at Arkansas stones and diamond stones and do not know which is the best.

[tmac1956]

Brianw:

I have two stones that I use and they work very well. They are:

1) A two sided India stone (medium and fine)

2) A fine Arkansas stone

I use honing oil on the India stone but NOT the Arkansas stone. Also, I bought some Rub and Rinse stone cleaner that keeps them from loading up on me.
http://www.gesswein.com/p-10016-rub-and-rinse-stone-cleaner.aspx?cpagenum=&sortfield=&sortdirection=&perpage=

Well, I hope that helps.
Tom

[brianw]

Thanks Tom, I will follow your advice.
I’ve just watched a very good YouTube video on sharpening gravers which confirms the way to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyICo56IH8g&feature=c4-overview&list=UU28N7nZMQvVTKJmo_pCSfaA
Brian

[tmac1956]

Brianw:

I watched the video – this guy is precise. I was always told that using the side of a grinder stone is a no – no. However, the amount of pressure he uses is so negligable as to cause no problems. Since my sharpening technique isn’t so good, I use the following tool:

[attachment=0:33q8ycih]UsingaCrockerSharpener.pdf[/attachment:33q8ycih]

Thanks,
Tom

[brianw]

Hi Tom,
Thanks for your help.
I think I’m going to follow in your footsteps and go for a crockersharper with india and arkansas stones.
It seems to me that the crockersharpener will allow you to move the graver in a circle if you wish, whereas a roller will only allow you to move in one direction which I guess is likely to create grooves in the stones.
I thought using the side of a grinder was a no no too. They are supposed to explode or something….
Brian

[david pierce]

Check with HIGHLAND WOODWORKING. Stones are very important to hand woodworkers for sharpening wood chisels and plane blades. Most everybody in that line has switched over to Japanese water stones because you can put a mirror finish on your blades. With gravers, knives, chisels and any other blade, a fixtrue of some sort will hold the blade better than you can do with your hand. If you do wear a grove in your stone you can always flatten it back out with a diamond coated sharpening strip. Harbor Freight carrys them at a reasonable price. The Harbor Freight sharpening stones (not the diamond coated strips) are terrible so don’t waste your money on them. I also have a three stone set (Arkansas Stones) I bought from Woodcraft. Any stone can be flattened back with a diamond strip.
david

[brianw]

Thanks David.
I’ve got a Japanese water stone that I have be using for sharpening woodworking chisels for years. It is excellent and I would never go back to using an oil stone for woodworking chisels.
It is pretty soft though, and depends on building up a slurry to do the sharpening.
I suspect that a graver would be too tiny, and and it would be difficult to avoid creating grooves and marks in the surface of the stone.
I’ll give it a go though. You never know.
Brian

[david pierce]

Brian,
The KING brand Japanese stones are softer than the NORTON stones but I like the KING stones better. I bought a three Arkansas stone set from Woodcraft a few years ago on sale for about $30.00 and they are extremely hard. They came in a wooden box and included a bottle of mineral oil. Try out some different stones and let us know how they came out.
david

[david pierce]

Check out Ebay item 200996856775. It is an Arkansas stone at a reasonable price.

[brianw]

Thanks David,
I’ve already bought one from cousins. It was a bit bigger and a bit dearer, but not too bad.
Brian

[chris mabbott]

I can only echo what has already been said, but I would like to add that I’ve been using a degussit stone for a while now and I wont go back. These stones are excellent, I was put off by the high price, but the finish with the fine stone is mirror and to date, I haven’t worn a groove from using the roller graver sharpener, possibly because I avoid using the same area. But I would highly recommend trying one of these.

I actually acquired one of these by accident from an auction, it was a broken one, very fine and thin, I glued it onto a collet and used it to mirror polish screw heads on the lathe..

Chris

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