I am in the market for so new water stones. My old ones got lost some where between St. John’s and Halifax when I moved. Anyway I have tried oil stones and I don’t like sand paper so don’t bother telling me about them. I have been looking at the Norton stones as they are wide enough to sharpen the blade on my #8 jointer plane but am open to other ideas as long as they are wide enough for my jointer. I am looking at single use stones not the combo one in 2 – 220, 1 – 1000, 1 – 4000 and maybe 1 – 8000.
Scott C. Frankland
“This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control”
Replies
The new Shapton water stones are excellent, IMHO. The 1000 cuts very fast, and the 5000 abd 8000 polish a bevel to a mirror finish. I know that the Shapton's also are in 12K, 15K, and 30K, but this to me is a bit much. Toolsforworkingwood.com has the 3 stone set at a bit of a discount to retail, and Joel was pleasant to deal with. No complaints. They do not live in a bucket; water from an old windex sprayer is plenty enough water, and they stay flat a lot better than my ponded ones. To flatten, I put a piece of 22 grit wet/dry on a piece of old granite, add water, and go at ti for about 5 swipes. Rinse and you're done. I think Steve Knight and also Larry Williams, both excellent planemakers, use them with pleasure also.
Alan
Scott,
The Nortons did well in a recent FWW comparison, as I recall. If you should select this brand, I've had luck with:
http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/index.htm
I remember comparison shopping for Nortons and found their price was lowest. It turned out they were very easy to deal with and the shipping was prompt and reasonable. They also have back issues of FWW, among other things.
Cheers,
Greg
I have a set of the 8x3 Norton water stones. They get as much use as the set of 10x3 DMT Duo diamond stones I have. They cut fast and the 8000 leaves a mirror polish as expected. For the 3" stones, the best price by far is at
http://www.thebestthings.com
HTH
Scott
Highland Hardware sells a decent 5 stone Japanese waterstone package that I bought a couple years ago - pretty good value - probably a half-step below the Nortons. At the low end, they supply the "green stone" which they advertise "cuts nearly as fast as a bench grinder" - well, okay, but be prepared to muscle up on it to make that happen. At they high end, you get a 6000 grit and 8000 grit. The middle ones are 800 and 1200 grit. Not a bad set. I think its $100 or so - I'd have to find the catalog - since I'm currently on a tool-buying moratorium, its not easily at hand.
Ed
Found it.
Somehow the catalog just fell open to the Lie-Nielsen page.
The waterstone package item 026446 $109.99
web site: http://www.highlandhardware.com "Maintenance your hands away from my pile money,..." "Money," Pink Floyd, translated to German and back to English
I looked at the Highland website but the stones you refered to are to narrow for my needs. I need a 2 3/4" or 3" stone. I did how every order several items.
Scott C. Frankland
"This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control"
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