recommendations for hand stones?

You're going to get a ton of replies, everybody has their own favorites. For touching up lathe bits, I use diamond hones a lot, EZ- Lap is the brand I prefer, they have steel backing, not plastic blocks. They make all different sizes up to at least 4x8" or 4x10". They have some ones on plastic sticks about 1" wide that get a lot of use, credit card-sized ones and some ones that are on 1/4" square steel stock with bent ends. I use those a lot for touching up saw blades and router cutters. For other things, I have various grades and shapes of Arkansas stones and ceramic hones, you can get them from the likes of Brownell's if your wallet can stand the hit. Ceramic is cheaper, about the same for finish. Diamond hones are fast for tool touchup and I can't really see the difference in surface finish on the work if I use one of them or a black Arkansas stone. They don't break if dropped, either. Some of the knife maker's supply joints carry the EZ-Lap line, they've also got a website.

Stan

I've always been a fan of the "Arkansas" stones, but I'm going to try a diamond hone sometime.. I keep hearing good things about them, gotta give it a try.

Seems like a good basic natural stone is fairly easy to find, hardware and sporting goods stores are both likely to have some.

John

Grant, since you called them Gesswein stones I looked them up in the Gesswein catalog and came up with these.

Michael

Yes, but I can't find anyone anywhere in the US who stocks Gesswein stones! :-(

GWE

I sell tools for a living now, so....

The *first* thing you do if you want a product from a specific company is to.... Phone the company. I'm sure they'll fall all over themselves to tell you who they're shipping product to, because they (typically) don't ship products to end-users (gotta play the game). Through this method you could likely have the stones in your hand the next day.

I think I have a couple of pounds worth of Gesswein stone products in my lungs from polishing dies, but extraction could be an issue (perhaps useful as lapping compound).

Regards,

Robin

Uhhhmm, they are a US company.

Carl

I use those stones tool and die makers use to touch up dies. I don't know if they have a specific name, but they are about 1/2" x 1/2" x 6" and come in various grades from 36-ish to 600 or so. Using all four sides (as opposed to one or two like regular hand stones) lets me get more use out of them. Honestly, I don't use them a whole lot, between belt sanders and grinders and what not. But they are cheap and work well for getting into odd spots.

I get 'em surplus for cheap (So. Cal: Reliable Tools, in Irwindale).

Hey Grant,

Order direct from Gesswein

Main Office & Warehouse

255 Hancock Avenue P.O. Box 3998 Bridgeport, Connecticut 06605-0936 U.S.A. Phone: 1-203-366-5400 Fax: 1-203-366-3953 Export Fax: 1-203-331-8870 Email: snipped-for-privacy@gesswein.com Phone Orders: 1-800-243-4466 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. est. Fax Orders: 1-888-454-4377

Brian Lawson.

ps....I buy stones (not often now that I have a stock) from a dealer in Windsor that sells Starrett products. Just explain to them what you want.

On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:01:50 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, JohnM quickly quoth:

I never knew what REALLY SHARP meant until I got a diamond hone. They're wonderful tools. A 600 grit will sharpen all your kitchen and pocket knives just right, and a 1200 grit will sharpen your tool edges to a killer sharpness. I prefer DMT to EZElap both for longevity and sharpness.

Alternatively, learn to sharpen using the Scary Sharp(tm) method. Fine grit sandpapers on a piece of glass or other hard flat surface. Here's the history:

(I start with a 120, not 50 or 80 grit. --LJ)

- Metaphors Be With You -

What's the story, Robin? Abandon the die making course?

Harold

Harold,

I've actually got my German certification. My Ontario cert, we'll see. When I left, I had done about 7,000 hours on the floor.

A couple of years slinging disc and die grinders, and I'm done. Right now I build database software for a tool company (as well as selling tools). There are other things cooking as well. Tool and die in North America is a dying industry. I'm happy that I now know how to build panel dies, but there's no future in it (such as it is now).

Tool making hasn't evolved as fast as production processes have, so the Chinese can throw man hours at dies as fast as we can, and a lot cheaper. It's just a matter of time.

Regards,

Robin

Could be you've made a good decision, as much as it pains me to say so. You'll never regret the experience, but I have to agree, we can no longer compete----

Luck with the new venture.

Harold

EZE-Lap Diamond files. Under 10 bucks each.

Don't bother getting the coarse one for lathe tools. The medium and fine get all the use, while the super fine gets used to touch up exacto type blades.

Cheers Trevor Jones

I think I'm going to go look for one today, gotta go to town anyway..

That's pretty interesting, lots of advantages to doing it that way. I should have sandpaper up to at least 800 or so, gonna try this too.

I really like a sharp knife, this gives me some more options. Thanks!

John

On Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:57:58 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, JohnM quickly quoth:

Grab 'em off eBay for cheap. That reminds me to grab a paddle set today. These

should come in handy. I have DMT and EzeLap 2x6" plates, too, and a Grizzly diamond cone.

NAPA sells up to 1500 grit paper. Polish the backs (as well as the edges) with fine paper like this and your edges will last longer.

Jewelcome. Happy Scarying(tm)!

- Metaphors Be With You -

For cutlery I like the dry stones offered by Razor Edge Systems.

These stones are meant to be used dry -- no water or oil. They do wear out in time, but they do an excellent job on carbon steel and cutlery grade stainless like ATS-34 etc.

For HSS I prefer a diamond hone. I use them wet with water to prevent clogging.

Cool, got me some. I'll broadcast what I think once I have time to play with them carefully.

I think I'll stop by the glass store too, see if I can get a couple of drops for the sandpaper trick.

John

Don Foreman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

The Razor Edge stones are great! The coarse stone will really remove metal if you want to change the grind on a blade.

The book is also excellent.

On Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:29:05 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, JohnM quickly quoth:

What model(s) did you end up buying?

I've successfully used plain old MDF for a backer and it works fine, so don't think you have to use glass. I also usually hone DRY, so there's no problem with it delaminating on me.

- Metaphors Be With You -