UNCLE!!! I've DAGed and Goggled and haven't come up with what I consider a
good answer to the question of what to use to flatten Arkansas stones...
I've got quite a collection of stones, accumulated over about 35 years,
ranging from large soft stones to a large Black hard stone, along with
assorted slips, etc. The soft stones in particular are no longer truly flat
and the medium stones are a bit glazed.

Why Arkansas stones? Because when I started buying stones they were about
the best thing available... India stones were the other choice and those I
used were all glazed--I "found" them in my father's tool and die maker's
tool box. ;~)--and they didn't work too well.

I'm considering the Woodcraft granite surface plate and wet-dry paper
approach but wonder if a diamond stone would be better? I'm concerned that
the courser diamond stones may actually make my medium and fine Arkansas
stones too rough. Is there a consensus?

John

"John Grossbohlin" wrote...

what to use to flatten Arkansas stones...


John:
Silicon carbide lapping grit on glass will dress your stones nicely &
quickly. Lee Valley has it:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...17&cat=1,43072

The 90x & flat safety glass are all you will need.

This dosen't change the grade of your sharpening stones.

A sharpening oil of 50% light machine oil (3in1) & 50% kero will keep your
stones cleaner, and give a more positive feel of the tool on the stone when
sharpening.


--
Timothy Juvenal
www.rude-tone.com/work.htm

or you can get the Norton stone flattener.
about the same size as a japanese water
stone - diagonal grooves for slurry to
escape into. about $26 US. works well
and quick - at least on japanese waterstones.
haven't had the need to try it on hard]
arkansas stone.

charlie b

or you can get the Norton stone flattener.
about the same size as a japanese water
stone - diagonal grooves for slurry to
escape into. about $26 US. works well
and quick - at least on japanese waterstones.
haven't had the need to try it on hard]
arkansas stone.

charlie b


Those are cheaper at Craftmman Studion in San Diego. It's a website.
They do work great for water stones.
AAvK

In article xWOig.8967$_m5.6869@fed1read09, says...

or you can get the Norton stone flattener.
about the same size as a japanese water
stone - diagonal grooves for slurry to
escape into. about $26 US. works well
and quick - at least on japanese waterstones.
haven't had the need to try it on hard]
arkansas stone.

charlie b
I'm fairly sure I'm thinking of the same stone: $80 at Woodcraft and
elsewhere I've seen it on the Net, although I don't remember the
addresses.


Those are cheaper at Craftmman Studion in San Diego. It's a website.

Where exactly, please.

Those are cheaper at Craftmman Studion in San Diego. It's a website.

Where exactly, please.


http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/

In article ,
"Hambone Slim" wrote:

Silicon carbide lapping grit on glass will dress your stones nicely &
quickly.

How long does a glass plate last before it's too dished for flattening?
The folks who grind their own telescope mirrors use elaborate patterns
to get the dish shape they want. Seems we'd be well advised to look at
their methods--then do something different--to keep our glass plates
flat.

I'm guessing that one new glass plate would stay flat long enough to
flatten at least a couple of Arkansas stones.

--
"Keep your ass behind you."

Along with the silicon carbide lapping grits, Lee Valley sells 8 x 10 sheets
of thin soft clear plastic with a peel-off back. You put the plastic down on
the glass sheet and then put the grit on top of that. The plastic is soft
enough that the grit embeds itself in the surface, and leaves the underlying
glass untouched. I've used it on a couple of stones and it works just fine.
Takes a while though, even if you work your way through the grits from the
coarsest. At least that was true for my stones, which had never been
flattened in their lives.

Tom Dacon


"Australopithecus scobis" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Hambone Slim" wrote:

Silicon carbide lapping grit on glass will dress your stones nicely &
quickly.

How long does a glass plate last before it's too dished for flattening?
The folks who grind their own telescope mirrors use elaborate patterns
to get the dish shape they want. Seems we'd be well advised to look at
their methods--then do something different--to keep our glass plates
flat.

I'm guessing that one new glass plate would stay flat long enough to
flatten at least a couple of Arkansas stones.

--
"Keep your ass behind you."

Australopithecus scobis wrote:

In article ,
"Hambone Slim" wrote:

Silicon carbide lapping grit on glass will dress your stones nicely &
quickly.

How long does a glass plate last before it's too dished for flattening?
The folks who grind their own telescope mirrors use elaborate patterns
to get the dish shape they want. Seems we'd be well advised to look at
their methods--then do something different--to keep our glass plates
flat.

I'm guessing that one new glass plate would stay flat long enough to
flatten at least a couple of Arkansas stones.

Use three stones and grind them against each other and you can obtain
optical flatness if you're persistent and careful and have a reference flat
to test against g. Would help to obtain a book on lensmaking that goes
into the hand grinding of optical flats before you start though.


--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

The three plate method is used to produce a reference flat, you don't need
one to check against. This is far more precise and far more work than needed
for a sharpening stone.

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...

Use three stones and grind them against each other and you can obtain
optical flatness if you're persistent and careful and have a reference
flat
to test against g. Would help to obtain a book on lensmaking that goes
into the hand grinding of optical flats before you start though.

In article ,
lid says...
Australopithecus scobis wrote:

In article ,
"Hambone Slim" wrote:

Silicon carbide lapping grit on glass will dress your stones nicely &
quickly.

How long does a glass plate last before it's too dished for flattening?
The folks who grind their own telescope mirrors use elaborate patterns
to get the dish shape they want. Seems we'd be well advised to look at
their methods--then do something different--to keep our glass plates
flat.

I'm guessing that one new glass plate would stay flat long enough to
flatten at least a couple of Arkansas stones.

Use three stones and grind them against each other and you can obtain
optical flatness if you're persistent and careful and have a reference flat
to test against g. Would help to obtain a book on lensmaking that goes
into the hand grinding of optical flats before you start though.


.... maybe a dumb question, but why can't you use a good sized diamond
hone to do the job? I know, you'd have to clean the crud/residue
periodically, but I don't think a stone is gonna degrade it's flatness.

Tex wrote:

In article ,
lid says...
Australopithecus scobis wrote:

In article ,
"Hambone Slim" wrote:

Silicon carbide lapping grit on glass will dress your stones nicely &
quickly.

How long does a glass plate last before it's too dished for flattening?
The folks who grind their own telescope mirrors use elaborate patterns
to get the dish shape they want. Seems we'd be well advised to look at
their methods--then do something different--to keep our glass plates
flat.

I'm guessing that one new glass plate would stay flat long enough to
flatten at least a couple of Arkansas stones.

Use three stones and grind them against each other and you can obtain
optical flatness if you're persistent and careful and have a reference
flat
to test against g. Would help to obtain a book on lensmaking that goes
into the hand grinding of optical flats before you start though.


... maybe a dumb question, but why can't you use a good sized diamond
hone to do the job? I know, you'd have to clean the crud/residue
periodically, but I don't think a stone is gonna degrade it's flatness.

You can and it works fine. I was being facetious. I see I left off the
smiley.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I've used wet/dry paper on glass, loose grit on glass and a coarse
diamond stone. I haven't done it in some time- I don't use the natural
stones much these days- but if I needed to flatten one now I'd use the
diamond stone and finish with wet/dry paper on glass if it wasn't
smooth enough for me.

There is a less tiring method of flattening old garage sale stones
and ones worn from long years of use/abuse.

Nail up a 4 sided frame large enough to contain all the stones.
Install an eye bolt or similar to one face of the frame.
Find a grand kid, neighbor kid, or young relative with a tricycle.
Multiple operators are a plus.
Attach frame to tricycle with an appropriate piece of rope.
Find an suitable expanse of concrete drive or patio surface,
preferably with shade available.
Beer cooler optional, but sure helps the process. You can water
the slab to accelerate progress.
Install all stones in the frame(s) and let the grinding begin.
This method can take up to a full case of beer to properly
supervise.
grin
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message
nk.net...
UNCLE!!! I've DAGed and Goggled and haven't come up with what I
consider a good answer to the question of what to use to flatten
Arkansas stones... I've got quite a collection of stones,
accumulated over about 35 years, ranging from large soft stones
to a large Black hard stone, along with assorted slips, etc. The
soft stones in particular are no longer truly flat and the
medium stones are a bit glazed.

Why Arkansas stones? Because when I started buying stones they
were about the best thing available... India stones were the
other choice and those I used were all glazed--I "found" them in
my father's tool and die maker's tool box. ;~)--and they didn't
work too well.

I'm considering the Woodcraft granite surface plate and wet-dry
paper approach but wonder if a diamond stone would be better?
I'm concerned that the courser diamond stones may actually make
my medium and fine Arkansas stones too rough. Is there a
consensus?

John