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Fantasy Tool Box - sharpening

D

derekcohen

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Of course one cannot take tools in a travel tool box and not have a way of sharpening them.

My preference in my workshop is to freehand sharpen on ceramic waterstones, for example, Shapton or Sigma stones. The issue here is that they are heavy, both individually and collectively. Every oz and gm counts when the tool box is expected to be included in the allowance in a air flight. Fortunately, I only use honing guides for bevel up planes, and the planes I will use are all bevel down. One less item.

Stones need to be at least 7" long and around 3" wide. Starting at 1000/1200 grit (17 micron) and ending at 60 000 grit (0.5 micron).

Choice of sharpening media is also determined by the steel used in the tools, and here all blades are made from HSS (M2). The choice here is reduced to diamond, either diamond paste of diamond plates. I immediately ruled out diamond paste (and diamond spray, which I have) as this requires plates upon which the solutions are used, generally steel or caste iron, and again these will be too heavy.

For the past year I have been researching diamond plates, and it has been an interesting and rewarding journey. My experience over about 25 years has been Eze-Lap, Atoma and DMT. Excellent, but heavy (an Eze-lap plate is 730gm or 24oz). Then I discovered diamond stones on Temu. These are no longer the poorly made diamond stones of even 5 years ago. I have purchased and used a number over several months, and they have all been of excellent quality to my eye, worked consistently well .. and cheap, so cheap (about AUD $7 each)!

175gm (6.2oz) for 170x75mm (6 3/4"x3") plate ...



Thin aluminium plate with a thickish rubber backing ... which makes them Light ...



My advice is to scrape it off (A sharp chisel works nicely). The reason is that the rubber is soft and permits the thin aluminium plate to bend. I replaced this with a thin UHMW cutting board. Eventually, I settled on 5mm thick persex, which is lighter and stiffer ...



What grits are available?

The diamond stones used are a 1200 grit and 3000 grit, which is as high as these go. Added is 1 micron (14000 grit) PSA Diamond Lapping Film, and 0.5 micron (60000 grit), all attached to 5mm perspex .



The last items are these ...



The eraser (also available from Temu) is used to clean the diamond plates. This is the reason that they look new. The liquid in the bottle is glass cleaner, and is used to lubricate the stones.

All-in-all, the total weight for this sharpening system is 510gm (18oz). That is less than a single Eze-lap stone.

At present all is bundled up in a plastic bag. I have not yet worked out where it will go in the box. It does not take up much space.



How does the system work? Phenomenally well! Fast on hollow ground bevels. Hair-splitting sharp.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Interesting. On water stones I think the finest I have ever gone is 12,000. Do you find that 60,000 is really worth the effort Derek.

Are you including a strop, or does the 60,000 do that job in effect?
 
Excellent idea to fix the lapping film to Perspex. I was about to use MRMDF.
 
Regarding removing the rubber-backing off the diamond plates, you can buy them without the rubber backing as well (to save a job). I bought the slightly bigger versions (230×80 mm). For my travel tool chest, I backed them using a piece of plywood with some magnets glued into it - that way I could use a single backing piece for all the plates I choose to take. I also take an 8000 grit waterstone and a leather strop (glued to a thin steel plate so it can be magnetised to the plywood as well).

Pictures here: https://www.cgtk.co.uk/woodwork/handtools/traveltoolchest/blog/page128

The diamond lapping film is a new one on me. I don't really need any more sharpening things, but it's interested to hear about alternatives nevertheless.
 
AJB Temple said:
Interesting. On water stones I think the finest I have ever gone is 12,000. Do you find that 60,000 is really worth the effort Derek.

Are you including a strop, or does the 60,000 do that job in effect?
Click to expand...

Yes, the green 60K is a wonderful strop as well. I no longer use leather as it dubs the edge. I no longer use wood as an underlay as it moves and warps after it gets wet. UHMW is fine for the aluminium plates, but it is not stiff and flat enough for film. Film is better on perspex.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Dr.Al said:
Regarding removing the rubber-backing off the diamond plates, you can buy them without the rubber backing as well (to save a job). I bought the slightly bigger versions (230×80 mm). For my travel tool chest, I backed them using a piece of plywood with some magnets glued into it - that way I could use a single backing piece for all the plates I choose to take. I also take an 8000 grit waterstone and a leather strop (glued to a thin steel plate so it can be magnetised to the plywood as well).

Pictures here: https://www.cgtk.co.uk/woodwork/handtools/traveltoolchest/blog/page128

The diamond lapping film is a new one on me. I don't really need any more sharpening things, but it's interested to hear about alternatives nevertheless.
Click to expand...

The diamond lapping film is amazing as a travel system since it is so light when added to perspex. I would not consider it a replacement for a diamond stone or waterstone in a workshop as I have no idea how long it will last. I do expect to get at least a few months out of a single side - it is important to use a solid media - here the 3000 diamond stone - to remove the wire and not risk this slicing the film.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Thanks for sharing this. Having just landed a traineeship of sorts I will be looking to build a new toolkit as efficiently as possible in the coming months. I was looking at these just the other day and considering how a comparable set of Shaptons would account for a whole years tool allowance so this is timely indeed.
 
The hones look decent, good to know there's cheap ones without that grid pattern/large font...
as I've got the impression they were giving me the odd nicked edge on occasion.
Though whether that's from myself, or larger particles of diamond when being made, I dunno,
but it would be interesting to know how you get on with them.

Not that I'll be needing some anytime soon, as me old ones are still sound.
Cheers for posting Derek.

All the best
Tom
 
Woodbloke said:
Agreed, out of your collective trees :ROFLMAO: I would disagree though about a strop, especially if a very hard Bridal Leather (no sniggering at the back!) is used on a wooden base. No 'drubbing' - Rob
Click to expand...
It depends which tree you are on:LOL:I use the lapping film to hone carving tools. Especially gouges where honing the concave face is difficult. Also lapping film is not expensive and can be stuck on various shapes such as dowel or curved surfaces, so it is very useful for carving. I use leather and autosol for honing all edge tools.
 
PAC1 said:
I use the lapping film to hone carving tools. Especially gouges where honing the concave face is difficult. Also lapping film is not expensive and can be stuck on various shapes such as dowel or curved surfaces, so it is very useful for carving.
Click to expand...
I used to use the 3M SS films for many years but now use the Shapton Pro Ceramic Stones. I don't do a great deal of carving but for the little I do I hone the bevels on the leather wheels of my now little used Tormek T7. Good tip though about sticking the films onto curved shapes - Rob
 
The tormek is in permanent use when carving for the honing wheels. Quite literally every 15 minutes it is back to the honing wheels. Surprisingly I bought the tube of autosol 40 years ago and it is not even half used
 
derekcohen said:
............... Film is better on perspex.
Click to expand...

I've never used the film so can't comment but on the subject of perspex (acrylic) flatness that all acrylic is not equal.
If you want flatness then cast acrylic (Perspex is an ICI brand name) is consistent as it's manufactured by casting between 2 sheets of glass while the other main type is extruded and is far from flat. You can tell quickly by looking at an angle when the extrusion marks can be clearly seen.

It's a lot of years since we were ICI distributors for Perspex but little has changed.
 
Lons said:
I've never used the film so can't comment but on the subject of perspex (acrylic) flatness that all acrylic is not equal.
If you want flatness then cast acrylic (Perspex is an ICI brand name) is consistent as it's manufactured by casting between 2 sheets of glass while the other main type is extruded and is far from flat. You can tell quickly by looking at an angle when the extrusion marks can be clearly seen.

It's a lot of years since we were ICI distributors for Perspex but little has changed.
Click to expand...

A couple of points to consider:

Firstly, in any sharpening system, where flatness of media is a concern, it is the coarser media that is important to have flat. These are intended to remove steel faster by grinding and, therefore, influence the flatness of the blade. In my system, the 1200 and 3000 diamond stones are the coarser media.

There after, the finer media are for polishing and not for grinding. These are the 14000 and 60000 grits. You would need to spend a year or more sharpening every day to remove enough steel to affect flatness. In this regard, I add the camber using the 1200 stone, and then refine/polish it on higher grits. Consequently, the flatness of the perspex is unimportant. It is more (!!) than flat enough for the purpose.

Secondly, keep in mind that this system is for travel. The aim is to create a LIGHT set of stones which will also hone HSS. Hence diamond on perspex (and not on aluminium or glass).

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Looks good and sensible for the purposes (light travel kit) you need it for Derek. Good tip on the Temu diamond stones too. I've used Temu a decent amount recently, only for lower value stuff and where I can see reviews of the quality, but I've not been let down once yet on about 25-30 purchases. It definitely has its place.

Cheers.
 
Woodbloke said:
I mentioned to SWIMBO last night that Derek of Oz was making a travel woodwork kit; she almost went into meltdown :ROFLMAO: "You are not, under any circumstances, making one of those for our next trip to Japan!" - Rob
Click to expand...
You should make one just to see the look on her face :devilish:
 
derekcohen said:
A couple of points to consider:

Firstly, in any sharpening system, where flatness of media is a concern, it is the coarser media that is important to have flat. These are intended to remove steel faster by grinding and, therefore, influence the flatness of the blade. In my system, the 1200 and 3000 diamond stones are the coarser media.

There after, the finer media are for polishing and not for grinding. These are the 14000 and 60000 grits. You would need to spend a year or more sharpening every day to remove enough steel to affect flatness. In this regard, I add the camber using the 1200 stone, and then refine/polish it on higher grits. Consequently, the flatness of the perspex is unimportant. It is more (!!) than flat enough for the purpose.

Secondly, keep in mind that this system is for travel. The aim is to create a LIGHT set of stones which will also hone HSS. Hence diamond on perspex (and not on aluminium or glass).

Regards from Perth

Derek
Click to expand...
I wasn't criticising in any way Derek just pointing out that there are differences between cast and extruded acrylic no matter the manufacturer.
A subject I'm fairly well versed in due to past employment history.

Thanks for clarifying your particular application. 👍
 
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Lons said:
I wasn't criticising in any way Derek just pointing out that there are differences between cast and extruded acrylic no matter the manufacturer.
A subject I'm fairly well versed in due to past employment history.

Thsnks for clarifying your particular application. 👍
Click to expand...

No criticism taken, Lons. Your post reminded me that I should comment about the importance of flatness, and where this is relevant.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
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