Kamis, 07 April 2016

Sharpening

I use waterstones to sharpen my woodworking tools. I do this because I am a mindless slave to fashion.
I made do with a carborundum stone I was given until I read about how wonderful waterstones are and then bought a coarse stone, combination stone, granite dressing block and sandpaper for lapping the stones flat.
If my wife werent an infinitely patient woman they might have been land fill some time ago.
Every time I sharpen I manage to cover the kitchen table, work surfaces, sink, draining board, floor and hand towel with a fine, watery slurry of granulated stone and metal.
I dont sharpen as often as I should.
I tell myself that when I get a proper workshop (bigger shed) I will have a dedicated sharpening station with running water and carefully arranged channels to guide the slurry away.
This is a hopeless dream. When I get a workshop that big Ill buy more tools and build bigger boats.
I need a system that doesnt make such an inexorable mess.
I blame fashionistas like Chris Schwarz for this. His "Grind, hone and get back to work" mantra ignores the half hour of cleaning that comes after "hone".
Now that the hound has given up his professional workshop and returned to his basement dwelling he finds he needs a system that makes less mess. Could you not have figured this out sooner Chris?
Fortunately Schwarzs relenting of his Shaptons coincides with my terrible combination stone accident. (Im using the seven year olds definition of "accident" here.)
A straightforward replacement would be the most economic choice. But combination stones have their flaws.
So I can, with an almost unblemished conscience, buy a new system.
Once again I feel the lure of the woodworking catwalk as I look around for a cleaner replacement.
My Dad swears by the Scary Sharp system. Whilst I dont mind the higher ongoing cost of using the paper I know I dont have the self-discipline to keep on top of it and I would find myself without when I had a day in the workshop and a lot of planing to do.
So oilstones it is.
"One week hes in polkadots, the next week hes in stripes..."

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