View Full Version : Sharpening idea.
MartiniDave
21-04-2005, 08:57
In the past I've had problems when sharpening my knives with the waterstone sliding about on the bench top as I moved the knife.
I've tried things like putting an old towel down, a piece of rubber sheeting etc etc, I've even put the stone in a padded vice, but found that was to high to be comfortable.
Last night I hit on a solution that seems to work well. My bench top is an offcut of kitchen worktop, about 40mm thick. I put the stone in the position I wanted it and marked round it with a pencil. I then drilled some holes around this outline - 2 each side & 1 each end, into which I put some 8mm wooden dowels, the sort that hold flat -pack furniture together, into the holes to fence the stone in position. The one at one end I deliberately drilled a bit further away so I can put a little wooden wedge in to accomodate variations in lenght of the stones.
For 8mm dowels I used an 8.5mm drill, leaving about 12mm of dowel sticking above the bench top.
So far it seems to work very nicely.
Dave
Keith_Beef
21-04-2005, 09:29
I do a lot of my knifemaking, woodworking and jewellery work in the kitchen.
I have a piece of pine (was one of about thirty shelves I picked up from a charity shop a few years ago) that I put down on the worktop to protect it. This is my "bemch top"
I screwed a batten about 12" × 1" × 1/4" to it, parallel to one long edge and about 2/3 of the way between the two long edges. On top of this, is another batten, about 9" × 1" × 1/4", so I have a "bench stop" with two different heights to hold work I'm planing to thickness or sawing to length.
To stop the bench top from moving, I put a sort of rubberized underlay between it and the kitchen worktop.
This stuff is sold off a roll at the DIY shop at the end of my street. It's intended to go under rugs or mats that are on a wooded floor. It is really grippy stuff (and feels quite peculiar, almost tacky, when you handle it).
I have a few odd bits and pieces of this stuff, that I can also put under oilstones or my DMT diamond "stone" to stop them slipping around.
If you want an offcut to judge for yourself, PM me your address. I'll find out the brand name of it, too.
Keith.
Good idea Dave...
I just put something heavy in front of it! Like a plant pot, stops it sliding forward on the forward stroke. And because i just swap hands and sharpen in the same direction for the other side, i don't need to have something in my way at the body end of the stone.
Cheers...
I generally use my waterstones in the kitch -by the sink - and what I do is place one of those grippy rubber mats on the draining board then place a small round (stump) on top of this and then my stone on top of that.
This raises the stone to almost the exact height it would be if i were sitting sharpening in the field!
MartiniDave
21-04-2005, 12:14
Keith,
I presume you mean the stuff they sell for router mats and similar. If so I've got some of that somewhere, and I'm now thinking "Why didn't I think of that!" as I'm typing!
Cheers,
Dave
Wet newspaper gives more grip then a rubber matt. single sheet doesn't give either unlike a rubber matt will. It might just be that I was using a thick ruber matt but it meant the stone was changing angles
I have one of these and it works great. Your stones are always ready to go.
stone pond (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=33027&cat=1,43072,43071)
I have one of these and it works great. Your stones are always ready to go.
stone pond (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=33027&cat=1,43072,43071)
Thats interesting, I made something kinda similar to that some years ago (not quite as flash though). Its a bench hook that doubles as a lid for the container I keep my stones in, my stones are all the same size and friction fit very tightly into my bench hook, the bench hook gets clamped in a woodworkers vice and away you go....You could make an adjustable version if your stones are all different sizes.
Looking a bit tatty after ten years use but still works fine :)
http://www.jasonbhall.freeserve.co.uk/wetstone.jpg
http://www.jasonbhall.freeserve.co.uk/wetstone1.jpg
I need to dress my water stones badly, they are all dished except for the very hard one, in fact they are so bad I might just keep em for knives and get a new set for my plane irons and chisels ;)
Nice one! And a lot cheaper too. :)
Nice one! And a lot cheaper too. :)
The grooves on the corners are measured distances for setting up my plane or chisel honing guides to achieve various angles :) but they get used more for sharpening knives lately!
Rhapsody
21-04-2005, 18:15
I just cut a couple of notches out of a stick to hold the stone and sit on the free end of it with the other passing over my crossed legs. It's hard to describe, but it works and is easy to knock up in the woods... which is the only place I ever really sharpen my knives.
demographic
21-04-2005, 18:46
If you are doing it in the workshop you might find THIS (http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_fullsize.html?c_photo=22 182552) usefull as it shows the way that Japanese woodworkers hold their waterstones.
If you are doing it in the workshop you might find THIS (http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_fullsize.html?c_photo=22 182552) usefull as it shows the way that Japanese woodworkers hold their waterstones.
Cant see your pic
demographic
21-04-2005, 19:32
Cant see your pic
Oh, errrrrr, bugger..
Will try this instead...
http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_fullsize.html?c_photo=22 182552
Any better?
Oh, errrrrr, bugger..
Will try this instead...
http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album_fullsize.html?c_photo=22 182552
Any better?
Nope, still getting a "you are not logged in" message :(
demographic
21-04-2005, 21:46
With a bit of luck this will work...
Yay I see it! Cheers mate, good idea!
demographic
21-04-2005, 21:57
Yay I see it! Cheers mate, good idea!
It's out of my Japanese woodworking tools book by Toshio Odate and aparently thats the approved way to hold them.
Looks pretty simple to knock up though.
I need to dress my water stones badly, they are all dished except for the very hard one, in fact they are so bad I might just keep em for knives and get a new set for my plane irons and chisels ;)
I just dress my stones on the sidewalk, then on regular concrete, then against a "scrap" stone (that I am simultaneously dressing).
another vote for the wet newspaper here, works a treat!
cheers, and.