Stone Grader SP-650

[Darryl J]

I feel sort of stupid about asking this question but I will anyway.
The SP-650 that I have has two different textures.  The grey side, which to me feels relatively smooth and a black  ( darker ) side which to me feels coarser than the grey side.  My question is which side do I use to change the stone to fine grinding? I really do not want to "wear down" my stone any more than I have to.

[Ken S]

Fine side fine; course side course.

[Jeff Farris]

The fine side will polish the stone so that it delivers a cut equivalent to a 1000 grit stone. The coarse side of the grader will restore the grindstone to its 220 grit cut.

The wear from the grader is very minimal in both directions. You'll take more material off the grindstone with the tool you're sharpening than you will with the grader.

The first thing I do when I am preparing to sharpen something is use the grader to get the grindstone prepared for what I want it to do. And, beyond that, when rough grinding something, I may refresh the surface of the grindstone with the coarse side several times during the process -- every 3 or 4 minutes or so.

[Steve Brown]

I've recently purchased the T-7 system. I would like to know what the proper incremental increase in grit should be as you move up in the sharpening ladder, so to speak. In other words, if I start with the original stone in the finely dressed state of 1000, and if I wanted to change stones as I move up in grits, should I move up in 500 grit increments? For example, if I start with 1000, should I then progress to 1500 then to 2000 and so on? If that's the case, how do I do that? It seems that the next stone up in the Tormek system is the Japanese waterstone which is 4000. It seems to me going from 1000 to 4000 is too big a jump. This is mainly for bench planes and chisels. Can anybody give me some advice here? Thanks,
Steve B.

[tooljunkie]

I too am used to doing my sharpening using a  (120x) white grinding wheel then using water stones going up in smaller increments 220x , then 800x, 4000x, 8000x then hone with an aluminum oxide Honing Compound for final honing on a felt wheel.

With the Tormek system you don't need to do all of that.

Just start with the Tormek Grindstone at 220x then use the Stone Grader (fine side 1000x) to refine & remove the scratch pattern of the coarse grinding then hone on the Leather Honing Wheel using Tormek Honing Compound.

I was sceptical of the big jumps in grit but I now get way better results then I ever could using water stones & going up to 8000x

I will never go back.


Dan

[tooljunkie]

You could use the Japanese waterstone at 4000 & I may buy this stone at some time but so far I have not needed it.

[ionut]

Just as a note, the only time when I would go from 1000 to 4000 and to 8000 would be only when I would have to initially lap a blade. Because I still do this by hand on water stones it pays off to have an intermediate grit, I always get a polished back as I like it, faster.

Ionut

[Ken S]

My 220 grit stone is one of the main reasons I bought my Tormek. I had to flatten the backs of a set of chisels and foolishly started with and 1000 grit stone.  The 220 stone remains like new; the 1000 stone is about a quarter inch thinner; and my hands and wrists were sore for about a week.

I now use the flat side of the Tormek wheel to get the backs flat and most of the way ready. (I use a pneumatic foot switch to help keep the chisel flat against the stone.) It isn't any faster than the 1000 stone, but is much easier on my hands.  Then, like Ionut, I switch to the 1000, 4000 and 8000 grit stones for the final polish. The Tormek does the hard work.

Ken

[Steve Brown]

Is there an 8000 grit stone available for the T-7?

[Ken S]

Steve, Tormek does not sell 8000 grit wheels.  The Norton 8000 waterstone sells for about a third more than the 4000 grit stone.  Would you pay close to $400 for an 8000 grit wheel for your Tormek?  I doubt there would be sufficient market for Tormek to develop and market such a stone.

Ken

[tooljunkie]

Once you have sharpened a chisel or plane blade on the Tormek system you could easily & quickly hone or add a micro bevel using water stones at 80000x.

I use the Veritas® Mk.II Honing Guide
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=51868&cat=1,43072,43078&ap=1

but if you don't have a Honing Guide it is easy to feel the 2 points of the bevel that the Tormek creates due to the arc & this means you only need to remove a tiny amount of steel on a flat stone. 

[Steve Brown]

Makes sense what you say about the cost of an 8000 grit Tormek waterstone. Not practical. So you go to the Norton 8000 waterstone and stop there? I know you can purchase Japanese waterstones up to at least 30,000 grit. Where do you draw the line?
Steve

[tooljunkie]

Hi Steve
Wow!! Japanese Water Stones up to at least 30,000 grit!

Do you have a link to these Water Stones?

Going to 8000x then the leather wheel or with honing compound at 0.5 microns will leave a mirror Finnish.

Here is a Stone Grading Chart showing Table of Stones and their Particle Sizes

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=46224&cat=1,43072

[tooljunkie]

Here is 2 sites that talk about of water-stones up to 30000-grit
But I think it is way over kill!

Good for someone who just wants to sharpen & never do any woodworking.

http://www.fine-tools.com/G-shapton30000.html

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/woodworking-gearheads-geeks/

[Steve Brown]

Tooljunckie,
So the consensus is that 8000 and then strop is good for chisels and planes? What about steel? For example, if you have a newer Stanley plane, leave it alone and take it to 8000 and strop, or do you think looking into possibly better steel makes sense? Like Lie Neilsen or Ron Hock A-2? Also, if the original bevel on the chisel is 25 degrees, is the micro bevel at 30 degrees using the 8000 grit? I don't want to just sharpen, but I do want to take a common sense approach to getting the best edge possible.
Steve