How often should I be truing the stone?

[Mike Fairleigh]

I have the standard stone and am re-profiling my first plane iron - a 2" wide, 3/16" thick, flat-ground blade.  So far I've been grinding away for over an hour and am only about 2/3 through the flat bevel.  I've graded the stone 6-8 times with the coarse side of the grading stone, but the stone still seems glazed.  I know that if I make a pass with the truing jig, the stone will then cut through that bevel in about 20 seconds - but that seems like an extreme thing to have to do, just to do a standard re-profile.  And with the number of chisels and irons I need to do, I'll be replacing the stone in no time at all it seems.

Am I doing something wrong?

[Herman Trivilino]

Once you get the grindstone free of glaze, it should last a long time before it needs to be trued.  Are you keeping the water in the trough clean?

[Mike Fairleigh]

Yes, I'm using fresh water.

[Jeff Farris]

Mike,

Tip the coarse side of the grader up so that only the corner is engaging the grindstone surface. That will bring back the aggressive cutting surface faster that using it flat.

[Mike Fairleigh]

Wow, great tip - thanks Jeff!