# Flattening Arkansas Stones



## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

I want to try using grit on plate glass to flatten my Arkansas stones. Does using tempered glass create any problems that I need to be aware of? Is there a better material something other than glass be more suitable? Or should just ante up a hundred bucks for a good lapping plate?


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

I use Japanese water stones and flatten them on wet/dry 400 and 600 paper on my granite block. I'm not certain how an Arkansas stone would work doing this. 

Float glass is flat, especially when you get to 3/8" and thicker. The thinner pieces should also be flat but below 3/8" it's pretty easy to flex the glass. Tempered glass isn't always flat, though. Because it goes through the heat treating process it loses a slight amount of the 'flatness' it once possessed. That's not to say your piece of tempered glass isn't flat enough for your needs but just straight 3/8" or 1/2" float glass would likely be better.

David


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

difalkner said:


> I use Japanese water stones and flatten them on wet/dry 400 and 600 paper on my granite block. I'm not certain how an Arkansas stone would work doing this.
> 
> Float glass is flat, especially when you get to 3/8" and thicker. The thinner pieces should also be flat but below 3/8" it's pretty easy to flex the glass. Tempered glass isn't always flat, though. Because it goes through the heat treating process it loses a slight amount of the 'flatness' it once possessed. That's not to say your piece of tempered glass isn't flat enough for your needs but just straight 3/8" or 1/2" float glass would likely be better.
> 
> David


. I've tried the sandpaper route but have had little success. It seems these things are so hard the sandpaper wears down without affecting the stones. I hate to spend 100 dollars on a lapping plate so I thought I would try this route as suggested by someone in the past. Thank you very much for your input I might try your suggestion anyway. Silicone Carbide? Aluminum Oxide? It all gets pretty confusing.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Nothing will cut the Arkansas unless it's harder.
If I had to use those stones, I think I'd spring for a monocrystalline diamond plate.
I'm about to buy one to sharpen ceramic edges.

Aluminum oxide which is sold as a honing compound has a nominal grit particle size of 0.25 micrometer.
Smeared over a flat surface like polished granite or float glass, 
the AlOx would be a good replacement for a final stone above 1,500 grit.


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

Robson Valley said:


> Nothing will cut the Arkansas unless it's harder.
> If I had to use those stones, I think I'd spring for a monocrystalline diamond plate.
> I'm about to buy one to sharpen ceramic edges.
> 
> ...


 Thank you very much


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

trentwilson43056 said:


> Silicone Carbide? Aluminum Oxide? It all gets pretty confusing.


I just use the black wet or dry paper like I wet sand finishes with, seems to work just fine on the water stones.

David


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I'm wondering what you are doing that needs the stones flattened. I bought mine in they 1970's and they are still flat. 

I imagine you are going to need a saw with a diamond wheel to surface them. A tile saw comes to mind.


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

Steve Neul said:


> I'm wondering what you are doing that needs the stones flattened. I bought mine in they 1970's and they are still flat.
> 
> I imagine you are going to need a saw with a diamond wheel to surface them. A tile saw comes to mind.


 They have never been flat.


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

Ok folks I contacted my favorite go to Amishman for this problem. He says try mesh drywall sandpaper. I’ll report on the results.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Another source for hard, flat surfaces is the granite from kitchen and bathroom countertops. Don't use the one in your kitchen or bathroom, unless you enjoy camping by yourself in your own backyard.

There are many granite yards in our urban area. I wanted a piece of granite that would be long enough to flatten the iron on a 22 inch #7 jointer hand plane, as well as other, smaller sharpening tasks. I went to several granite yards, asking for a piece of scrap. I asked for something in a range of 6-12 by 24-30 inches. The third place I visited gave me a nice 8 x 30 rectangular piece that was a remnant from a job. I offered to pay them for it, but they would not take any money. (I wonder if it costs them a lot to dispose of leftover granite anyway.)

Hint: The retail stores are not so nice. Go directly to the granite yards themselves. Be polite and courteous and offer to pay. The yard may ask for a nominal fee, but probably not. It is more about whether they have someone who has the time to find the right piece of scrap for you. It may be irregular in shape. I would not expect or ask them to cut it for you. My piece just happened to be an ideal size. I was expecting much worse with jagged edges, etc. Beggars can't be choosers.


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

difalkner said:


> trentwilson43056 said:
> 
> 
> > Silicone Carbide? Aluminum Oxide? It all gets pretty confusing.
> ...





Tool Agnostic said:


> Another source for hard, flat surfaces is the granite from kitchen and bathroom countertops. Don't use the one in your kitchen or bathroom, unless you enjoy camping by yourself in your own backyard.
> 
> There are many granite yards in our urban area. I wanted a piece of granite that would be long enough to flatten the iron on a 22 inch #7 jointer hand plane, as well as other, smaller sharpening tasks. I went to several granite yards, asking for a piece of scrap. I asked for something in a range of 6-12 by 24-30 inches. The third place I visited gave me a nice 8 x 30 rectangular piece that was a remnant from a job. I offered to pay them for it, but they would not take any money. (I wonder if it costs them a lot to dispose of leftover granite anyway.)
> 
> Hint: The retail stores are not so nice. Go directly to the granite yards themselves. Be polite and courteous and offer to pay. The yard may ask for a nominal fee, but probably not. It is more about whether they have someone who has the time to find the right piece of scrap for you. It may be irregular in shape. I would not expect or ask them to cut it for you. My piece just happened to be an ideal size. I was expecting much worse with jagged edges, etc. Beggars can't be choosers.


 Thank you very much. Believe it or not I have a piece that I aquired in that way. The place had a huge pile of it and were more than happy to let me take as much as I could haul away. How do you think it would be effected by using grit on it? Come to think of it who cares,if it screws it up he would be glad to let me haul off some more. I'm guessing the weight makes it expensive to get hauled away. And who is gonna load that stuff. As a 22 year verteran of the moving business I've loaded and hauled my quota in the form of slate pool table tops in basements.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Grit on granite should work really well, provided that the granite is harder than the sharpening stone!
Which one will wear away the other one first?

I'd start with a fairly coarse grit to approximate the flat surface then refine that. Like polishing a stone carving.

The deal with the modern synthetic water stones is the soft matrix, the abrasive binder, and how much of it is in the mix. 
That's what wears and releases metal and fragments into the swarf to be washed off.
Makes the whole stone surface much easier to flatten.

I'm quite content to use a granite top (sink cut-out) with 3M fine automotive finishing wet & dry sandpapers.
They only need to be attached with dabs of masking tape. No glue required. 600, 800, 1,000 then 1,500 (3 micrometer grit).


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

Tool Agnostic said:


> Another source for hard, flat surfaces is the granite from kitchen and bathroom countertops. Don't use the one in your kitchen or bathroom, unless you enjoy camping by yourself in your own backyard.
> 
> There are many granite yards in our urban area. I wanted a piece of granite that would be long enough to flatten the iron on a 22 inch #7 jointer hand plane, as well as other, smaller sharpening tasks. I went to several granite yards, asking for a piece of scrap. I asked for something in a range of 6-12 by 24-30 inches. The third place I visited gave me a nice 8 x 30 rectangular piece that was a remnant from a job. I offered to pay them for it, but they would not take any money. (I wonder if it costs them a lot to dispose of leftover granite anyway.)
> 
> Hint: The retail stores are not so nice. Go directly to the granite yards themselves. Be polite and courteous and offer to pay. The yard may ask for a nominal fee, but probably not. It is more about whether they have someone who has the time to find the right piece of scrap for you. It may be irregular in shape. I would not expect or ask them to cut it for you. My piece just happened to be an ideal size. I was expecting much worse with jagged edges, etc. Beggars can't be choosers.




I have done just that and have scored much granite and some quartz. Thank you very much.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Just for the record, I am not using my flat glass and granite with abrasive grit. 

I use them with sandpaper. I have used various types of sandpaper, including wet/dry types. When I wet the sandpaper, surface tension holds it to the granite. Otherwise, I tape down the sides of the sandpaper to the granite with blue tape. I could use spray adhesive, but that would gunk up the granite, and my approach with water/tape works well enough for my needs.

I bought a 20 pound box of random rolls of lathe sandpaper from Klingspor, which are good for flattening and sharpening planes and blades, among many other uses.

There is nothing wrong with using abrasive grit, but I would prefer to keep my granite pristine and flat, so I can use it for a long time. I don't want to have to go out and get another piece of granite. The one I have is just the right size for my needs.


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