How often should I flatten my stone in use?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

I have the Norton water stone set up for my sharpening.  I performed my first plane blade flattening this week (Yay!) that took nearly two hours (Boo!).  Probably lots of inexperience made it take so long.

My question is about flattening my coarse stone while flattening:  How often should I cut it with the flattening bar that comes with the kit?  When flattening, I'm doing roughly 5/8" of the end of the blade.  I'll stroke along the length of the stone for about 30 seconds on one side, rotate the stone, and then 30 seconds on the other.  Then I pull out the flattening bar and start stroking.  I seems to take a long time to get all the marks out of the coarse grit stone, maybe a minute each time.

Am I flattening the stone too much?

[Strokes77]

I have the Norton water stone set up for my sharpening.  I performed my first plane blade flattening this week (Yay!) that took nearly two hours (Boo!).  Probably lots of inexperience made it take so long.

My question is about flattening my coarse stone while flattening:  How often should I cut it with the flattening bar that comes with the kit?  When flattening, I'm doing roughly 5/8" of the end of the blade.  I'll stroke along the length of the stone for about 30 seconds on one side, rotate the stone, and then 30 seconds on the other.  Then I pull out the flattening bar and start stroking.  I seems to take a long time to get all the marks out of the coarse grit stone, maybe a minute each time.

Am I flattening the stone too much?

Yes, that's way too much stone flattening in my opinion.

Also, sandpaper on any "flat" surface will be way faster for restoring plane backs.  And by way faster, I mean, you're talking minutes instead of hours.  I use Porter Cable 80 or 120 grit PSA rolls.  

If you're talking new LN or Veritas irons, then touch the back with your fine stone and go to work.  

There's a man on youtube, "plane collector", he shows in some of his video's a little jig he made out of a 2x4 to help him hold the plane iron down and flat, so he can really go to work on the iron.

[Teak]

I flatten the back of old chisels using sandpaper. Too much work using stones while coarse sandpaper stuck on granite or other flat surface makes for a quick job.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

I have a piece of granite buried somewhere in my boxes since I've moved. I'll dig it out and use paper for the other blades I need to flatten. Thanks!

[Strokes77]

I have a piece of granite buried somewhere in my boxes since I've moved.  I'll dig it out and use paper for the other blades I need to flatten.  Thanks!

I recently researched the best material for a lapping station.  Granite was suggested.  Plate glass was as well, each cost money...

I ended up finding a piece of 1" thick MDF with a white melamine coating.  It was a material for an industrial style cabinet.  Anyway, I cut a chunk of it down that's about 11" by 3ft.  It's flat enough that I can't see light under my 24" starret combo square.  It works great.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

True. For sandpaper, the flat surface does not need lots of precision. I use a marble floor tile sample for my flat plate. Years ago I spray glued paper to it and the smell of the spray glue was too noxious. Ever since, I just put fresh paper on the old piece and that is enough to hold it in place. It works for chisels and plane blades--especially plane blades where I am only interested in the edge.

[Rob Young]

I have the Norton water stone set up for my sharpening.  I performed my first plane blade flattening this week (Yay!) that took nearly two hours (Boo!).  Probably lots of inexperience made it take so long.

My question is about flattening my coarse stone while flattening:  How often should I cut it with the flattening bar that comes with the kit?  When flattening, I'm doing roughly 5/8" of the end of the blade.  I'll stroke along the length of the stone for about 30 seconds on one side, rotate the stone, and then 30 seconds on the other.  Then I pull out the flattening bar and start stroking.  I seems to take a long time to get all the marks out of the coarse grit stone, maybe a minute each time.

Am I flattening the stone too much?

David W has a nice YouTube channel.  Used to be a regular over at the 'Creek but also tended to get into stupid augments with people.  He was often right but would never back down if wrong.

Anyway, his YouTube channel has this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOMjSwcEnsU

And he demonstrates flattening a plane blade back quickly and efficiently.  I've done something similar but instead of bolting down the support block, I used double sided tape.  Couldn't press quite as hard as he does in the video but it was still faster than mucking about on stones.

His comments about not needing to get it mirror polished on the first run are spot on.  Get it flat, get the chip breaker fitted and then as you sharpen more and more, you will continue to polish the back on your fine stones.  

And the so-called "ruler trick" isn't evil if you apply it sparingly.

[Bob Lang]

I have the Norton water stone set up for my sharpening.  I performed my first plane blade flattening this week (Yay!) that took nearly two hours (Boo!).  Probably lots of inexperience made it take so long.

My question is about flattening my coarse stone while flattening:  How often should I cut it with the flattening bar that comes with the kit?  When flattening, I'm doing roughly 5/8" of the end of the blade.  I'll stroke along the length of the stone for about 30 seconds on one side, rotate the stone, and then 30 seconds on the other.  Then I pull out the flattening bar and start stroking.  I seems to take a long time to get all the marks out of the coarse grit stone, maybe a minute each time.

Am I flattening the stone too much?

I don't know about the current crop, but the "Flattening Bar" that used to come with the Norton kit wasn't flat and caused more problems than it solved. With a decent straight edge you can check the bar and your stones and then flatten your stones as needed, and dispose of the flattening bar if it's out of whack. How you use your stones also makes a difference. If you use a jig and only work the middle of the stone it dishes out pretty quickly. If you make an effort to use the entire surface of the stone, especially when you're working on backs, you won't need to flatten the stone very often.

[jcousins2]

if you're looking for a small flat piece of granite - i went to a local counter top fabricator and asked about a cut-off piece from their scrap pile - they showed me the bin and said just take your pick.
jerry

[Strokes77]

I just spent a few minutes making a block to hold the plane blade in place. It works incredibly well, and makes the job much faster. It holds the blade down, flat, and keeps my fingers from burning and fatiguing as much.

Game changer for those that rehab a lot of irons.