glass for sharpening

[Tynyyn]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-jade-knife-sto...1547849908

Might I suggest a different kind of medium for you to sharpen your tools?  I've purchased three of these plates in differing grits and have been very pleased.  I bought them because of their size, 8" x 8", which is plenty of area for plane blades.  It also keeps you from having to deal with the sand paper slipping on a glass or marble surface plus the added benefit of never having to purchase sand paper.

The plates are from China but they do offer free shipping.  It will take about three weeks for the plates to arrive after your order is placed, so be patient.  So for under $60 you can have three plates which will give you lots of sharpening power.  Just my two cents worth.

[Herb G]

Go to Walmart & buy a glass cutting board.

[konaman]

i'll make some calls tomorrow

[Steve N]

And... call me a rebel, but I say why adhere the sandpaper?    I always either pull my edge-bevels along the papers, or run small figure-8's with the flat parts of the blades.   So my sandpapers have no tendency to lift-off.  Then I can change grits/papers as often as I like.

Chris

REBEL!!!!!!!!!  


When I did scary sharp I never saw the need to attach the sandpaper at all either. I used a pretty large reference stone as my backer, but I was somehow able to move the tool/blade/steel/whatever back and forth, and the paper stayed still while I did it. I always thought I was a magical personality
 
 


Now I find out I was just a rebel, me and James Dean, n Chris too
 




I have one of these It was on sale, seemed the price was $29.99 I got it a lot of years ago though.

[jcousins2]

i went to a local granite shop and asked if they had any cutoffs/scraps - they were very glad to have me walk out with a few (no charge) - i think about an inch thick -
jerry

[Acorn]

FWIW, if you are not using wet sandpaper, I found that MDF was plenty flat enough to get the job done.  It is widely available, cheap, and easy to cut to the dimensions you want.  I cut mine at 11x16 and fitted two full sheets on each side.  I had four grits and loads of area to work on in one handy piece.  That said, over time I found out that the space near an edge of the MDF was the easiest for flattening backs so I wold not double up again.

YMMV.

[Steve Friedman]

I have one of these It was on sale, seemed the price was $29.99 I got it a lot of years ago though.

Just want to add my endorsement of thick granite plates and not just because they're flat and easy to clean.  If you sharpen drawknives, putting the granite on edge is a great way to keep the handles out of the way.  Watch the online videos of Curtis Buchanan doing that.  I think it's brilliant.

I bought a 3 x 12 x 18 plate from Enco (before they became part of MSC) when they had a sale and free shipping.  It's around 80 pounds and definitely an overkill.  You can get a 3 x 9 x 12 plate for under $35 and it's plenty big.

Steve

[rwe2156]

Plate glass is not always flat be careful using that.

Float glass or even tempered glass is better.

Granite is best, but even a piece of melamine board is very flat.

Have you considered going to stones?

[vernonator]

I use a marble floor tile from the box store.

This - couple of inexpensive marble/granite tiles from Menards is all you need

[hbmcc]

My patio door works pretty well.....

Unless it is really, really cheap paper-backed sandpaper, simply wet the paper and it sticks like glue to glass. The only backing that won't make a seal is fabric backed abrasive. If you are doing mdf, make sure the mdf is water proofed--as best you can. That crap is good for jigs and little else.

Those diamond plates from China look great; and, super priced, too. I simply went to water based diamond paste. Goes on anything. And, the grits should be pretty well controlled. I would flip the China plates over and charge the backs with paste. I use very little paste, as I don't clean the plates.

So, no excuses, now! Start grinding.