The skew chisel.

[Steve Tiedman]

@John K Jordan, thanks for the MDF tutorial. I've got a few stiff leather strops (suede side up) in the shop that work well, but I've wondered about MDF. I'll pick up a small piece the next time I'm at the home center. I've also heard about old denim and cardboard (notebook back cardboard), mounted to a flat backer, to act as the substraight for the lapping/honing compound. Maybe I'll research those just for giggles.

I agree on the EZ Lap sticks. Purple is about 250-300g, red is 600g, blue is 1200g. There is even an extra course black, maybe 120-150g? These sticks are readily available and work well. (Does DMT make them? I don't recall, even though I've had several in the shop for decades.)

For diamond plates of different sizes, DMT is the benchmark brand. They should be available from many sources but Sharpening Supplies in Wisconsin is a big seller of them. I think DMT has the better plate construction and quality control. I like the solid metal plates with full diamond coverage rather than the plastic versions that have the dot matrix look.

When I stopped at the WTW booth at the St. Paul symposium, they were selling double-sided CBN honing sticks the same size as the EZ Lap sticks, 600g on one side, 1000g on the other. I picked one up, but honestly I keep forgetting I have it! They have plenty of CBN hone devices to offer, and the 1"x5" I bought sells for $13.95. Worth buying a few for any shop.

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[John K Jordan]

When I stopped at the WTW booth at the St. Paul symposium, they were selling double-sided CBN honing sticks the same size as the EZ Lap sticks, 600g on one side, 1000g on the other. I picked one up, but honestly I keep forgetting I have it! They have plenty of CBN hone devices to offer, and the 1"x5" I bought sells for $13.95. Worth buying a few for any shop.

Actually, I think CBN honing plates and sticks are not as useful as diamond. The reason we use CBN is that diamonds will degrade when grinding on carbon-based materials such as steel where heat is created. (Since diamonds are 100% carbon.) The only diamond wheels used in industry are those in a matrix that gets worn away so new diamonds are constantly exposed. Tormek had sold a diamond wheel but the rotational speed of the Tormek is so slow heat is not a problem. I researched all this at one time but have forgotten some of the details of the chemical process involved.

WTW has sold CBN honing plates for years but I considered them popular only because CBN was a “buzz word” to turners. Long time ago Ken special-ordered some heavy diamond plates for me at a good price they continue to work well - hand use will never generate significant heat. I’ve used them quite a bit, even to sharpen expensive ceramic shearing cutters for shearing my llamas - worked well, even though the company said they couldn’t be sharpened! I just used a little water as a lubricant and to wash away the ceramic particles.

JKJ