[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Saturday, 18 September 1999 Volume 08 : Number 711 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Mason Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 08:03:28 -0700 Subject: [Baren 5900] shaprening... Dave, In my other life my husband and I have a company that builds molds for injection molding and we use a polishing compound that works like the mud...it must do a similar job. We use simicrome polish and emery cloth and it makes a muddy slury (oil based I am sure) that really shines metal with lots of elbow grease....there is still no real substiture for doing some jobs by hand, is there? I am sure the mud is very important, but wonder about the emery cloth for final sharpening? Does anyone have any experience with this? It would be easy to form it around the angle of a tool and it is not abrasive enough to do damage...just wondering. Barbara ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 08:52:48 -0700 Subject: [Baren 5901] Re: getting stoned ... Dave wrote.... >But fine-grain, hard stones for the final steps of finishing don't >usually need an extended soaking. Water squirted on the surface will >usually 'last' long enough for the job to be done ... Ya, my 4000 is liked this. The 1000 grit will take a lot more before becoming saturated. The 300 grit could be used totally immersed in water and it still would not be wet enough. >And as for the comments about the mud and slurry that forms on the top >of the stone ... I can't give you the absolute gospel on this (not >having access to microscopes, etc.), but it's my opinion that it is the >mud that performs most of the sharpening action. When writing about this the other day I had stated that and then thought better about including it in the posting......But giving it more thought I have read that somewhere and you mentioning it confirms what I thought. Matt wrote.... >Lay it in the tupperware (dish of water) upside down. Hummm. Then you would be sharpening with the wood holder. (<::: Gayle wrote: >I don't put a lot of water on it, just enough. It doesn't make a mess. Mess is the name of the game. Use a plastic Ice Cream bucket lid to contain the mess. We have these 1 gallon size you get from the supermarkets. They have handles and are useful for collection blackberries at this time of year. We have them growing wild all over the place. But surely I digress.. Graham ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 09:11:28 -0700 Subject: [Baren 5902] Re: shaprening... Barbara,...people that sharpen hand planes use emory cloth,...glued to a surface of some sort,...so why not a chisel???? ...........Philip ------------------------------ From: Jack Reisland Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 07:35:41 +0000 Subject: [Baren 5903] Re: hokusai John wrote: > These prints had obviously had a much different > history and that would account for the condition. Yes, you are right, this one print did indeed have a different history. It sounds as though it has been glued (thus the stains) to an acidic mounting (thus the yellowing), and with a fold in it too, it would be considered in poor condition to most print collectors. Jack ------------------------------ From: Jack Reisland Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 08:01:59 +0000 Subject: [Baren 5904] Re: Stone April wrote: > My only problem with my stone is that it's on a wooden base, so I can't put > it in a dish of water like everyone suggests. Is it glued down? I can't tell. The stones that are glued to their wood base are usually the finer "finishing" stones. They are the type that usually work best in combination with the nagura stone. There is lots more info on stones and sharpening here for those that aren't already sated: http://japanwoodworker.com/info.html . Barbara asked: I am sure the mud is very important, but wonder about the emery cloth for final sharpening? Does anyone have any experience with this? Some people do sharpen with emery cloth, but for Japanese tools, with their very hard steel edges, I imagine that you would run through an awful lot of emery cloth in a short time. 3M puts out a flexible diamond paper, available from Japan Woodworker, that would probably last a lot longer, but it's pretty pricey (the price of a synthetic stone for a single sheet) so stones seem to be a better idea in the long run. Jack ------------------------------ From: "Jean Eger" Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 03:13:13 +0900 Subject: [Baren 5905] I second Dave's use of the Nagura stone to make mud for sharpening. My sharpening ability was nil until I purchased (at Hida Tool) a nagura stone and began using it. Presto! Really sharp tools! Go to http://www.woodblock.com/ It's under ...contents...tools...for carving...sharpening stones Jean Eger ------------------------------ From: John Ryrie Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 12:31:53 +1000 Subject: [Baren 5907] Re: Enery The Diamond sharpener I mentioned is a bit like Emery paper (Diamond dust imbedded in steel) There are steels as used in the Kitchen to sharpen Knives and also old razor strops which can be used for some tools the problem is the shape of chisels makes it difficult to use them . With all stones the technique of sharpening is by far more important than the quality of the stone and you can get good results with the cheapest stone with experience. John Ryrie ------------------------------ From: Maria Arango Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 21:36:20 -0700 Subject: [Baren 5908] slow in jp? >There are no guppies in there, but each summer I do have an >interesting situation with mosquitoes Ahem... Dave? You need something to keep you busier in the summers? And, see, if you put some guppies in there, they will eat the larvae. Great stuff on sharpening, everyone. Couple of announcements, one is that y'all should head on over to http://www.artchive.com and browse for about 28 hours or so. The other is that I have an art fair coming up and another piece got accepted in a show in Glendale California. We're cookin' now... I am curious to find out how many of you use reference photos in addition to real models for developing images. Health to all, Maria ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V8 #711 ***************************