Rolling Stones gather no swarf?

July 22nd, 2010

I know I’m going to run out of stone metaphors soon, but until then, the bad taste will continue unabated!

Hi all,

Some excitement here recently, as in on the site.

It would seem some lowlife scumbucket decided to put some nastiness on my site without permission, and caused a few dramas. It’s all fixed now, and pretty quickly at that, but I do hope that nobody was unduly affected.

The lesson here is that even friendly sites such as this one (well, normally friendly!) can cause concern, so do please make sure that your security precautions such as anti-virus, anti-malware and spyware type programs are up to date, active and vigilant.

This particular computer is running Windows 7, which means it has all the fruit required to go out into the big, bad world of the interweb. The other computer, where all the important stuff lies and most of the work gets done on runs Linux, and even it has all the gear it needs to stop bad things happening to it.

Doesn’t really matter what computer or operating system you use (that means you Mac folk too!), the interweb is not all cosy and warm and you really should ‘wear a jacket’.

Anyway, stones. Still testing them, and to give you an idea of the size of the matter, here they all are on my kitchen sink…

At the very top is an Atoma Economy #400 grit diamond plate. This is being used to flatten all stones, and is really about the best available. I also have a rather generic diamond plate, and it just can’t clear ‘mud’ fast enough to be effective, especially off some of the ‘muddier’ stones here. The Atoma however copes wonderfully, and being a large chunk of aluminium, is not too heavy either. Very highly recommended.

From the top left we have;

A Shapton M5 #1000. This stone is not being tested as it is 95% of a Shapton professional. Not quite as fast, but hardly enough to notice. It’s used for whipping things into shape where I need something that works quick, but is not being tested. I’ll explain why at another time, but basically, I needed a stone that was out of the loop, and because it’s really close to the Shapton Professional, it got the job.

I’m so impressed, that I think I will be adding the full M5 line up to the store. I know a particular magazine editor questioned why stones were not available in a thinner, lower cost type. The M5 goes all the way up to #12000 grit, and are not expensive. Might be a winner, just wish they were a little lighter. Comes with a plastic case as well.

Next, the King Neo ST-2 #800. A massive chunk of stone, and to be honest, it’s an oddity. It uses like an old King, but is as fast or faster than some of the newer ceramic stones. But because it uses like an old King, it’s as messy as all get out and a pain to flatten, which it needs a lot of…

The blue one in the middle up top is the Naniwa Superstone #1000. Obviously brand spanking new, as it still has the sticker on it. This is the lovely little stone I mentioned last time, although after today, I’m not so sure. Speed has it’s advantages and old blue there doesn’t play that game very well at all.

On edge there in the little tray are, from left to right, an Arashiyama #1000, a Bester #1000, Sigma Power #1000 Hard, Sigma Power Select II #1000 and a King Hyper-hard/regular type #1000.

The Arashiyama #1000 is interesting. No frills anywhere, it just gets the job done. Not fast, not slow and not too difficult to flatten. It’s vanilla ice cream, it just works.

The Bester #1000, from the same company (I think!) as the Arashiyama is famous as being fast and staying flat. And it is quite fast and does stay quite flat. However, after I’m done I think it’s reputation might be in question because there are some stones here that are faster and stay just as flat or even flatter. Still, a good stone but loooves a drink.

The Sigma Power #1000-Hard is something that is largely unknown outside of Japan. Of those who have heard of it, it carries a fearsome reputation and hushed rumours of it being something amazing. It is, really it is. Very impressive, even at this early stage.

The Sigma Power Select II is something new. If you have heard about, it was probably my fault and what you heard was probably something along the lines of ‘this thing eats steel’. What you might also have heard is that ‘it might not last very long’. One of these things is true and one is not quite…

The King Hyper #1000-Hard/Regular type is a stone that you just don’t hear too much about. There is another, the soft type and maybe any mention is of that stone, because this thing is begging for attention. It’s not really the fastest or easiest to flatten or stays flatter, but the sheer size of the thing and how well it does work, wow.

In the middle of the picture, the Naniwa Chosera #1000. This is one stone that has received some ‘airplay’ out there, as being something else entirely, which it is. Alone, wow. However, in this kind of company it seems to be a little, well, underwhelming. I do know one thing, I surely won’t be wearing out this green thing in my lifetime…

Starting at the bottom left, we have Shapton Professional #1000. If you did not know that, then what rock have you been hiding under? It doesn’t have a reputation, it has a legend. A deserved one too.

The olive green thing there is a Sigma Power ‘Oribest’. Never heard of it? Neither had I, and for some reason, it’s a real oddity. At first glance, it looks like it was slapped together from recycled concrete and green dye. In use, it’s incredibly soft and really reminds me of a stone I got some time ago, the same colour and apparent texture and I wore out in about 2 weeks. I’m not sure why I feel this way about this stone, but I worry about it. Seems to be holding up just fine though.

The brick that snuck in is a King Deluxe #1000. The old standard, the loved and loathed ‘waterstone’ and the stone that put Japanese waterstones on the map as being fast, but also cursed them with the reputation of ‘they always need flattening’ too. It’s here just to see how much has changed since this little fellow arrived on the scene. If Noah used a Japanese waterstone, it was almost certainly one of these.

And the low profile white tile there is, of course, the Shapton Glass Stone #1000. This is one of them. If you have not seen one of these in action, then do pay attention, because it’s getting used a lot around here. Said to be the replacement for the Orange Shapton professional on the bottom left there, and also said to be ‘the finest waterstone on the market today’.

Well, I’m going to expand on that, and some folks out there won’t like what I have to say.

It’s not the finest waterstone on the market today, that honour belongs to something else in this picture. I don’t know which stone is ‘the best’ and I doubt there will be only one, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Glass Stone is not it. It is small, it is light, it is convenient, it is not bad and not the worst stone here at all. But the best? Not a chance in heck, and I have data to back that up too. In short, it’s getting its tail kicked and more than a few stones here are swinging a leg…

Well, now that you have met the family you might be able to appreciate the scale of what’s going on here. As of right now, each round of testing takes about 2 solid hours of non-stop effort, and so far only two steels have been under the microscope. Results are quite predictable really.

That’s enough for now, so until next time…

Sayonara.

Stu.

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I’ve been stoned…

July 20th, 2010

No, not that kind of stoned! Just water stoned.

Greetings faithful reader,

Finally, at long last and long after all hope was gone, I got stuck into stoning some steel today.

I don’t have pretty results yet, but I do have a goodly chunk of data and some thoughts to go with it.

Firstly, the process…

What I did today was get everything ready on the kitchen sink. What? You don’t use the kitchen sink? Me neither, well, actually I did. No trouble here though, since if Mrs. Schtoo doesn’t like it, I will clean it. Nothing new there, since I usually end up cleaning everything anyway. I actually left the area cleaner than I found it, so no complaints.

Next was to just give an eyeball to each stone as it came out of it’s packing. Not a great amount can be learned from looking at the stone of course, since these things are glorified bricks, but it was interesting to note how each stone is presented.

Ranging from a simple box and cellophane wrapper to slick-o sliding sleeves and plastic cases/stands, there’s a box from simple to sensuous. Also a large difference in the amount of effort placed on making the box look ‘professional’ or just business-like.

But we must not forget the old saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover…”

Generally however, there are not too many surprises. Those stones known as ‘fast’ are exactly that, and justify their reputation as well as their price. My own preferences are generally holding true, in that the stone(s) I believe are ‘better, by and large’ are proving to be just that, those that are ‘questionable’ are behaving as such, those that are, well, just ok are just ok.

There is one big shock however, and I’d like to share it with you.

The Naniwa Super Stone #1000.

It’s cheap, we know that. It’s soft, slow and generally thought to be, well, just ok.

And yes, it is slow. It is soft, it is not even half as fast as some of the dragons lurking around here at the moment.

But what a little darling of a stone! To be completely honest, I knew it was going to be slow and just ‘meh’, but what it delivers when it’s done it’s job is amazing and absolutely unmatched by anything else.

It polishes the blade. At the medium, rough as guts glorified brick #1000 grit level, it gives a tidy polish. Followed by it’s #5000 grit brother, and brother you got a sah-weet looking edge right there.

Lets not get too carried away here, since it is the single slowest stone of the whole bunch, but the time spent at this often derided stone is paid back if you are the sort of person who likes to count nose hairs in your bevel.

I can’t yet tell if it’s staying flat or is just easy to flatten, that revelation comes later at the end of testing, but on that score, throw some additional kudos it’s way.

No, I’m not going to use one every day. It is s-l-o-w after all, and I’m not testing out 12+1 stones to go ahead and keep for myself the slowest of the bunch.

Oh yeah, there is one more surprise from today’s activities. I won’t say it now, but panties will be wadded, harsh words will be said, threats will be levelled.

But right now, I am thinking a lot of folks have drunk kool-aid, and called it delicious when the truth is, well, it wasn’t lemon…

What’s worse, I got data that just keeps on piling up proving my initial thoughts right.

And to add insult to injury, it’s siblings are kicking it’s tail in all areas…

Hard. Clydesdale hard. With steel toe boots and a run up on the horse like, hard.

That’s it for now. Still a long way to go, but at least the water’s been broken.

Thanks for reading,

Stu.

Posted in Tool articles | 1 Comment »

Back to work…

July 11th, 2010

Hi again Faithful Reader, of whose patience I must wear thin…

As you might have expected, the last few weeks have been a little rough, and nobody here really sailed though them. Pretty hard losing a member of your family, especially one of the really good ones.

Anyway, he would have wanted us all to get back to living our lives, and that’s what’s going to happen. Back into it, properly, now.

Something that I need to do for several reasons, not the least of which is so I can evacuate some ‘masonry’ from here, is to give a few waterstones a bit of a shake down.

When I say a few, I really mean twelve (12) #1000 grit waterstones, the workhorses of sharpening that whip blades into shape for the finer stones, and the most commonly acquired for sharpening.

Without a #1000 grit stone (or something serving a similar function), how can you effectively sharpen anything? Yes, this grit range is that important…

So, without further ado, the contenders are…

King Deluxe, the old stalwart of waterstones.

King Neo, newer generation for Stainless steel.

King Hyper, newer generation ceramic.

Naniwa Super Stone, popular enough, economical enough, just enough.

Naniwa Chosera, the polar opposite of the Super Stone, and all the better for it.

Bester, highly regarded and with good reason.

Arashiyama, virtually unknown outside Japan, but has good genealogy.

Sigma Power hard, not widely known but has an enviable reputation.

Sigma Power ‘Oribest’, special stone for Stainless steel. A bit of a dark horse.

Sigma Power Select II, HSS specific and means it.

Shapton Glass Stone, lots of airplay, very good, but rarely questioned.

Shapton Professional, recently ’superceded’ by the Glass Stone, or was it?

The testing itself will be quite simple and designed to remove the human element from proceedings.

Taking several different types of tool steel in the form of chisels and plane blades, they will be given an appropriate bevel, then the edge deliberately ‘dubbed’ by an equal amount/method each time, then the time taken to raise a burr on the back side of the blade on each stone will be measured. All blades will be held in a honing guide to maintain geometry. Then each blade will be sharpened to ‘working condition’ by a #5000 Naniwa Superstone, selected because it is fast but cannot do a great amount of work without running into problems. Each stone will be flattened between uses, the amount of work required to restore flatness measured.

Sound simple? It is! But with even 6 different blades and 12 different stones, there will be ‘at least’ 72 sharpening sessions involved, plus recording data and then building the data into something understandable.

What lurks beneath the apparent simplicity will be cold, hard numbers and a few details that might otherwise be neglected.

By sharpening each blade to working condition, the finish left by each #1000 grit stone can be established.

At the end of testing, each stone will be measured in thickness to establish how much sharpening media was used up through testing giving a measure of the stone’s economy.

Restoring each stone to flat will give a measure of dish resistance, and combined with the final consumption of stone, whether the stone actually does resist dishing or is simply easy to flatten.

By testing various steels, a measure of performance can be given on each steel so that the ‘best’ stone for various combinations of steel can be made.

Testing each stone back to back will give an idea of the differences and idiosyncrasies of each stone, and by ‘mixing it up’, a pattern is less likely to be established, but rather comparisons among all stones as equally as possible.

A few other points will be revealed along the way.

Is this little comparison ambitious?

Of course it is, but I feel it needs to be done, and find myself in the extraordinary position of being maybe the only person to be able to do it easily.

Will there be a winner?

Maybe, but that’s not what I am looking for. With the variety of stones out there, there are bound to be stones that work better in certain situations than others. What can be done is to work out what stone will best suit you and what you need to keep sharp.

(That’s not trying to be PC with no winner or loser, just a simply acknowledgement of the fact that one stone may be a winner for me, but be a complete disaster for you.)

What’s the point?

Well, it’s no secret that I do sell water stones and would very much like to be able to accurately and honestly suggest a stone to suit everyone. While I have used most of these stones in some capacity and have a very good idea of what’s going to come out the end, there’s nothing like hard data to back up gut feelings.

And that’s the whole point. Instead of relying on flowery advertising prose to espouse the virtues of each stone, it is high time to get down to business and ask each chunk of manufactured rock to put up, or shut up.

The ball starts rolling in the next few days. Progress may be slow, but slow progress is better than no progress at all.

So, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to work.

Thanks for reading/wading,

Stu.

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Jiji, sayonara…

June 27th, 2010

Hi all.

The title of this one is what Koko, my 2 year old daughter said to my father in law today. I suggested it of course, but that’s what we all did today.

No point beating around the bush here, as I am very tired and not a small bit tipsy.

My father in law, my wife’s father and my children’s grandfather passed away yesterday morning, and his funeral was today.

Normally the funeral does not happen so quickly here but if it was not today then it would have stretched out to Monday (Sunday is a non-auspicious day) which would have been too long for more reasons than today was too quick.

I won’t go into details about it, but I can say that it was very dignified and very, very final. More than a few little shocks, one large one that made my eyes leak profusely and one that got my heart rate way up there.

It’s difficult enough to type this out now as it is, so I’ll leave it there. I guess it’s enough to let all of you out there that read this here web-log that my father in law was not at all well, and his passing was not unexpected. Just a little later and earlier than we all though it might be.

And to Yoshiyuki, who may see this and should have some help actually reading it…

Good bye sir, thanks for everything. I only wish I had known you better than I did, but I am blessed beyond mere words to have known you at all.

Goodnight,

Stu.

Posted in Not tools. | 1 Comment »

A cautionary tale…

June 23rd, 2010

Hi all,

I’ll start off here by saying that by now, there should have been some nice new things to look at in the store, and maybe some pictures here in the web-log as well.

There are not, because I have been incapable of doing it.

You might ask “Why is this so”? After all, I’ve gotten this far without too much help, why is it so difficult to get a few measly tools up for looking upon?

Well, for the past week (yes, a full week) I have been incapable of thinking straight. You see, I am in the midst of getting some dental work done. I have put this off for a very long time, much longer than I should have. Either a case of not enough spare cash to get the work done or not enough spare time to get the work done. Even with Japan’s national health insurance which pays for 70% of the reasonable health care fees, it’s still a bit of a struggle to come up with both time and cash to get my toothy-pegs administered to.

But now I am getting it done, and all is, well, terrible actually…

You see, I have a tooth that is not growing straight. It’s a big, bad wisdom tooth and for quite a while it was giving me occasional trouble. Not enough to stop my clock, but enough to give me pause.

Last week, it became more than just an occasional thing.

If I was actively doing something, no problem. Whether it be writing, walking, talking or whatever, no problems at all. Once I stopped, then a slight ache would set it. OTC painkillers would not touch it, so I was having some trouble getting a good night’s sleep. I only need 6 hours of that a night to be effective, but I could barely string together 3 hours at a time.

And since I was already going to the dentist for other things, I figured I should mention this.

By the time I got there, I was about ready to have the dang thing pulled out and the dentist was ready and capable of doing it. But he has a nasty habit of trying to keep all your teeth in your head (even though he’s able to do anything modern dentistry can dish out). Of course, he took a full x-ray of all my teeth, and I’m lucky he did.

Seems the big (BIG!!!) wisdom tooth with a directional deficiency was just fine, the tooth next to it however was not. So, in order to give me a good night’s sleep he drilled down to the inside bit, applied some goop and covered it with temporary filling material. I went home, feeling pretty darned good.

Until 9PM…

The pain kicked in, hard.

So, I spent all of Monday night icing my tooth. Seems all other teeth in my head are in pretty good shape because they were all frozen for 15 hours straight. I was at wits end with no sleep and constant icing. I could not do my regular day job of course, and since the dentist is 25 minutes drive away, I was unable to get there.

Mrs. Schtoo took me to a local dentist only 10 minutes away, so I packed some ice cubes and ice water and trundled off for a midday appointment…

(Can you see where this is going yet?)

We got there with time to spare. But my supply of ice was running out, and the icewater was no longer icy enough to get the job done.

I was in panic mode, since the pain was quite intense. Enough that I needed to thrash around, hit things and scream. It didn’t reduce the pain any, but it did take my mind of it enough to avoid slashing my wrists with any nearby dull object.

As the last iceblock melted, I could feel the pain start to, well, fade away actually…

Went in to see the new dentist, and he did some more x-rays (lucky I have no more kids planned!) and applied some more goop to the offending tooth and sent me home.

No pain, so I slept for 10 hours.

Once I woke up, well, the pain came back…

So another sleepless night last night, with ice water since straight ice was too strong this time.

An early morning phone call arranged a 9AM visit to my regular dentist, and a dash by the wonderful Mrs. Schtoo got me there relatively intact.

After 30 minutes of anaesthesia, drilling, scraping, microwaving and other such silly stuff, the offending tooth was cleaned up, de-rooted and plugged up again.

And for the first time in what may be years, I have no pain in any teeth at all. And you know what, I feel calmer and more relaxed than I can remember. Even my little man being a total, utter nutcase didn’t really wind me up very much tonight. Whacking his dear mother, the wonderful Mrs. Schtoo in the face with a wet face washer was only enough to make me speak sternly to him, and force him to make yet another apology to her.

I feel good, very tired but good.

The wonderful Mrs. Schtoo keeps looking at me with a look of “You idiot” which I suppose is quite justified in the end.

And there’s the reason for the title up there.

To all of you reading this, get checked for stuff. What ’stuff’ is depends on what and who you are. Maybe it’s just going to the dentist regularly. Maybe it’s being screened for cancer or just a regular check up by the doctor.

Don’t get me wrong here, I HATE the dentist, always have. I blame it on my first visit where I had a tooth pulled, without anaesthetic. Even though my current dentist is a friend (I apparently had a hand in getting his son into Tokyo University) and has not yet subjected me to more than the slightest bit of pain while in his chair. He’s good, really good, but that still doesn’t change the fact that I hate just going there in the first place.

It’s hammered home to me that even a small health problem can have side effects further reaching than you may realise. Just a slightly annoying tooth, one I hardly ever noticed was enough to make me less than 100% effective. I have not slept in 24 hours, and I feel more effective right now than I have in a loooong time. I can think clearly, and can still get things done. I’m not even suffering from my usual sleep deprived dyslexia at the moment.

So, you folk out there. You care enough to read this too long drivel, so I’m asking you to get checked. Get something checked. Who knows how much the smallest, most insignificant problem is affecting you?

Me, I’m going to bed now. I need to sleep. I reckon I can fit 2 days worth of work into 8 hours tomorrow, so expect some changes around here very soon.

(As a side note, you might be thinking “Hey, it’s just a tooth!” It’s actually a lot more than that. Right now, the wonderful Mrs. Schtoo is at her father’s side, wondering if he will make it through this night or not. A simple, regular check might have saved him from the cancer that is taking him away from us. Just a modesty infringing check might have found the little bit of out of control growth inside him, and could have been taken care of without incident.

Get checked. Get something checked. I know that as soon as my teeth are fixed, I’m going to get the rest of me sorted out pretty quick smart. Quite sure there’s nothing else physically wrong with me (mentally, the jury is out) but you never know what’s going on.)

Good night, good luck, good health.

Stu.

(Oh yes, for all the faults of this land known as Japan, the dentist have their act together and they are not expensive. I’m looking at a tooth rebuild, a few root canals and several small fillings. Prolly costs less than the insurance I will pay for this quarter, and that ain’t much as it is.)

Posted in Miscellaneous., Not tools. | Comments Off

The good with the bad, updated…

June 14th, 2010

Hi All,

Well, the road trip is done and dusted.

It started at 9AM yesterday morning, and finished at 7PM yesterday. 3 hours of driving in constant, monsoon like rain on our way to Miki city, Hyogo to meet a tool maker.

We arrived after zigging when we should have zagged, getting mildly lost, billed a couple of dollars for a U-turn (really pleased with that was I) and all manner of trouble. Not the least of which was a windscreen that could have been ‘better’. Not dangerous, but I prefer to be able to see.

So, we went to said tool makers workshop and met the man who makes the tools. He showed us how the tools were made, including many details I was not completely aware of. Let me tell you, there is a big difference between knowing how something is done and actually seeing how it is done.

Mrs. Schtoo managed to attract lots of grinding dust while I stayed quite clean. She has a knack for that, which goes against her usually impeccably clean nature, but I digress.

Then, we went to the tool makers house to talk about some stuff. We talked, talked and talked some more. Tom and Koko charmed one and all.

I got to see some of the most spectacularly pretty tools I have ever seen. It is not every day you pick up a $500 hand tool, and it’s an event in and of itself. Ok, something like a nice infill plane is worth more outright, but if this was an infill, we would be talking about something worth as much as a new, reasonably nice car.

Yes, that nice and that expensive.

We managed to plug holes in our knowledge not only of the tool maker but of all manner of things in this game that I play at.

We stopped at the Miki city regional trade hall. In Japan most towns and cities have such a place where the local products are on display and on sale. Mostly as a tourist stop for the mandatory gifts one must drag along when travelling.

(In our case, we took locally produced wine and rice crackers. We should have taken Sanuki udon noodles, but figured them too cliché. That will be corrected in the very near future, one way or another.)

If you are even remotely interested in hand tools, and for whatever reason find yourself in Miki city, you should stop in. A moderately large store filled to the gunwales with locally produced products, and in Miki city, they make tools. It is not every day that you get to see nearly every Japanese tool makers wares in one place. Heck, there is only one place on the planet I can think of at the present moment in time, and that’s Miki “Michi-no-eki”

(Although this situation of many tools in one place may be up for revision soon…)

And then we made our way home. I stopped and picked up some of the local equivalent of Rain-X which worked better than expected. Once I bought it, the rain stopped! Much easier to drive home when you can actually see what’s in the distance.

I came back home with good memories, good information and a good new friend.

And that counts as a pretty good day for me. Even with the warts, right now I am happy that we all went on our little road trip.

Now, you might be reading this and wondering what on earth I am yammering about and why I won’t get to the point. The reason is simple, I am not yet ready to let on who I saw, our new working arrangement and what it means for the tool maker, myself or Tools from Japan. That will come very soon, and this posting is taking time out of my now dangerously busy schedule, so the less time I spend here, the better.

But the tale is not yet ended.

The tool maker wishes to visit us here. He and his wife have wanted to visit this little corner of the world for some time, and now he has an excuse so we will be seeing him again very soon. A great thing in and of itself.

But he is also concerned about my business model, and how can I make a living doing what I am doing right now. The simple answer is “I can’t!”, and for now that is ok by us here.

However, for him it is not ok. So he is calling some of his friends to see what can be done.

I believe I may have just kicked a dragon in it’s most delicate area…

(And yes, that’s a bit of a cryptic clue as to what’s been going on this past few weeks.)

I do not know what the future holds, but whatever it may be it is of my own creation.

Wish us luck, and I hope I need none of it.

Stu,

Chief cook and bottle washer at Tools from Japan (Now also known for giving dragons a boot to the bits :~)

Oh yes, watch this space. I have pictures…

Posted in Tools. | 5 Comments »

The good with the bad…

June 6th, 2010

Hi all,

Long time between drinks, isn’t it?

I thought I should explain why the lack of detail, lack of content, lack of effort and lack of this lackie has occured…

This past month has been very much a roller coaster ride for us here, from the lowest of lows to a few heady highs, and as I sit here bashing this in, it’s at the tail end of what should have been a very interesting and fruitful day, but in the end didn’t come to terribly much at all.

To start, my father in law was for a time, eye-ball to eye-ball with the big, black hooded fellow who carries a sickle. They almost went for a little stroll together. In the end, dad in law thumbed his nose, said some choice words and pencilled in a later appointment with the foul wretch.

How close?

Well, my mother in law and her mother (my grandma in law?) have a funny relationship. They are very similar in some respects, and are both kind and yet hard when required. Grandma often visits, planning to spend at least 2 days in town (from Osaka, where she lives alone at age 80 and change) and has not yet, in the 8 years I have known her spent more than 24 hours in town. She gets uppity and catches the bus back home again.

She spent 5 days here.

Better be something pretty significant for her to bite her tongue, keep her character in check and hold off the bull in her head for that long, especially for what ended up being a false alarm.

(And this is a lady who has been in mourning for her husband for over 20 years. Complicated person? You better believe it. I like her a heck of a lot, and no, the gold Jaeger watch she gave me has nothing to do with it!)

So, d-i-l clawed back from the abyss. Temporary, but that will do.

Last month was hectic in the store. Orders thicker and faster than ever before. Until some dolt said ‘billion’ instead of ‘million’ and wiped out the constantly improving foreign currency exchange trend. Sounds crazy, but I can go back to the records and pinpoint the day it all fell in a heap.

I was hoping for some time in the workshop to get some work done, especially taking some video of saws doing what they do best. Trying to get video from the camera into the computer is not so simple however. I need Firewire to do that, also known as IEEE 1394. Common enough, but for whatever reason the new computer has no working slots. The old computer does, but it’s old (well, duh) and has trouble crunching the numbers from High definition tape into a video file fast enough. I can get mediocre quality at best, which is kinda like trying to replicate the Mona Lisa with a house painting brush and a tin of brown paint. Maybe it can be done, but the first viewer will point out that someone vandalised the masterpiece with a can of brown paint and a paintbrush…

But it is working, somewhat, I suppose.

I have a mess of #1000 grit waterstones I also want to test. I have tried out a few, and desperately want to get them all done properly, but once again, time gets in the way. Or the distinct lack of it.

I was finally able to make contact with a tool maker here, and dreading that they might give a flat ‘no’, or at worst, no response at all, was nerve wracking. The delay in first contact was a combination of our trying to get over the roller coaster ride of d-i-l (it was tough on Mrs. Schtoo here. She needs plenty of sleep, she had 4 days with a distinct lack of any sleep and spent 2 weeks trying to catch up. I need her help with these things!) and my fear of being flatly rejected.

So I sent the email, biting my nails the whole time in waiting for a response. Got the reply, guarded but not too concerning. With confidence boosted, we sent further details. Again the answer was guarded a little, but generally ‘yes’. Woo hoo! But hang on, it’s not that simple. We need to meet, which means one of us needs to drive 2 hours each way. Ok, I’ll make the trip..

As time dragged on, it became more and more clear what is going on here, and why I should have not been too worried.

The tool capital of Japan (and possibly the world) is a place known as Miki-city, Hyogo. Hyogo is the prefecture (read as state, province, county, whatever) that also has Kobe in it. Kobe is part of the Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto megalopolis and can also be described as the ‘Kansai’ area. Folks from Kansai are traders.

Ergo, the fellow I was going to meet does have the ‘Kansai trader’ mentality where selling something is a good thing.

That Mrs. Schtoo and her family are from the same area (and same prefecture) means there is nothing new there and we are on pretty good ground so long as we are working to sell something.

It also helps to explain why, at 8AM this morning we had to call them to explain that we could not make it, since Tom here was running a strong fever and needed to see the doctor. We weren’t going anywhere…

He was ok with it, and postponement is not a big problem.

This whole week I was ramping up for ‘the meeting’ with very mixed emotions the whole way.

To have it cancelled on the very morning was difficult to accept really, but Tom is more important to me than a meeting, especially if I can put it off to another day.

From “here we go” to “here we don’t” was another kick in the emotions I didn’t really need.

Oh well…

If it is possible to get a decent run at things AND fit in a visit to the dentist, I might be able to get some things done. But while my days are not filled, they are not as well organised as I would prefer which means I can’t spend the time I need to get stuff done as I would like. It’s annoying, but I just gotta work with it. :(

That’s about all I got really. Maybe unreadable, maybe unfollowable, but it’s not been quiet and calm here.

I will get on the other things, just as soon as I can get all these ‘other’ things sorted out.

Thanks for reading, for being patient, for being there.

Stu.

Posted in Miscellaneous., Not tools. | 3 Comments »

Stone some more crows…

May 17th, 2010

Hi again, Faithful Reader.

I’ll keep this short and simple.

Recently, I sent a Japanese market Glass Stone to the U.S. to be compared to a U.S. market Glass Stone and the results are back.

As far as can be reasonably established, they are the same thing, down to the product number.

For added interest, it would appear that the ‘new’ High Carbon Glass Stones have the same product number as the polishing type stones sold here with an (S) moniker attached to the end of their grit number.

What does that really mean?

Simple enough, the (S)/High Carbon are a less durable Glass Stone with reduced binder strength, reduced abrasive durability and a greater likelihood of being affected by ‘climatic conditions’, or when they get wet, they behave more like a regular waterstone instead of a “harder than Hades!” Glass Stone, or at least as much as one of these stone can be.

In really simple terms, the (S)/High Carbon stones shed grit, that grit breaks up on the surface of the stone and as a result, it polishes the blade’s edge a little better.

And to add to the raised eyebrow-ness, the ‘new’ #10000 grit Glass Stone appears to be more of the (S)ame, albeit not marketed as such in English language literature.

Not that it really means all that much in the end, just that the Glass Stones here are the same as the Glass Stones everywhere.

As a side note, also about Shapton, it was recently bought to my attention that the infamous “Warranty null and Void” sticker on the side of ALL Japanese market Shaptons (and when I say all, that means ‘Professional’, M5 and M15 Shapton stones that I have seen) is no longer present, at least on recent production Professional type stones.

You conspiracy theory types out there may read this as “Well, we never thought there was anything different between the Japanese and US stones, and this confirms it!”, and the Grassy Knoll types might think that “There was nothing wrong with them in the first place, and the warranty is so rarely used, why add the sticker?”.

Me, I am less complicated. I think they probably ran out of stickers, and couldn’t be bothered (or forgot) to order some more.

What do you think?

Until next time,

Stu.

P.S. The planned video stuff is taking a lot longer than I had hoped. I just can’t seem to escape for long enough to get anything meaningful done!

Posted in Miscellaneous., Tools. | Comments Off

Stone the crows!

May 6th, 2010

Hi there faithful reader.

Recently on Woodnet forum there was a question asked about King brand waterstones, and the discussion transmogrified into a ‘What makes a waterstone do what it does?’

Well, maybe not, but I decided to bash in the following in an attempt to explain the differences between them, starting off with an explanation of what ‘Old school’ waterstones are…

Old school simply means that the binder in the stone is clay based, so it breaks apart very easily or can be described as ‘readily friable’.

In coarser stones, it constantly exposes fresh, sharp abrasive so the stones cut fast. The trade off is that they will go out of flat rapidly because the surface is constantly being stripped away as the tool rubs across it. The gaps between abrasive will allow some spent grit to sink into the stone, and some will remain on the surface unless you wash it off.

In finer grit stones, the same effect happens to a lesser degree. In this case, because the stone’s abrasive is finer, the stripped grit/binder can’t go anywhere but on the surface of the stone creating a slurry or mud. This slurry is composed of abrasive, clay binder and steel particles. As it gets rubbed, the abrasive becomes smaller and cuts finer, the surface of the stone begins to plug up so the effect is exacerbated. In short, you effectively end up with a polishing compound which should give you a great edge. To make the stone cut faster, wash off the slurry exposing fresh abrasive and helping unclog the stone’s surface.

This polishing effect also occurs in the coarser stones but to a lesser degree.

It also means that making a #1000 to #6000/8000 jump in stone grit is easily done with no real ill effects.

Newer stones use a ceramic or resin based binder which is either a lot harder so the abrasive is is not so rapidly stripped away (think Shapton) or the binder is more resistant to abrasion while still remaining quite soft (Sigma Power, Bester). Naniwa Superstones are somewhere in the middle.

Because the binder holds together longer, the grit ends up doing more work before being discarded meaning you need to have a harder, more resilient abrasive. Finding the balance between binder and abrasive so you get a stone that will cut quickly without being torn up too quickly is where the difference between the newer ‘ceramic’ stones is compared to the old school clay based ones.

What you gain is a stone that should still cut quickly, but will remain flat for longer. The trade off is that you may/will lose some of that ‘polishing’ action meaning a big jump just isn’t possible and you really do need to go ‘up the grits’ to get the job done.

In real terms, you can get away with a King (or Norton) #1000 and then a #6000/8000 so long as you take care to make sure your stones are flat so you don’t end up putting a convex surface on a chisel or plane blade’s back. To get the same thing out of newer style ceramic stones, you would need a #1000, a #3000/5000 and then a #8000/12000 in a Shapton professional type stone to end up with the same net result because the fine grit stones can’t get the coarser scratches out fast enough so you really do need that intermediate step. Yes, the fine stones will take away the coarse scratches, eventually, but that defeats the purpose since it will take considerable time and you also increase the risk of making the stone ‘unflat’

The only ceramic stones that I know (as in I really do know, not simply suspect) that will make a #1000-#8000 jump are Sigma Power. I suspect Naniwa Chosera stones will also make the leap, but I don’t know for certain.

The Sigma Power does it by using a very hard #1000 stone that cuts very rapidly. The #8000 uses a moderately hard binder so you get the tough, sharp ceramic style abrasive combined with a binder that will let spent grit go while retaining the still sharp abrasive. You don’t get the polishing effect though, the abrasive is too hard for that. However stropping the edge WILL give you a polish so you can do that final step ‘on the cheap’ if you find you need a better edge than the #8000 Sigma Power gives you. The #10000 Sigma Power is more a polishing stone, so the abrasive will actually break down a little rather than simply becoming blunt.

Taken to the other extreme are the Shapton Glass stones. They use a very durable abrasive combined with an extremely hard, durable binder. They do cut quickly, but you get next to zero polishing effect and fresh abrasive needs to be exposed by abrading the surface with a diamond plate or similar. However, for Glass Stones, you really REALLY do need to go up the grits to get a good edge. There are some Glass Stones (signified by an ‘S’ designation) that use a less resilient binder and an abrasive that will break down offering some effect of polishing. Generally though, Glass Stones are %$# hard which means they WILL stay flat no matter how hard you try to change that. Personally, I am not real keen on them, but plenty of folks really like them which goes to show there is a stone for anyone but no stone for everyone.

Then you can get into oilstones which have a binder that generally speaking does not break down, but the abrasive is also very resilient. They don’t cut anywhere near as quickly as a waterstone, but they need very little if any maintenance. That’s not a point for or against oilstones, simply a fact of how they work and again there are plenty of folks who love oilstones.

In the end, it’s all about trade offs. There is no ‘perfect’ sharpening method, but you might find one that is perfect for you.

Yes I did mention that I sell all of the above mentioned stones. Normally I wouldn’t, but since this was more general information and I was not actively trying to sell anything (The Original Poster ended up buying a set of King Stones from Woodcraft at a great price.) I figured it was a good idea to mention how and where I came from.

Now, here’s the really odd part.

When I sharpen anything, I use the most unlikely methods you might ever find. Considering that I have access to nearly any kind of Japanese waterstone available today, I don’t use anything really special.

Taking a raw, poor condition blade that needs extensive work, I will start out with either a kanaban (flat piece of mild/soft steel) with some SiC (Silicon Carbide) grit or I will use my newly christened Sigma Power #120 stone. The kanaban normally makes quick work of any flattening I need to do since the steel stays very flat and the grit cuts quickly, but breaks down with use giving a reasonably good finish. Done right, it will grind-smooth-polish a blade back. Mind blowing the first time you do it, since you cannot believe that gravel can make for a polished blade…

The Sigma Power #120 is an absolute weapon. I have yet to find another stone in it’s class (that class being ‘cinder block’!) that stays as flat or cuts as fast. Every other rough stone I have used stays flat for about 3 seconds and/or drops off in cutting rate, never to return. The Sigma #120 does drop off initially, but it keeps on cutting rapidly too. Amazing stuff.

After the sigma or if I didn’t make the kanaban do it’s magic trick, I will go to a cheap-o #400 diamond plate or a Shapton M5 #220 stone. The diamond plate has seen better days, and the Shapton is not bad, but I have learned to not rely on it staying too flat, even while working it correctly. It cuts alright, but also abrades away a little too quickly for comfort.

Next step is a King #1000 ‘brick’. I know this thing doesn’t stay flat, and it goes out of flat so quickly that I recommend everyone learn to master them before going with anything better.

Why?

If you can use one of these without relying on it’s ability to stay flat (it doesn’t!) then anything else you use later on will be milked of every usable gram of material effectively. You won’t be sending half your stone down the drain in flattening.

You will also gain an appreciation for where waterstones got their reputation of going out of flat rapidly…

But the redeeming factors are these things are dirt cheap and cut really fast. The brick will last you a long time, my inherited one has seen several years now and has several more to go unless I end up using the heck out of it or replacing it with something better. If it was a regular sized stone, it would have been used all the way up by now.

After the King, if I remember, I will use a Naniwa #5000 Super stone. This stone is often forgotten since I used it, then stayed out of the shop for a long time. I really do forget it is there. It’s also quite underwhelming really, especially after the speed of the King where every second feels like you are Getting Work Done!

But the Naniwa does work quite quickly, all things considered. Yes the binder is quite soft, but it does resist abrasion nicely. Because it is soft, you do get the feeling of Getting Work Done, but not in the same way as the King. The Naniwa will polish up the edge nicely though, so I really should make sure I use it, because the alternative is a real old school waterstone of indeterminate grit, but about #1500-2000. Cuts alright, but is seriously hard. Useful to have, and I have no idea what it is nor can I get one. They Just Don’t Make Them Like They Used To…

Final step is another inherited stone, this time very fine and very, Very, VERY hard. It will make for an incredibly fine/sharp edge, but because it is so fine it also cuts very slowly, so I rarely go to the effort.

Which brings me to something new…

The Shapton Glass Stone #16000.

I recently got the opportunity to use one of these stones, and one thing kept coming back to me.

“This feels like my fine stone…”

Because it did, really. The Shapton exhibited all of the nasty traits of that hard stone including sticking, skating, slow cutting and random scratches.

Sticking is where the stone and tool are in perfect registration with each other, and they ‘lock’ together. A right PITA really, since you can’t get a smooth stroke with it.

Skating is where there is a thin layer of water/slurry (what slurry?) that gets between the stone and the blade. On a normal stone, the water will go into the stone, but as the Shapton and my own fine stone are so dense, they don’t absorb any water and because it has nowhere to go, it makes the blade aquaplane. Just as painful as sticking really.

Slow cutting? Yep, you read that right, neither mofs (My Own Fine Stone) or the Shapton cut as quickly as I would prefer. But they do cut, so it’s a minor gripe.

Random scratches, that too. With mofs, it’s small, coarse inclusions in the stone that cause it. Not often, but visible. The Shapton exhibits the same problem, but the scratches are more easily seen.

They also exhibit another thing, that being the ability to make a very, very sharp edge. Those edges some of you only hear about where hairs ‘pop’ off your arm and pine end grain sloughs away like it’s warm butter, that kind of edge.

And that’s a good thing. It’s such a good thing that it makes the other problems something to overcome rather than something that makes you wonder “how can I get rid of this thing?!”

(In my case, I already have an out for the Shapton. The future owner will read this and learn to get the best out of the stone. Lucky for both of us!)

So, here are the secrets I use to get the most out of my stone and they also work on the Shapton.

Thin blades are a non issue. They don’t have the contact area on the stone to stick or skate very much and besides, you can micro/back bevel them to avoid the slower cutting rate.

Thicker blades such as chisels and Japanese plane blades, you have a couple options. One is to make sure you use a honing guide. The extra mass of the guide will prevent sticking/skating becoming much of an issue and the added pressure you can exert on the edge will also mitigate the problem. Slower cutting, add pressure. Make sure the stone is well supported, as tough/rigid as the glass backing might be, you can’t defy the laws of physics so pressure will bend the stone. Back it up with something solid and it will be fine.

If you really want to free hand wide bevel blades, take your diamond plate and flatten the stone with a teaspoon of water and LEAVE THE MUD THERE!!!

The mud is what does the work, not the stone so while the blade will float a little, that floating is also sharpening the edge. As an added bonus, you will be using a flat stone and won’t be doing much, if anything to change that because the ’stone’ is doing little or no work.

And that’s it. That’s the big secret. Took me a while to work that one out, and there is nothing else out there that I know of that works anywhere near as well.

With that, I will leave you all be. I hope some of you out there find this information useful and thanks for reading.

Stu.

Posted in Tool articles, Tools. | 3 Comments »

Hmm… Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea…

May 2nd, 2010

Hi again Faithful Reader…

According to the last post in this here blog, there should be video coming forthwith.

Well, the video exists but not all that is required. There are a few hiccups that are preventing my posting it up for general consumption.

Firstly, and most importantly is that while the picture is quite clear and the audio is also quite clear there is an annoying wind noise prevalent through all of it. The problem is the omni directional microphone in the point-and-shoot camera I used, it picks up everything without discretion.

Secondly, as this was my first attempt, it is quite poor and I know I could do better. I ended up talking as though talking to someone in the same room, and it doesn’t come across so well. I need to get back to dictating to a classroom full of 12 year olds for the spoken word to be easier to hear and understand. It’s not like I am out of practise there you see, well in taking video of my decidedly unphotogenic self, I have zero practise.

(I’ll be blunt here, it’s freaking embarrassing to take video of myself. I hate most all pictures ever taken of me, unless there is a kid with me, preferably one of my own two little ones who take attention away from my ugly mug…)

Third, I now know why professional actors use scripts. I need to get one of them myself as ad-libbing just doesn’t work. No “umms” and “ahhhs” you see, since I have weeded them out of my speech over the years of talking to classroom sized groups, but I missed a lot of details I would like to have included.

Four, it takes about 6-7 minutes to video-test each saw. Multiplied by 9 and you get a lot of video. I need to pay attention to how it’s all done and cut down the time without cutting down the content. Editing is required, and I need to sort out how to present each saw (tool in future) so there is little or no dead time. I ultimately want to get each saw done with in a minute or two of actual cutting, maybe a minute of explaining what it’s about. 3 minutes per so I don’t abuse those of you out there with minimalist attention spans.

Five, I need to use the video camera. Problem is that I also need a firewire connection in the computer to suck it all out of the video camera, and then crunch it all down into a nice, small, compact file. Apparently, the HD video tape off the thing is about 50Gb, so the computer needs to work hard to get that size down.

Six, I need to use my workbench OR build a new one. Might be easier to slap together a quick and dirty one. Might even do that tomorrow…

(Hint, workbenches are easy to build. Longest time required is to watch the glue dry!)
That’s about it really, I need to line everything up and do it properly for it to work. I won’t say the video will be wonderful, but it should not be a waste of your valuable time.

I’ll get there, soon I hope.

Stu.

Posted in Miscellaneous., Tool articles | Comments Off

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