Flattening a stone question.

[taffy]

I have read the wiki about flattening stones, but one thing always comes to mind, it says to draw lines over the stones with a pencil before you start rubbing to see where you need to rub, thats fine, also to wet the stone and the stone your rubbing with, fine, but wont the pencil marks just sort of wash off if the both stones are wet when you rub then together whether or not your actually flattening the stones or not, as i would imagine the pencil marks would just wash off whatever you rub the stone with, or am i totally off mark here, hope you get what i am on about.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Pencil lead (graphite) isn't very water soluble. Try to erase from a piece of paper by licking your finger and rubbing it without removing bits of paper.

 

[taffy]

New it was a daft question, to much to take in being a newbie.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Not daft. How many people need to concern themselves with waterproof writing these days really?

 

[wazazzle]

i know i probably shouldn't but i use a gel pen.

 

[PhatMan]

taffy,

It's actually quite a sensible question !

By its nature, the slurry & action of the stones will remove some of the pencil marks. This occurs in addition to the pencil line removal actually caused by the flattening.

For best results, after the initial flattening, re-mark the pencil grid on the stone and repeat the flattening again.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

 

[Desdinova]

I have read the wiki about flattening stones, but one thing always comes to mind, it says to draw lines over the stones with a pencil before you start rubbing to see where you need to rub, thats fine, also to wet the stone and the stone your rubbing with, fine, but wont the pencil marks just sort of wash off if the both stones are wet when you rub then together whether or not your actually flattening the stones or not, as i would imagine the pencil marks would just wash off whatever you rub the stone with, or am i totally off mark here, hope you get what i am on about.

I disagree with adding pressure to the spots requiring work.


When the stone is flat, the grid will wear off equally. So just keep rubbing and reapplying the pencil grid until it wears of equally.

This line of thinking (working only certain areas vs the whole stone) is the same approach that leads to razors with a smile profile.

 

[Shaman]

I heartily agree with the previous two posters. Keep reappling the grid until it wears away evenly. I would also add to be sure to rinse the swath away reguarly.

 

[wdwrx]

One thing I've noticed is that there is a tendency to put more pressure on one side/end than the other. IMHO, I think it's very important to keep rotating the stone as you are lapping it, as opposed to directing any pressure to a particular area.

 

[Walker]

Take a look at some of the honing videos in the honing section, I belive they are by heavyduty. His videos shows him flatteing a stone under a running faucet which rinses the grit off while flattening. Seems like a good way to do it.

 

[DaveMartell]

The easiest way to see if a stone is flat is by the contrast of the shades of the colors on the surface. A freshly flattened stone will appear clean and vibrant in color while one that needs flattening will have sections that are darker in tone. As you flatten away you should read the surface of the stone and when the surface becomes all one shade you're done.

*Note - Keep rotating the stone into different positions to ensure that you're evenly applying pressure and thus evenly wearing the stone as you go. You can have a slanted stone that's flat but who wants a slanted stone?