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I've been using hand planes this week. I've joined my top and back with no trouble. I just started thicknessing my walnut back with my plane. I did a few swipes (using Cumpiano's diagonal method) and everything was good. Then I started seeing some tearout. Time to sharpen. So I thought I would sharpen all of my irons. Can a stone "load up"?   I can't seem to put an edge on any of the irons. Now yes 2 are cheapo stanleys, but even the Sweetheart blade take an edge. If the stone is loaded how do I unload it? BTW it's just a basic Arkansas oil stone. IIRC it's a 2000 grit.

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nay

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there can be many causes of tearout.

but first things first: yes,stones can load up which is why oil or water is used to float the metal and stone residue away. arkansas stones use oil.

if an arkansas stone is loaded up soaking and washing it in a light solvent should clean it up. anything from gasoline to paint thinner or lacquer thinner should do it.

as to your honing, are you using a honing guide or working freehand?

what condition is the stone's surface in? is it flat or is it dished at all? if so you may want to flaten it on sandpaper attached to a very flat surface such as float glass, granite surface block, or your table saw or joiner table.

also a 2000 stone is regarded as a medium stone these days, not a finish polish stone.

depending upon how deep your pockets are you may wish to consider upgrading your sharpening equipment. i prefer waterstones but but they are expensive and others prefer the "scary sharp" method using sandpaper and a glass or granite plate, or your table saw table or jointer table.

the other question you haven't addressed is how well the plane is tuned, ie., the flatness of the sole, the setting of the blade/frog in the mouth, the setting of the chipbreaker on the blade, and the angle at which the plane is honed, both the primary and the secondary bevels.

Todd
Yes, I'm sure it's an Arkansas oil stone. But since they don't have a "grit" per se, that's probably why I couldn't remember what it was.

Michael
I'm going at it freehand. I'm confident in my ability to sharpen the blades. I make sure to hone the back of the blade then the ground bevel and then the micro-bevel. I've sharpened irons, chisels, and pocket knives before with no problems. It seems this is an "all of a sudden" type thing. That's what made me think it was a stone loading problem. Thanks for the cleaning advice.

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nay

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many "oil stones" do have grit sizes, particularly the manmade ones, which is why they are labled fine, coarse, etc.

arkansas stones are usually graded by their hardness and colour, and are but often given grit equivalency ratings.

what kind of oil are you using as a lubricant. light stuff like 3 in 1 is good, and i've known some folks to use fuel oil, diesel or kerosene. whatever, it should float the residue away.

Thanks guys. It does "look" glazed over. I'll give cleaning it a shot for now. I need to invest in a decent stone. This is one of the Arkansas stones you get at the orange Borg (aka Home Depot). It works well for knives but I think I need to upgrade to do my chisels and irons.

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nay

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Have you considered using plate glass and sandpaper (scary sharp method)? You'll always have a fresh surface and grit to meet the iron.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Yeah, I'm familiar with the scary sharp method. I've not tried it yet, and honestly had forgotten about it. I may stop by the local glass shop and see if I can get some drops. The bad part about the scary sharp method is finding the fine grit sandpaper.

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nay

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Nathan, you can find the finer grits at an auto supply store.

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Aoibeann

Lillian's correct...I've even found it in Walmart. I use grits progressing from 220 to 2000. For touchups I usually use 600 to 2000 and then a leather strop with green compound. The bevels and backs shine like mirrors.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

The June/July 2006 woodsmith magazine has a good article on the scarry sharp method and a cool little board that they've set up for it. I got the magazine from my library.

The grits they suggest are 80,180 (both aluminum oxide paper),320,800,1500,2000 (these of course are the wet/dry papers). That's it. They use a honing guide to set the bevel. Good little system.

Woodsmith magazine sandpaper sharpening article check out the Macromedia flash video (the windows media didn't work for me)

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Found this in the archives. It was a great thread on sharpening. Also wondering if we can re-enable old threads on the new software.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson