Is there a cheap way of flattening this Chinese stone? Trying not to have to buy a diamond plate right now.
Any suggestions? If I did have to use a diamond plate, what grit should be used?
Any methods to get this stone into serviceable condition again would be appreciated.
Cheers!
Is the stone flat or is it hollow?
If it isn't flat, then to flatten it , the cheapest way, mark it up with a pencil
go outside,
find a section of pavement you don't mind scratching
or a concrete paver/paving stone
pour water on it, maybe toss a pinch of loose sand if you have it (speeds it up)
and then rub in figure eights ... turn stone around, rub same amount, change directions ... like sharpening making sure both sides are even
lean into it (this is for hard stones), use both hands, it is a workout
when all the pencil marks are gone its flat,
or when you can remove pencil marks in handful of passes its flat
thats the easy generic part, that makes the stone dull
not a problem if you got something like a "nagura" to raise slurry on the now flat stone
but if you don't have a "nagure" to raise a slurry,
then it requires specific grits to condition the surface or "grade" it so it cuts your knives
this is where you use the sandpaper as its available almost everywhere
something more coarser than the grit rating of your stone
apparently it only takes a few seconds , if you go longer you're just dulling the stone again
also, you may need to work up to it ... say if your stone is 2000 grit
and you just flattened it on a some 36 grit beltsander belt nailed to a piece of wood
then dont jump straight to 1500 grit sandpaper , do 100, 400, 1000 first
I've only done the flattening portion on a concrete paver on a badly dished stone, it was a workout
about 30min of rubbing; not too bad for ~6mm of dishing ... probably won't be repeating that
because I have a "nagura" i can raise slurry with this is where I stopped
as thats all thats needed to get the stones to cut instead of burnish
and all my stones are coarse and cheap
I bought cheap harbor freight diamonds because I thought I'd use that to "flatten" some stones I'd buy later
turns out thats not a great idea , esp on hard stones, that will wear out the plate ; might be ok for conditioning, but for flattening a piece of glass a tile or concrete is the better way to go
This guy has a lot of videos showing stone maintenance, he has all kinds of loose grit abrasives ...
stefanwolf88/search?query=slate
Translucent arkansas - part 1 - Stefan Wolf Short lapping/flattening/conditioning slideshow / Silicon Carbide abrasive grain in order of use: 150 400 600
