It's almost a waterstone!

T

thombrogan

Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
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After making the suggestion to a fellow forumite, I just started toying with using water on my lapping film over glass as a makeshift waterstone. Didn't notice a difference in cutting speed, but the paper didn't load up as fast and it was fun. And, just like on my 8k waterstone, I gouged it. :o But only twice.

Aaayyyy! :thumbup:
 
I use that for chisels (paper on glass) but find it awkward for knives. I tend to cut the paper a lot.

-Cliff
 
It helps if you use it with only edge-trailing or edge-parallel strokes as knives tend to have more curves than non-defective chisels.

What's nice about mylar abrasives (and possibly nice about the HA paper, don't know yet) is that if the sheet loads with swarf (steel schmutz), you can clean it right off with gelled alcohol hand cleaner (Purell, etc.).

What's nicer is the price. For coarser grits, like between 60 and 4,000, sandpaper and mylar will be exhausted gritter than waterstones and oilstones when it comes to setting an edge or removing scratches from the previous grit. For 8,000 through 200,000 mesh/grit (or 3 microns through 0.1 microns), the rough work has already been done. $2-4 for an 8.5" x 11" sheet of abrasive is steep, but less steep than $50-400.
 
For 0.3 millimeters of mylar impregnated with AO, SiC, CrO, or C slurry (diamond), they wear slowly and expose new abrasives as the upper layers are dulled and the mylar wears down. The 40 and 15 micron sheets wear a lot faster, though still sort of slow, and diamond hones with good bonding or regular waterstones will last longer. The higher grit waterstones will likely last longer, too, but no so much that a 16,000 grit/0.92 microns Shapton Glasstone's $100 price tag is cost-effective in the long run versus 14,000 grit/1 micron 3M AO sticky sheets at $18/10 8.5x11 or their 30,000 grit/0.49 microns stone for $280 versus 0.3 micron 3M AO sticky sheets at $18/10 or even 0.5 micron diamond 3M sticky sheets at $41 a pop (as diamonds pwn steel better than AO).
 
Thanks for the details, my main issue with paper is just cutting it up, but that as you noted is more method than a limitation of the steel. Have you noticed any limitations in steel with the finer papers, some steels simply not responding to the higher finish?

-Cliff
 
Only when used on a softbacking. D2 loved 0.5micron CrO and wouldn't respond to 0.3micron AO, but that was all. Used as a tape blank for an EdgePro jig or a lapping surface on a piece of glass, every steel loved both abrasives, but the CrO cut slower (not so slow to really matter, more like 20 strokes versus 12 to see a difference. Since they only take seconds and I'm going to add another 300 superfluous passes, big whoop).
 
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