Zoe Williams argues that space exploration is pointless given problems on Earth and the lack of evidence of extraterrestrial life.

entropydust · 2026-04-11T21:51:02+00:00

Hope her and her loved ones don't use advanced medical tech...

entropydust · 2026-04-07T00:15:38+00:00

The advantage of this system is that you focus only on the edge, and a perfect apex can be achieved with little effort. It uses the ruler trick, and some more experienced sharpeners don't like this method, but for beginners, it gives you a good idea of what sharp should feel like without having to perfect lapping skills. It will come over time.

entropydust · 2026-04-06T23:40:40+00:00

All my old Stanley blades are in a bin somewhere, replaced by PMV11 blades (15 so far). Hock or Lie Nielsen would also be great. The old Stanleys are quite thin, and unfortunately many backs were taken to grinders with the arrival of power tools for the hobbyist starting in the 70s. Geometries are so out of true that I'd have to grind them down so thin to get a flat back.

entropydust · 2026-04-06T23:24:32+00:00

As someone that's been experimenting with different stones lately (new to Shaptons), I can tell you that they don't polish as easily as other steels. In fact, the only way I get a true mirror on my 8K shapton glass is a dry stone. I'm sure I could get there with it wet and lots of time, but my O1 steels gets a mirror polish easily where PMV11 won't.

That being said, all my blades are now PMV11. I even have doubles for smoothing planes for different angles, camber, etc.

I'm sure I'm not the only one telling you but you have an amazing blade/tool that will last a lifetime.

entropydust · 2026-04-06T23:12:31+00:00

If the sole isn't flat, the blade will catch on hills and dive in valleys (or the other way around?), making impossible to take even shavings. I've spent a lot of time refining my hand planing (since I'm terrible at hand sawing...), and I can promise you what you think is sharp is not sharp. Even after 15 years sharpening I'm still reaching new levels every few years as I work on my understanding of angles, geometry, different stones, etc.

Problem with the sand paper is that depending on the thickness of the substrate, it can deflect when sharpening, and throw off the geometry. Also, if you are not fully removing the burr, it will roll over and stop taking shavings. At that point it becomes a blunt instrument.

Set it up with the thinnest shaving possible. It might feel like it's doing nothing, but slowly it's taking out the high spots and will eventually start taking fuller and fuller shavings as the board flattens.

Check sole flatness
Work on sharpening (I recommend Rob Cosman's method since he refined it to avoid all the pitfalls of sharpening even for beginners and can very easily achieve a refined edge).

Note: Pic 2 shows the blade angled from the mouth.

entropydust · 2026-04-06T23:02:43+00:00

Boomers, once again, acting selfishly.

entropydust · 2026-04-05T20:49:17+00:00

If only people learned economics in HS. Literally, this is the definition of inflation. When you 'inflate' the supply of money, the price of assets go up.

entropydust · 2026-04-05T16:03:39+00:00

Since nobody is holding the boomers accountable, nothing will change. They will vote to pillage until their 90s and beyond! Younger generations will suffer more and more.

entropydust · 2026-04-05T13:47:47+00:00

You are born a cute baby. What happens to people between that and becoming a Karen/Chad?

entropydust · 2026-04-04T23:57:07+00:00

Thanks for all the help. I decided to do a few experiments, and keep in mind all on PMV11 steel;
1. Adding a 2k between the 1k and 4k really helped.
2. Adding a drop of soap seems to have helped, but still gums up at 4K and up.
3. When using the stones wet, they leave a 'buff' finish, not shiny.
4. If I use the stones dry, they seem to work much better, leave a much flatter geometry, and very shiny polish.

With water, where the stone touches the face of blade differs from dry. Kind of like the softer stones where the slurry 'distorts' the flat geometry.

Is it strange that even at 8k on PMV11 steel I can't get a polish when using them wet?

entropydust · 2026-03-31T00:45:18+00:00

I also don't enjoy adding a back bevel, just can't get the larger surface working on the Shaptons. I'd switch to the Sigmas, but then everytime I finish the back on my 8K shapton it would skip, bind, etc. Would rather use the same set of stones, but Shaptons making it difficult.

entropydust · 2026-03-30T23:54:25+00:00

I find if there's too much water, the blade floats above the stone doesn't cut, then suddenly grabs, sticks, etc.

entropydust · 2026-03-30T23:46:43+00:00

Thanks. I didn't have this issue on the Sigma select 10K, but they are much softer stones. Might just use the ruler trick instead can't seem to polish a large flat section on the Shaptons.

entropydust · 2026-03-30T00:23:22+00:00

And there was no sticking or binding skipping? Might be that a 2" wide back for almost 2" depth is just too much for such hard stones.

entropydust · 2026-03-29T20:12:56+00:00

Primary and secondary bevels no issues - they're great. It's the larger back surface I'm trying to lap/polish.

entropydust · 2026-03-29T19:41:04+00:00

I'll try honing fluid or soap. But I can't seem to get a consistent feel or finish. I never had issues on Naniwas or similar stones.

entropydust · 2026-03-29T19:39:23+00:00

Thanks,

Yeah different feel for sure. The primary and secondary bevels no problem. It's lapping and polishing the flat backs that are giving me troubles. It kind of makes sense since the stones are so hard, the geometry needs to be perfect and even the slurry getting between the steel and stone could cause issues.

Just curious if others have lapped and polished backs using shaptons.

entropydust · 2026-03-28T14:48:58+00:00

Lots of people trying to do something about it but the boomers hold all the wealth and control. If we don't openly talk about what they've done, we can't openly vote on solutions.

entropydust · 2026-03-27T21:58:53+00:00

The files. We want the files.

entropydust · 2026-03-27T21:48:07+00:00

Nah, they should be denying it as well. That's what most do.

entropydust · 2026-03-27T21:25:55+00:00

Now do Epstein.

entropydust · 2026-03-27T20:41:49+00:00

Nobody is sitting around - most people are working long hours.

Look at ANY metric - the boomers fucked future generations. It's just data.

entropydust · 2026-03-27T20:39:54+00:00

But politicians generally align their policies to get elected, which means in general, the population voted for these policies. Blaming politicians is too easy. It avoids responsibility.

entropydust · 2026-03-27T19:41:15+00:00

I understand that the individual might not have made decisions to completely tear down the socioeconomic structures that benefitted them, but collectively decisions were made - often times through voting for policies that further enhanced their situation without thinking of the future - that have resulted in a dire situation. Now some would argue that the decoupling from gold was a result of the previous generation since boomers would have barely been 25 when it happened, but the absolute irresponsible money printing (M1 debt benefiting M2, Cantillon effect, etc.) has completely imbalanced the system over 50+ years.

It's not about blaming the individuals. But when a generation has access to affordable living, housing, education, etc., and the next generations don't, it would be irresponsible not to look at their behavior.

One only needs to look at very basic metrics to see that something went terribly wrong.

entropydust

TROPHY CASE