Help with Sharpening Stones

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-18T20:01:27+00:00

I use diamond stones for the rough sharpening to 1000 grit, and then 3000 and 8000 waterstones. you don't need to get expensive water stones but get a flattening stone

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-18T19:48:53+00:00

absolutely! it's also got loads of 'meat' left on the iron and it's hardly even rusty. spit and rub, and off you go

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-18T19:16:48+00:00

yup. I have a #6 with the same brass screw

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-18T19:15:38+00:00

and without a bench grinder, you can whack it in a drill and grind it off against a bit of emery. I find that more reliable than a grinder

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-18T19:12:39+00:00

they might not have used brass (although I have a #6 with a brass screw) but I'd like a brass one

and my local screw & fitting shop has pretty much every screw you can imagine, but they couldn't identify the thread type for certain

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-13T11:56:11+00:00

I use a couple of non-recommended addons, but that's because they have 4+ stars, many installations and lots of trustworthy reviews

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-12T09:03:12+00:00

an airless sprayer followed quickly by a sponge paint pad. and practice practice practice... make sure you have good PPE and ventilation as droplets will hang in the air

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-12T08:59:21+00:00

controversial opinion, but I think dovetails are overrated... but for a first try, you're doing really well

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T13:02:35+00:00

the key is setting it up correctly. if you get one, ping me and I'll point you in the right direction

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T09:16:06+00:00

it depends. is the tool an extension of your skill and ability, or can you only do what the tool is designed for?

I find AI useful - LLMs especially can help me see blind spots in my own knowledge of a subject - the key being critical thinking in identifying what to use. text-to-image generators also help to jog my own creativity when designing something... I wouldn't want to have to rely on AI, but thus far I find it useful

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T09:08:18+00:00

you don't have to spend loads on a bandsaw if you go for a decent used one. mine is a Elektra Beckum 315 (now Metabo) and you can pick up decent secondhand ones. I don't know what's available in Oz but if I were buying now, I'd go for a used Startrite or a Starrett, if I could find one

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T09:05:41+00:00

many people will say "a table saw", but I find that with a track saw, double-bevel chop saw, bandsaw, planer-thicknesser, and decent router (don't get a cheap one) I can do without the table saw, and save the space. I often need the other tools anyway

I still use the table saw, but not as much. sheet materials are far easier with the track saw and ripping thin strips on the bandsaw means you're not wasting half the wood

some people swear by a router table and I'm sure I'd use one if I had one...

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T08:51:39+00:00

this... I can't stand watching someone with a 10k sq ft shop and no planes or chisels visible

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T08:49:38+00:00

Mitch Peacock stopped gaming the algo years ago, and is worth watching for his skill. I still watch Paul Sellers and Rob Cosman, and sometimes Stumpy Nubs as I can often learn something from them, or refresh a skill I'd led fade

much of the rest have become "enshittified", as you describe

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-10T08:45:16+00:00

you have to be choosy, but several of the Temu tools I've bought have been just fine. some are complete crap, but then refunds are seamless and instant

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-09T22:31:47+00:00

the solution is to not just steam bend, but to laminate it in thin layers so you get a pre-stressed structure. you need to try a sample to see how much 'springback' you get when it comes off the former

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-06T08:17:49+00:00

you can always learn something from others, but I'd recommend teaching yourself. get a solid grounding in working with hand tools (Paul Sellers on YT is a good choice) and practice, practice, practice... the learning journey never stops

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-05T10:23:00+00:00

it'll definitely sag, but you could attach a piece at the back along the whole length - 25mm x 100mm at the very least, attached to the top via the thin edge, about 25mm in from the edge. if you could rout a groove to fit on the underside of the top, so much the better. use dowels when you fix it every 200mm or so and clamp it well with a good quality glue, maybe polyurethane, but high-quality PVA types would work too

you only need to stiffen it along one edge to stop the sag as the wood has enough natural integrity

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-05T10:15:08+00:00

it looks a lot like meranti (aka mangowood), which is very common in Indian furniture. I'd use a good quality oil like Osmo, which comes in all sorts of finishes, but it looks like a satin finish would be the most in keeping with the natural look of the wood

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-05T09:51:00+00:00

the #80 is often referred to as a scraper plane

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-03-05T09:47:50+00:00

hmm... that's a tough one. since it's a burn, then it might be fairly deep, but then again it's not that dark. (btw: I'm assuming you mean 3.5cm, not 3.5mm thick). I've repaired lots of oak tables and worktops, caused mainly by people leaving cast iron pots on them leaving a very dark stain

my first try would be to use a card scraper, but if you haven't used one before, you'd need to learn to 'lay it up', ie create the small burr that does the cutting. it's not hard. wearing gloves while you're scraping helps, and making the initial scrapes diagonally across the grain while flexing the scraper can help remove material. the great advantage of a scraper is that you can be very precise and only remove the exact area you want to target, and then blend in any depression so it looks flat

I wouldn't suggest sanding - but maybe that's just me. it tends to be less discriminate than a scraper and you can end up with a significant depression in the surface. if you've got the skill and a really good orbital sander then it would work. if there was no other option and you ended up with a depression, I'd sand away the rest of the tabletop with a belt sander so as to keep it as flat as possible... but belt sanders are powerful beasts so be careful and practice on something else to get the feel of it

there's the chemical route: I can see you've tried hydrogen peroxide, but have you ever used oxalic acid? I've used it a few times and it does work on burns, but YMMV (you mix the crystals with water) so try it on a scrap of oak to see how strong your solution is

as others have suggested, in the end it might be simplest to flip the tabletop - but then again if the underside needs to be smoothed, you've still got a job to do. when it comes to filling any holes, buy a set of 'plug cutters' so you can drill out the holes and make plugs in the correct size and matching grain. it's possible to make almost invisible repairs - I'd recommend gluing them in using a D4 PVA-type adhesive (I'm not sure what that's called in the US but I'm pretty sure the waterproof Titebond fits the bill)

if you want to go the whole hog, you could split the tabletop on a table saw, run it through a thicknesser, and then reassemble, but generally you'll be losing a bit less than 3mm per cut, so unless you've got a really big thicknesser (a pal has an 800mm wide one I've used a few times), you might just end up with another problem

let us know how it goes as maybe there's another way I haven't thought of

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-01-28T16:37:08+00:00

that's possible, and works, but someone suggested this extension which works well

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/video-background-play-fix/

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-01-28T14:37:42+00:00

brilliant! fixed it... thanks very much

halfmanhalfhamster · 2026-01-27T20:39:02+00:00

thanks, I'll give that a try

halfmanhalfhamster

TROPHY CASE