Japanese waterstones are essential sharpening tools in woodworking. Woodworkers immerse these stones in water before use to create a slurry that aids in the sharpening process. The stones come in various grits, ranging from coarse to fine, enabling users to achieve a razor-sharp edge on chisels, plane blades, and other cutting tools. The water lubricates the sharpening process, prevents overheating, and ensures precision, allowing woodworkers to maintain their tools in optimal condition for precise and efficient woodworking tasks.
Waterstones propensity for wear can be exploited to produce a microscopic concavity in the back of a blade, thus ensuring that when you move on to a freshly flattened polishing stone, the critical area adjacent to the cutting edge makes contact with the polishing stone. When I first started using Japanese Waterstones I rubbed my fingers raw trying to flatten a blade with a 1000 grit stone because I didn't know any different. If it is taking much longer than a minute or two on a surface, you should be probably using a coarser stone.
All of the stones in this section are wide enough to take a 2-3/8" plane iron, all except the 10,000 grit have two working faces for maximum versatility.
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