Thread: Charnley Forest?

Question? I have been wondering if there is a reason not to use a hand sander with 1K 2K 2.5k wet dry sand paper to make things go a lot faster when lapping the stone and chamfering the edges? I just don't see anyone doing this so I am guessing it may be a bad idea.

Also if you already have a stone CF that is where you want it, will finishing another stone by rubbing it on the new one mess up or set back the current one?

I have heard of guy using a belt sander but, the goal is to get it flat and smooth.

With loose silicone oxide, it does not take too long to get to flat with 60 grit. Then running through the grits goes rather quickly. Power sanding runs the risk of gouging or grinding un-flat.

Once flat after 500 grit, wet & dry, on a steel cookie sheet goes quickly, use a sharpie to grid the stone. Get the stone smooth as possible and you will save time burnishing. Burnish with lots of pressure to get a glass smooth finish. I like a large cleaver or carbon steel, kitchen knife you can put your body weight on.

A diamond plate will bevel the edges just use a lot of water or under water.

I too, like Smiths or Mineral oil with a shot of WD40 to thin a bit, it washes off with Simple Green and a soak in Dawn dish soap and hot water.

Your’s is a nice looking stone.

I am on this with Euclid.
I have flattened few dozens of CFs and can not see that as a big problem. Additional problem with the machine you have is dust as it will generate quite a big cloud and unless you have wet sander.

Well I was thinking of buying another one which is supposedly flat. So I would only use a light with water 1k 2k and2.5k run over with hand sander. Then to get the edges. All I have is the wet dry sand paper and a slab of granite.
Do I run the risk of messing up my current stone rubbing it dry on a new one?

I was the guy using the belt sander. I went and got my own stock from Whittle Hill. Then cut and finished it.

The sander works but only when your working rough, and it's slow. I ended up doing the rough work with an angle grinder and flap disc in the end. But that was working sawn faces that were millions of miles from flat.

To get them flat, Wet and dry works, but only when the stone is nearing flat. If it's way out I found that dry wall sanding mesh (roll style) 120 grit, and a concrete slab were faster. Just cut a length long enough to go the full length of the slab and be able to tuck under it to hold in place. Then it's just a case of a watering can to keep everything wet, and lots of long strokes. I think from rough cut it was taking about an hour a stone to get them to the next stage (from flapper wheel faces). The dry wall mesh is pretty much identical to the coarse loose grit mentioned before. The only difference been it's held in place, and you can get a decent thrown on a slab. I was using a 3 foot slab, sat down at a table, and I couldn't use the full length, but a could use my full arms length to get a nice long stroke pace going.

Once the stone is looking flat and the high spots are off i then did a wet and dry progression to 2K grit then finally a lap with a coarse then fine diamond plate to remove any convex surfaces caused by hand rocking as you grind. Again at least an hours worth of hard work.

Once done you'll never have to do it again. It's years of wear without regular lapping that causes dishing in the first place. And a lot of the time these stones get misused. I know several of my other stones I've picked up from people didn't know what they were. Most thought that they were old slow oils stones for knives that got shelved when synthetics became widely available. My favourite arkie was recovered from a shed having been rejected because it didn't appear to do a lot.


Don't bother with stone on stone. I tried that. The harder stone always wins, And you loose material from both stones. If you feel a need to go stone on stone then just stop yourself. Invest in a coarse and medium diamond plate and use those with moderate pressure and under water. It'll remove the same amount of material, but only from 1 stone, and without making the diamond plate go bald.

Since you are in the USA there is really no reason not to have an 8" diamond plate as there cheap as chips over there.

Once the stone is flat keeping it flat is just a few mins work. If you have a hard stone then you will probably benefit from doing this every few years as it will keep it's flat and you will ruin the burnish. If the stone is softer then regular flattening with a plate will help.

It's one of the reasons I stopped posting, Because every time I read a thread like this I found myself back in the garden trying new ideas. And the truth of the matter is you can't reinvent the wheel. And every idea you can have has already been tried. Unless you have money for machines then it's time and the skin from your fingers that will lead to results with used stones.

I bought an intesting labeled Marples Charnley Forest. It is suppoedly flat, so if that is true I will only need to smooth it out to 2.5k and burnish. I just thought a hand sander would speed things up. I will have to wait for it to travel to the states yet though. I usually do things the hard way I don't own any plates.

Well done you wanted it more. I was one of the other bidders going for that hone.
Just beware that there is an inclusion on that hone which is visible on those pictures from the auction as a small white cavity. If you will want to get rid of it it will take lots of elbow grease. Let us know how it will go.

Originally Posted by adrspach

Well done you wanted it more. I was one of the other bidders going for that hone.
Just beware that there is an inclusion on that hone which is visible on those pictures from the auction as a small white cavity. If you will want to get rid of it it will take lots of elbow grease. Let us how it will go.

I was having a hard time figuring out what my max should be in bounds with shipping. I think that was just alittle short of my max. I like the size of it, but was wondering about that spot. I will have to seal the label first, haven't seen a labeled charn before. That was part of what interested me. It just shipped, so I have to wait. If it takes hours on the slab so be it. CF is my favorite finisher and this is my first labeled stone other than the box. I read it before here somewhere, but what is the spray product of choice here for preserving the label?

Ok. I got the stone. Really nice. Packaging from seller was horrible, but it made it. I sealed the label, and the white spot was not a toxic inclusion can't feel it. I did however scratch a line in the stone by accident. Can't feel it, but it is a white line. Tried to sand it out with 2500 grit w/d sandpaper, but no luck. What is the easiest way to get rid of the scratch?

Drop down the grit to about 400 and then in steps again up.