Thread: Do you know that your hone is flat? Why not use a True Bar?

I have a true bar, ski size, seen here:



They are relatively cheap and available at this location as well as others;

Ski Snowboard Base Flattening structuring Tools

I just retrieved mine from our ski trailer and used it yesterday to evaluate a couple balsa pasted stops that I made. Interestingly the balsa was flat before I pasted it and after drying over niight was no longer flat. Very apparent with the true bar. I lapped with paper on a flat surface and repasted. Will see tonight whether the wood has maintained. A little off the topic but just wondering if the oil that I mixed the cr ox with and the liquid in the diamond pastes could have warped the balsa?

Anyway, thought that I would pass this idea of the True bar along. No sense lapping a flat hone.

Mark

Interesting. Water based materials IME with wood will raise wood grain. I think oil can raise grain but not nearly as much as water. Let us know what you find out after relapping like you have.

One thing I'd add though. Balsa is a very soft wood. Also, it's not a hard grained wood so it has a cushion to it. I've never attempted to achieve true flatness with my balsa strops since honing spine leading and the cushion of the wood allows for that combination conforming to the edge or the edge conforming to the balsa surface.

X pattern in my experiments has ensured with the above scenario that the edges are getting worked as they should.

Chris L

I use the pencil grid test and wet sandpaper on my counter top. When all of the pencil lines are gone it's about as flat as I can make it.

Hmm? how do you it was flat if you had just retrieved your straight edge

i will guess the cup hollow -if that's what happened- is opposite the side you finished.

those fibers were expanded, compressing the opposite side causing the cup

so if it was flat previously- add the same to the opposite side and it should re-equalize.

Originally Posted by kevint

Hmm? how do you it was flat if you had just retrieved your straight edge

i will guess the cup hollow -if that's what happened- is opposite the side you finished.

those fibers were expanded, compressing the opposite side causing the cup

so if it was flat previously- add the same to the opposite side and it should re-equalize.

Well, to answer your question, I took the balsa to the true bar and checked the flatness before adding the paste. I must admit that I only checked one side of the balsa. I just checked again after re pasting this am and the balsa is still flat. I guess I'm good to go.

a false alarm then