# Norton Waterstone set IM83 in box



## Ken90712

Thank-you, I get sticker shock everytime I look for a some kind of sharpening system. This helps.


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## Jimi_C

Nice review. I've been considering getting the set that has the double-sided stones, it's considerably cheaper (no box or DVD though…). Once I wear out my cheapo 1000/6000 combo I'll probably pull the trigger on it.


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## velo_tom

Since many reading this review may be looking at buying sharpening stones I thought I'd throw in some thoughts and experiences I've had. I'll preface this with, "the vast majority of woodworkers will disagree with me and I certainly buck the current thought trend on sharpening". I'll also say that I hope you are as happy with your water stones as the majority of the woodworking community is with theirs. But I thought I'd comment on why I've quit using mine and gone back to oil stones.

Water stones may sharpen a blade quicker than oil stones but I've found that amount of time to be almost imperceptible, good oil stones also sharpen rather quickly. I found that I spent almost as much time flattening the water stones as I did sharpening blades, I more than lost my time savings there. I bought a flattening stone for mine too but it also started to go out of flat after a few months of use. I just finished checking the flatness of my oil stones and after months of use, usually several times a week, they are still flat.

With water stones I also had to clean up the water mess, wipe down the sharpened blades, and oil them to prevent rust. I only wipe the excess oil off the blade with the oil stones. Water stones I had to soak to prepare for use and all I have to do with the oil stone is put on a bit of oil and it's ready to go. I also sharpen freehand and found that once in a while I'd dig out a chunk or a water stone, this never happens with an oil stone. Also, with oil stones while sharpening freehand I can tell I'm making desired even blade contact by the way the oil forms a bulge in front of the blade, water is not viscous enough to provide such a clear visual queue.

As I said, the majority of woodworkers, most of them more experienced than me, will disagree. But I wanted to throw a few thoughts out there for people to consider. I sincerely hope that whatever anyone purchases to sharpen with that they are well served by it and satisfied. There are a number of good options out there and it's just a matter of finding out what works well for you.


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## Ollie

Hi Tom. 
I appreciate your comments and agree to some degree about the wear factor, in fact I have an old Norton India oilstone that belonged to my grandfather that I still use now. It could be 60 years old. 
I have chosen the waterstones as I use Japanese chisels and I find they work better for these. 
I also noticed that as I got used to the waterstones I began to use much less downwards pressure and just sort of "float" the blade over the stone, using this technique slows the wear and actually works better.
Thanks for your input.


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## velo_tom

Thanks for your comments Ollie. Pressure may have been an issue but I'm sure letting the blade come up to to steep and angle was the worst problem. Maybe impatience caused me to apply excess pressure in an effort to get the job done and to much pressure played a role in causing the angle to stray.

I have to admit I was pretty inexperienced to free hand sharpening when problems were encountered. I've done a lot of tooling up to work with hand tools since then, including profiled blades and my sharpening skills have improved. You've got me thinking about pulling out the water stones just to see if I can work with them better now.

Sorry for late responce, all my Lumberjock notifiers had started going into the spam box. Finally got suspicious and looked there. Just noticed your responce to my comments a few minutes ago. Now to go see if I can fix the spam problem.


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## treeman

I also have this set and like the waterstones but the flattening stone is another matter. I found that the flattening stone doesn't stay flat very long at all and this transferred to my waterstones. I quit using the flattening stone and instead use 220 grit wet or dry sandpaper on glass to flatten my stones. I can now keep my stones flat without having to "flatten" my flattening stone.


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## woodplay

This may sound stupid but if you're flattening your waterstones with sandpaper on glass, trusting the flatness of sandpaper on glass, then why not just sharpen your blades with the sandpaper on glass?

I currently use sandpaper on glass ans was looking into water stones.


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