Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Waterstone Holder

You can purchase waterstone holders, you can make fancy wooden ones which secure your stones with wedges, and you can suspend your stones over a tub of water on a wooden or plastic bridge.

Or, you can use a set up like this, which consists of a shallow baking pan (heaven knows it wasn't seeing any use in our kitchen) and a router mat. Fancy? No. Attractive? No way. Functional? Absolutely. Clamp the baking pan to your bench and start sharpening. The stone will not move at all.

Sharpening is messy business, so I didn't want to build a pretty holder only to have it gunked up with the slurry created with water and stone particles. The odd thing is, with all the water spritzing I've done over the years, I've never had to pour any water out of the baking pan. Not sure where it goes. Could be I have broccoli growing under the router mat, but I'm not about to check.
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2008 at 9:51 AM

    Very timely I order my first set of waterstones last week. Tired of scary sharp and the pain that it is so hoping this is a much better solution. I have been trying to think of how I was going to set-up the stones but not anymore. Going to give your set-up a try.

    Keep up the great Work, and Writing

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  2. Kari HultmanJanuary 29, 2008 at 11:35 AM

    Might want to purchase a new baking pan, lest you anger whoever does the cooking in your house. ; )

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2008 at 4:38 PM

    :(

    This does NOT work with my Scary Sharp set-up, VC. I guess that means I must find some good sprayable adhesive, right? I am plum out of the self-adhesive stuff.

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  4. ShazzaJanuary 29, 2008 at 4:56 PM

    Given your recent history with broccoli, you may want to check underneath that thing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kari HultmanJanuary 29, 2008 at 5:29 PM

    Al: I've never used the scary sharp method, but I wonder if repositionable spray adhesive would work, too. It would be easier to remove the sandpaper when you need to replace it. Maybe another reader will have better advice.

    Shazza: LOL!!!

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2008 at 6:31 PM

    VC,

    I should have said PSA, or Pressure Sensitive Adhesive-backed sandpaper. My last order has just about petered out.

    BUT - you are right! The big box store should have some sprayable stuff I can use. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2008 at 7:51 PM

    Shazza,

    Glad you reminded VC - :0). Another one for the books!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hank GilletteOctober 13, 2009 at 11:25 AM

    Al,

    One of the scary sharp articles on the web recommends 3M Super 77 Adhesive Spray for holding down the sandpaper.

    ReplyDelete