Reply To: Back to water stones
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@etmo If you ever find the opportunity, perhaps you could ask something for me? I have always wondered whether the Japanese craftsman 100 or 200 years ago fussed over flatness so much. They wouldn’t have had these goofy, machined, ‘flat to 0.0005″‘ diamond plates. So, what did they do? I’m guessing there are ways to sharpen with these soft Japanese stones that doesn’t require constant flattening. It is probably a mixture of understanding what to do, understanding what matters vs. what doesn’t, and learning to wear the stone somewhat uniformly, but probably not perfectly. The only way to really ask the question is to find someone senior with reliable provenance through a teacher’s teacher.
Do you know if Japanese traditional sharpening used a strop?
Once or twice a year, as my experience grows, I loop back through my tools to reflatten and overall re-fettle them. That’s what’s happening right now and is why I’m so keen on sharpening at the moment. Most of my planes are redone. With luck, I’ll finish today.
I should add: It seems important to remember that the tool must match the wood. So, if the Japanese tend to work in softwoods and we work in hard, some of their methods and tools may be completely inappropriate, whether it is steel hardness or bevel angle or some other aspect of the tool.