Mold/Die polishing stones?

Drew Riley

Riley Knife and Tool
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
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I've been seeing where a few makers I know of are using Mold Polishing Stones to do their hand finishing. Allegedly, they cut better/faster than abrasive paper alone.

Anybody else using these things?
 
Congress tools.

People can also get stones there for the Edge Pro/ Hapstone sharpening set ups
 
I use cheap Japanese water stones to refinish blades during my restorations.
 
I use hard edm stones during hand sanding flat grinds. I don't know if they cut faster than fresh sandpaper but by not constantly changing paper I certainly get through each grit faster. Simple green keeps them from loading up.

They keep things flat too. If they wear I dress them flat again on a diamond plate.

X grit stone doesn't look as nice as X grit paper. So I have been stoning to 800 grit then step back to 600 with paper and go to wherever.
 
I've played around with a variety of grits with them. Not so much anymore.

Like Kuraki said they will leave a grey/ smudged like appearance and you will think you boogered it up but never fear.
 
I've been using Gesswein Edm stones for many years. The orange ones are great up to 320 grit, any higher and they tend to capture particles and can cause deep scratches. I use the grey/white gesswein stones from 400 to 1200. These are much softer and do not catch any particles. I love stones for handsanding, just keep going and no time waisted changing paper.

I recently tried edm stones form china, really cheap (like 1 dollar per stone), also really soft so they don't last as long. BUT, they do work great!!
 
Where do you guys get EDM stones? I’ve been looking to try some, but haven’t gotten around to ordering any... McMaster/Carr?
 
I buy them from Amazon because I don't need a dozen per grit. I want a dozen total one each grit. Our use doesn't burn them up like their intended use.
 
I stumbled onto the same solution with the orange 320 grit and gray 400 grit stones that Toni did. Stones do leave a "hazy" finish compared to the same grit of good quietly paper so you still need the paper for the final sanding.
 
I ordered some Gesswein stones from moldshoptools.com
If I recall, Aaron Gough had recommended them, and prices/selection seemed reasonable. I ended up with the medium and hard silicon carbide stones, and got a few grits of each. They should arrive tomorrow, though it may be a few days before I can try them out. I'm not opposed to trying other grades/grits though.
 
As I said much softer than the Gesswein, so you cannot compare them really. Like these for finishing flat surfaces, not for ricasso's etc.
 
Toni, I can't remember which US provider I got my stones from, but it seems that the 320 is a bit softer than the 400 so I may have the colors reversed. The 320 may be orange. I have no access to the shop right now (overhead door spring broke, new door being installed on the landlords schedule, not mine) so I couldn't tell you. I do the "heavy lifting" with the 320. Now that I go down to at least 65 micron on the Gator belts, its pretty easy.
As I said much softer than the Gesswein, so you cannot compare them really. Like these for finishing flat surfaces, not for ricasso's etc.
 
I do like using stones for polishing work- I have not yet found a method using sandpaper that can keep small surfaces perfectly flat like stones can.

I've been using EDM stones from Congress Tools for a while now, and really like them. I either use Simple Green to keep them from clogging up, or actually work under a trickle of running water if the piece is small enough to do in the sink. These stones are hard enough to keep their shape pretty well, so ya don't have to worry about them getting dished halfway through a blade. They will gouge if ya try smoothing a sharp corner with 'em though. They can be dressed with a diamond plate now and then if needed.

Like others have mentioned, they don't leave a nice enough finish as-is, so you can do the final passes with paper or whatever to blend everything. I've had bad luck with paper though, so I do my final finishing with some different stones. I have a couple ceramic water stones that leave a very pleasing polish, though I can't remember now if they are Bester Stones or some other brand...
 
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