Quartz for lapping or sharpening?

Agent_H

Agent_H

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Can quartz be used for lapping or sharpening to some extent?

I'm having quartz countertops installed. Since I have to purchase the entire slabs, there will be quite a bit of excess after the shaping, fixture, and fitting cuts.

I noticed that only the top is polished smooth while the bottom is very flat yet seems to have a texture similar to some medium or coarse sharpening stones.

Lapping the flat backs of larger hewing axes is what I am thinking more than the edges themselves. I think quartz is used as the abrasive for different applications.

Does anyone have experience with such things? After the install, the guys said they would cut into uniform rectangles/squares for me but if it is worthless as a lapping medium I don’t want to just house heavy flat rock.
 
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It should certainly be hard enough, but what I don't know is how well the structure stays together. It may be hard but still wear like crazy. Or it may be great. I have no idea. Can't hurt to experiment.

Most natural stones are sedimentary and so have a pretty uniform fine grain structure. I believe that quartz is a crystal and so may wear or break away in a non uniform way. But again, I have no idea how it will behave. Please, try it out and share your experience.
 
If it's a countertop material, chances are it won't have a good structure for use as a sharpening stone. But you may as well give it a try!
 
Agent_H,greetings:)
In theory,it'll do,in a pinch.Here's a link to basic Mohs scale:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness

And here's the conversion of Mohs to Rockwell (C,which is what we commonly use with steel tools):

http://www.carbidedepot.com/formulas-hardness.htm

You can see from it all that quartz is a bit on a softer side...However,may you have some ditto axes?..(Or maybe some old butcher knives,or other tools commonly used in the lower hardness state?).
So no,it wouldn't be idea,hardness-wise,and then there's a good point in re wearability JBLyttle brings up above.
There may be other issues as well,but,Usable?...Definitely:)...
 
Arkansas stones (novaculite) are basically quartz sandstone. The issue in this case is that quartz used for countertops is unlikely to be granular in nature, and so you'll be dealing with a totally different mechanism of abrasion and wear that's not likely to give very satisfactory results. The top will be smooth enough that it's not going to be biting, and the underside is probably mostly going to abrade by virtue of the surface texture, which is probably fairly rounded despite being "rough".
 
Thank you for the ongoing input gentlemen. This all just crossed my mind and believe this is a reliable venue to ask - especially in relation to axe steels. It's not that I want to sharpen an edge or finish with it. I recently flattened the back of a large German single-bevel hatchet and thought of all the coarse paper I went through just to get it down past small pits. It made me want something large, flat, and abrasive.

On that track, what is it I really am wanting to do a larger job like that? I see lapping plates but they range from skeptically cheap to crazy expensive which means I don't know what I am looking for if I can't tell the difference by the listed composition.

Just the amount of waste from just the damn back splash alone after purchasing an entire slab makes me want to do something constructive with it.

Maybe you will all get a coaster in your stockings this year.
 
As a separate concept,it may possibly be used to dress some of your other stones?
By itself,if suitable,or maybe with some sand cast over it?
If ample enough in area,and flat enough,it may be quite useful for that...
 
Might depend on the type of quartz, macrocrystalline, microcrystalline, or cryptocrystalline. Macrocrystalline are things like quartz crystals and amethysts. Microcrystallines like may fracture leaving a surface rough enough to use as an abrasive. Cryptocrystalline quartz fractures along a bulb of percussion like glass and makes this a great material for making arrowheads and other stone tools.
http://www.quartzpage.de/gen_types.html

Quartzite, OTOH, breaks with a very rough abrasive surface. It wouldn't replace a decent whetstone but in the wild it would do an acceptable job. Orthoquartzite is a type of quartz sandstone that would make a very good abrasive.
 
Agent_H said:
I recently flattened the back of a large German single-bevel hatchet and thought of all the coarse paper I went through just to get it down past small pits. It made me want something large, flat, and abrasive.
Click to expand...

You can flat the back of a single bevel axe with files is you have good form. Another option is a very large whetstone.

Broadaxe-bigstone2.jpg
 
For about $50 you can find 12" no-center-hole diamond lapping discs. That being said, using something like a machine knife stone, bringing the stone to the axe, might be a good route to take. When you say "flattening" the axe, do you just mean removing any secondary bevel from the back of it? 'Cause you do want a slight upturn at the heel and toe at least to help in cutting off the fibers. Think sort of like a more subtle version of a lipped adze in axe orientation. You probably wouldn't like the way it'd work if the back was literally ruler-flat along the full length.
 
Also remember that the abrasive component of the stone, how hard or soft in a relative way, in this case the quartz is, it's not really the most crucial. For a stone to remain effective it has to be friable, the binder holding the abrasive should be relatively weak so that new layers of abrasive are constantly exposed at the surface of the stone otherwise any abrasive will round over, become dull and the spaces in-between clogged, the surface eventually becoming smooth and ineffective. This is one of the major factors that distinguish a good sharpening stone and where much effort by artificial stone manufacturers goes. The abrasives, there are plenty of those to choose from, the question is how to hold them in place so that while they are sharp they will cut steel and when they get dull, go away so new ones can take over the cutting. Probably this stone for your counter-top is hardly friable, as they say it.
p2122296.jpg

Last week I was busy with similar work with my set-up like this. Working on the floor better than standing at the bench.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
Also remember that the abrasive component of the stone, how hard or soft in a relative way, in this case the quartz is, it's not really the most crucial. For a stone to remain effective it has to be friable, the binder holding the abrasive should be relatively weak so that new layers of abrasive are constantly exposed at the surface of the stone otherwise any abrasive will round over, become dull and the spaces in-between clogged, the surface eventually becoming smooth and ineffective. This is one of the major factors that distinguish a good sharpening stone and where much effort by artificial stone manufacturers goes. The abrasives, there are plenty of those to choose from, the question is how to hold them in place so that while they are sharp they will cut steel and when they get dull, go away so new ones can take over the cutting. Probably this stone for your counter-top is hardly friable, as they say it.
p2122296.jpg

Last week I was busy with similar work with my set-up like this. Working on the floor better than standing at the bench.
Click to expand...
Does this mean you are not a fan of novaculite?
 
Agent_H Agent_H if for any purpose, you may want a slab or 2 cut to fit your bench or a future saw bench. It may provide a good surface for hammering saw bends.
I am not sure how strong it is compared to say granite...it may be useful still
 
garry3 said:
Does this mean you are not a fan of novaculite?
Click to expand...
garry3, you'll have to pardon my ignorance but is that a dog food brand formulated for overweight dogs?
Since you're here, I use this silicon carbide powder in combination with a lapping plate now and then. On a surface like a side axe I find it a real problem and not any quicker than what you see in the picture. On the other hand for flattening plane blades or chisels this is the best method I've found and if those plane blades or chisels are Japanese with the hollowed back-sides all the better, real quick work getting at a mirror finish.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
garry3, you'll have to pardon my ignorance but is that a dog food brand formulated for overweight dogs?
Since you're here, I use this silicon carbide powder in combination with a lapping plate now and then. On a surface like a side axe I find it a real problem and not any quicker than what you see in the picture. On the other hand for flattening plane blades or chisels this is the best method I've found and if those plane blades or chisels are Japanese with the hollowed back-sides all the better, real quick work getting at a mirror finish.
Click to expand...
Good information on silicon carbide powder, thanks for sharing that. I have thought about trying some for flattening stones also.
Not sure where the dog food reference came from but here is a link for novaculite ( Arkansas stones) https://www.danswhetstone.com/information/novaculite-101/ . Not what I would consider soft or friable and also not fast cutting but still prized by some.
 
garry3 said:
also not fast cutting
Click to expand...
Precisely but holds its form, (remains flater), a longer time.
garry3 said:
prized by some.
Click to expand...
Thats's the trade-off, fast cutting v form-fast and a completely subjective characteristic.
garry3 said:
I have thought about trying some for flattening stones
Click to expand...
Yes I flatten stones with it scattered on a cement tile with a few drops of water to make the slurry. It makes for very aggressive cutting, used with Japanese water stones anyway.
 
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Agent_H said:
Thank you for the ongoing input gentlemen. This all just crossed my mind and believe this is a reliable venue to ask - especially in relation to axe steels. It's not that I want to sharpen an edge or finish with it. I recently flattened the back of a large German single-bevel hatchet and thought of all the coarse paper I went through just to get it down past small pits. It made me want something large, flat, and abrasive.

On that track, what is it I really am wanting to do a larger job like that? I see lapping plates but they range from skeptically cheap to crazy expensive which means I don't know what I am looking for if I can't tell the difference by the listed composition.

Just the amount of waste from just the damn back splash alone after purchasing an entire slab makes me want to do something constructive with it.

Maybe you will all get a coaster in your stockings this year.
Click to expand...
I have a good sized square of counter top that I use for a pizza stone on the BBQ. Think wood fired pizza, pre-heat the stone, sprinkle with cornmeal. It's true...I rescued it just for that purpose, it is a sink cut out. :)
 
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