<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <STYLE></STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3059" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=MailContainerBody style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; PADDING-TOP: 15px; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; TEXT-DECORATION: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none" bgColor=#ffffff leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 name="Compose message area" CanvasTabStop="true" acc_role="text"> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The flat sides of the grinding stone have coarse and fine grit. If grinding is needed, I grind them on the stone. And then I follow up with polishing on the leather strop.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm not an expert at blade sharpening. I know I get many blades pretty darn sharp - believe me, I know:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><IMG alt="" hspace=0 src="cid:009101c76849$d56a8e20$0302a8c0@DESKTOP" align=baseline border=0></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This sucker was deep and was close to spurting as my hear beat! Just finished polishing a hand plane blade (cleaning the polishing compound off the blade).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><IMG alt="" hspace=0 src="cid:009201c76849$d56cd810$0302a8c0@DESKTOP" align=baseline border=0></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Maybe I'm not getting as perfect a back-side edge as I can. I don't know. I've always wondered about grinding the back side of a blade: can you really grind a  small thickness off the entire back side of a blade (I mean a normal human with manual methods)?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Seems to me you'll always have a small bevel on the back side of the blade. I know that is not optimal, but is it avoidable?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't know. I'm eager to learn. I've been doing what seems to work, but I'll be the first to say that I don't know if my methods are optimal.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Suggestions?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black">I agree with what Mr. Monroe says about the stones doing other tools well that can't be done on Tormek.  Also, and as importantly, how will you put that mirror finish on the back of your blades without using your Shaptons?  I don't think the Tormek system offers that option, does it?</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Jim Frazee</DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>