Small slip stones for gunsmithing - Canadian sources?

[trevj]

Hi Trev,
Thanks for the link to this site. I made up a list of a few of their sticks to order & try out. I see their grit selection is wide, so I'll get a range. Some people don't like synthetics, but I have no problem with "manufactured" abrasives & stones in the different varieties.

If I don't use the Bonde sticks for trigger work, they'll still be useful for making HSS lathe tools. Production tools are all carbides, but as a hobbyist it's handy to profile a cutter for a specific job - my lathe is just a small hobby p.o.s.

I found some Norton 240 grit triangular 1/4" x 5" stones at a local industrial supply. Completely by accident - I was looking for something else. There were three sticks - bought them all. 240 is good for roughing. Apparently these were "leftovers" - for a buck apiece I couldn't argue.

Thanks again,
FB

Welcome!

I met a sales rep at the Toronto Machine Tool Show a few years back, and he gave me a few samples. Been really quite happy with them. The wide variety of formulations is handy to pick and choose your needs from, and the price is such that dropping them on the floor and having them break is not a major occasion.

Have you got a set of the Eze-lap diamond files yet? I pretty much don't use anything else for the HSS bits for the lathe any more. Have been known to spend a few minutes massaging a chipped carbide insert back to usefulness as well, with them.

Cheers
Trev

 

[BCRider]

Ckid, I didn't mean to imply that abrasive sheets have no place in a gunsmith's shop. Just that they have limitations when working on smaller items where the small flat faces and crisp angles are needed. For cases like you mentioned I've also made up special backing blocks to allow me to use sandpapers and polishing sheets. The technique works great in those situations. It's all about knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each tool. And abrasives of all sorts are as much a tool as screwdrivers and other things we use.

Trevj, another "Thanks" for that link. I've never seen a supplier with such a diverse range of options for the materials.

For those of you who would like to have some other shapes, such as beveled edges to simulate triangle stones, you'll find that you can custom cut the edges to any angle you wish with diamond saws or grinders. Work slow and use the cutters with water and you can make your own special tools.

 

[Flying Beaver]

Welcome!

Have you got a set of the Eze-lap diamond files yet? I pretty much don't use anything else for the HSS bits for the lathe any more. Have been known to spend a few minutes massaging a chipped carbide insert back to usefulness as well, with them.

Cheers
Trev

Thanks for the welcome! Always nice to meet people with shared interests.
I'm sorry to say I do not have a set of Eze-lap diamond files yet. A friend of mine who's just retired from a career as a toolroom machinist recommended those to me also - "don't waste your money on anything else" was how he put it. He likewise mentioned being able to breathe some life back into a chipped carbide tool.

My biggest problem with the Eze-lap files right now, aside from the money to buy them, is that I have not taken the time to find out who their local distributor is. I'm sure one of the industrial suppliers in Edmonton will have them - it's just a matter of getting busy and finding the name.

I've been loaned a couple of Brownell's Arkansas stones - not the sticks but the "wedges", which may be of some use with the SKS trigger job.

I made up my order for Boride Abrasives, so I'll be watching my mailbox with interest.

FB

 

[snomad]

The kind of stones you mention may be similar grades to the ones used in the knife sharpening systems like Lansky. I think they have 4 different hardnesses of Arkansas stone. Another option is the diamond files that 3M makes. They have a handle much like a toothbrush and a hard flat pad of diamond material about 3/8" by 1" at the end. Different abrasive grades available too. They also have different micro abrasives too but getting them in such small quantities might be an issue.

 

[josquin]

Another "thanks" to trevj for the Boride Abrasives link. "Filed for future reference" as they say.

Just to add to the pot, I have a Spyderco 400SF set of ceramic slip stones that I've found useful, although I'm not sure any of these would be appropriate for fine trigger work. (Fortunately for my guns I'm not equipped, skill- or otherwise, to find out.)

References have been made to polishing sheets; presumably these are the 3M micro-abrasive sheets that Lee Valley sells. Very useful on a suitable backing if you want to go beyond the 2000 grit of most wet-and-dry abrasive sheets. The finest is .5 micron (= 9000 grit, I think)

Stuart