glass for grinding chisels and stuff

[Reggie]

Hi all, I'm looking at gathering a small (cheap) kit for grinding chisels, plane, I have an oilstone that needs flattening on the rough side, and also thinking about trying out finer grits of wet and dry, so I'm looking around the house at stuff I could use instead of 'float' glass, I did some googling, which says that most glass these days is float glass, so I'm wondering if I can go down to a local shop and grab something like a glass worktop protector and be happy with the results?

 

[bugbear]

Hi all, I'm looking at gathering a small (cheap) kit for grinding chisels, plane, I have an oilstone that needs flattening on the rough side, and also thinking about trying out finer grits of wet and dry, so I'm looking around the house at stuff I could use instead of 'float' glass, I did some googling, which says that most glass these days is float glass, so I'm wondering if I can go down to a local shop and grab something like a glass worktop protector and be happy with the results?

Cheap floor tiles from B&Q are a good option.

BugBear

 

[twothumbs]

You should be able to get good off-cuts from a local glazier. Rub up the edges to lose the sharp edges. I managed to get a small piece after being told they only sell 8x4 sheets! That was the boss. A member of his team gave me the off-cut. Manuafacturing is such that glass is no longer the only option....other options, tiles, cutting boards, marble tops, etc. Best wishes.

 

[thick_mike]

Bargain corner at Ikea. There's usually a glass offee table top or shelf for two quid. Plenty of good stuff to be had there...and you can haggle now!

I picked up some soft closing fully opening kitchen drawer runners for two quid recently.

 

[Graham Orm]

Mirror's....second hand shops.....your wife's wardrobe.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Most glaziers won't give you offcuts - I got the stock answer - it's against elfin safety. ?????

 

[Peter Sefton]

My local glazier was not much help and expensive, it’s crazy but we can get Canadian Veritas Glass shipped form the USA cheaper than I can from two miles down the road. We use and sell the 6mm float Veritas which is very good but any 6mm or thicker float should do fine, do not use toughened glass as it is not flat.

Peter

 

[dm65]

Cheap floor tiles from B&Q are a good option.

BugBear

I thought so too, but the tile I got isn't flat (not far off though)

Put a rule across it and there's a dip - boo

 

[Reggie]

ha, I don't have a wife, so that's no good, tried getting the mirror off the bathroom wall but that was a fruitless effort. I've got a couple of glass worktop protectors that I could use or there's a smaller one for putting saucepans onto. As long as I don't need to go and buy something special

 

[Phil Pascoe]

At risk of general oprobrium, I admit to flattening my waterstones on a concrete coping stone on the garden wall. It works perfectly well.

 

[bugbear]

Cheap floor tiles from B&Q are a good option.

BugBear

I thought so too, but the tile I got isn't flat (not far off though)

Put a rule across it and there's a dip - boo

Yeah - might want to take a straightedge when shopping. Tiles don't carry the same
precision warranty as surface plates, but some are flat (*), even though it's not guaranteed.

BugBear

(*) flat enough, which is always what you're after, for some meaning of "enough"

 

[Peter Sefton]

At risk of general oprobrium, I admit to flattening my waterstones on a concrete coping stone on the garden wall. |It works perfectly well.

If it works that's fine

 

[G S Haydon]

I got a nice piece of 10mm toughened glass from a local glazier. It was a small shelf that a client had ordered wrong. Got it nice and cheap.