Ice Bear Flattening Stone

[Alder]

I have an Ice Bear Flattening stone, sourced from where, i do not remember.
I have only used the stone on a couple of occasions.
Last night i went on-line to the Axminster site and the few reviews of the Flattening Stone are not favourable. Several claim it is not flat. I checked mine this morning and that also is not flat.
The purpose of this posting is to enquire of a wider audience if they have any experience of the Ice Bear flattening stone.
Thank you,
Russell

 

[ED65]

While it's understandable that some commercial sharpening stones aren't flat when bought with flattening stones I would have thought it behooved the manufacturer to make sure that they're absolutely dead flat! That's neither here nor there though, now that you've found yours isn't flat what to do?

You can flatten it yourself. While this may be, pardon the pun, a bear to do if it has a very tough bond (which I would hope it had!) you may only have to do it once. Flattening stones can be done by various means including using a concrete block, loose SiC grit on glass, a diamond plate, abrasive stuck down to glass/stone/melamine counter, but of course if you did do this with a diamond plate it kinda makes a nonsense of having the flattening stone in the first place.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you can flatten your flattening stone on a concrete block, why can't you flatten the stone you would have flattened on the flattening stone on a concrete block? :lol:


(I always did mine on a coping stone on the garden wall.)

 

[Trevanion]

I use the back of a ceramic floor tile for flattening my stones, one with a grid pattern.

 

[D_W]

Most of the less expensive baked flattening stones aren't flat. I don't know if they warp when they're baked or the dies aren't flat or what, but i guess the assumption is that you'll flatten those stones (which takes even coarser sandpaper and knowing the abrasives involved, or using something very coarse like a concrete block if you can find one that will agitate the flattening stone) and then you'll periodically true them up.

Ice bear is a king (can't remember the king parent or distributor, starts with an H) stone and widely distributed.

One thing I'd like to ask before you go down a rabbit hole is whether or not you've gotten along with the edges you've prepared (as in, are they sharp and leave a good surface?).

If you have, I wouldn't be in a rush to do anything, and that's coming from someone who has probably bought 300 sharpening stones as a side hobby.


EDIT: Matsunaga or Matsunanga is king/ice bear and the H I'm drawing a blank on is the distributor who peddles king and iyoroi and a lot of the tools you see spread far and wide outside of japan.

 

[D_W]

If you can flatten your flattening stone on a concrete block, why can't you flatten the stone you would have flattened on the flattening stone on a concrete block? :lol:


(I always did mine on a coping stone on the garden wall.)

too coarse for a finishing stone. It'll work, but it's not optimal.

 

[David C]

I must have bought 3 flattening stones and as far as I am concerned they were all not flat and useless.
Best wishes,
David

 

[Jacob]

I've never flattened a stone in my life (except once as a tedious and pointless experiment - such a waste of time and stone!)
I find they work best when hollow across the width and dished end to end (within reason).
I do freshen them up though - with a 3M Diapad (happened to have several - there are alternatives). A cleaned up surface can be a vast improvement and the Diapads are bendy enough to follow the dips and hollows.

 

[johnnyb]

ive had one of those flattening stones for years. its great ive never checked if its flat though. i got it from a workshop fire! and only use king 1000/6000. i give about 3 or 4 strokes before using on both sides. it helps it cut better and clears any gritty bits.