Grandpa's Swayback Bench Stone Restoration 

Man, I love your sense of humour...When the protective film with your guiding marks lifted and you started laughing I couldn't help but laugh along ."well played Mr. Bozo".

Mr. Bozo and AvE's safety goat should get together for a collaboration and break the internet.

I have a diamond coated steel "sharpening stone" it works wonders too truing up all my other stones. Gluing it to a nice flat rigid surface gives me excellent results. When I'm done I can rub my stones together like Robin's precision flat stones! I'm sure they're not as accurate as his but the effect is there and I love it.

This inspires me to keep my eyes open on Thursday. I'm headed up to my favorite flea market to poke around a bit. I always find something there.

No, I'm afraid a stone has to have a wooden box otherwise it loses its character..

I did a video a while ago where I had my grandpa's stone in about the same shape and I hit it in the mill with a concrete grinding cup wheel with great results now I will get the flattening diamond plate you pointed out to finish the job so thanks for the heads up on that Tom.

I'm glad Mr Bozo visits you as well as me lol

Tom, I get it! All of it !!! Thanks so much for the chuckle, Cliff

We thank you for showing this. Lance & Patrick.

I love the machinist press fit on the stone in the box the best. Never give too much clearance! lol

Very glad to see you posting videos again Mr. Lipton.

Hi Tom Very workmanlike job of giving that old oil stone a new life. Rather than waste away unloved in a shop somewhere it will , hopefully, be productive once again. Plus really enjoyed how much you were able to aggravate Mr Bozo with success. regards vic

This is a nice little project. Simple can be good.

Have you seen the product description on that diamond flattening stone on Amazon recently? "This flattening stone was recommended by a RU-vid creator Oxtoolco (Tom Lipton) in the RU-vid machinist community."

Great restore!

The moment when the plastic film broke loose, it made me spill my coffee all over the keyboard LOL

O damn Mr. Bozo grew a voice now!

very nice work, thanks for the video

I so very much enjoy Mr. Bozo's irreverent and mirthful personality. And with that, may I once again raise a toast to Mirthful Irreverence Everywhere. [ Cultivate A Sense Of Wholesome Emotional Hygiene ] As a carpenter type, I had to chuckle. If i didn't have a block plane to quickly bevel the edges, i would have just used a carpenter's utility knife and then smooth off the edging with a bit of sand paper. But then, too, we all get tunnel vision anchored to our respective skill-set training.

I have one of those flattening stones. Works great. I use it for water stones.

Understandable. No need to go full Renzetti on a stone holder. Starboard looks good. Never heard of that material.Thanks, Tom!

you got Mr. Bozo now it time for Mr. Perfect

I use diamond. They are expensive, for the good ones. The ones I prefer have diamond bonded to a thick (1/4” to 3/8”) ground, hardened and tempered steel block. If you use them properly, they last forever, and flatten out that ground stock from Starrett that’s supposed to be precision flat, but is wavy, which you can see with a light run over with a flat stone.

Saludos, for mr bozo. Fun guy to work with

Let's straighten this old stone, m'kay? Now it's too nice for this old wooden box, let's get rid of it and make a new one, m'kay? Now this old stone is way too gritty for this nice box, so let's get rid of that and buy a new stone, m'kay? And now look boys and girls, this is how easy it to restore old worn out stone to be as good as new with just a bit of a elbow grease! M'kay?

“I’m not stupid, I’m panicking.” My lifes motto.

I'll add my voice to the chorus. 1) Wood glue is stronger than the wood, just clamp it very tight while it dries. 2) If you don't like the finish, sand the wood down and restain and varnish or paint it. 3) You could paint or decorate your plastic base so it isn't just pure white. Even childrens' stick figure drawings could make it special.

I for one, am loving mr bozo!

Don't go full nut case, but now it needs a lid. HAHA!

I could see adding some rubber feet to that box- Starboard/ HDPE is notoriously slippery, and it's super frustrating to have a stone moving around while you try to use it.

If you close the vise and lock the quill at a fixed height, you can run the part against the bearing and just cut the chamfers by hand, like a router table with a floating bit.

I saw where it was gonna go wrong, and I started laughing.. Then you went "waaah"..... I broke up. I was thinking the same thing.... Maybe a bit different setup.... I'll be on the lookout for that on my next rounding / chamfer job... You are a hoot. PS> I got one of those flattening deals, hope you get a penny or two from the purchase.

Any idea when the lid video will be online?

I use the shaper with a single diamond point you use for dressing your grinding wheel, works great...

I've got one of those that did belong to my father, and grandfather, and great-grandfather before him. And it looks just like that one, except that I still have the top for the case.

I found that using an large (used) garden tile with a sharp grit top layer was very effective at getting an old stone close to flat. Then you only use the expensive flattening stone for the final finish.

I tried out the amazon diamond flattening stone lapping plate on a Indian Mountain whetstone (Arkansas abrasives) and just one 2" x 4" stone removed most of the diamond coating from the 120 grit side.

I've been wondering what to do with one of my sharpening stones. It's getting much more concave than the stone in the video but it still sharpens my tools. I'll just use it and switch to my other stone when necessary.

An easy way to get the stone close is to grind it on the sidewalk for a while to start and then do the final flattening on a surface plate and some sandpaper

For my stones I use one of those cheap chinese diamond laps under a running tap, works well for me and no dust problems

If only sharpening stones came in plastic holders like that one.

I recently ran across the DMT Dia-Sharp stones. They claim "The diamond surface is ground to be flat, and it will stay flat. ", but don't specify how flat. I sent a message asking for their specification, but never received a response. They claim their lapping plates are good to .0005", but they are substantially more expensive. I was kind of curious to see whether they might be somewhere between a regular stone and a precision ground stone for knocking off burrs.

Loved using the bearing on the router bit as an edge-finder. I would keep the stone in the wooden box. When you need to use it, use the HDPE box mounted to a work-surface. Fix the crack with some Resorcenol and always keep the stone in it. It WILL sharpen better, because it knows you love and respect it... Things and Machines have some degree of consciousness too...

I love the "other reason"!

I love his work buy why would you buy an antique stone then throw away the antique box? like if you are going to make a new box for it just buy a new stone?

It is most interesting that in my life I've not worn a stone to the degree which frequently appears on the you tube videos, however all my knives, blades, and cutters of every type have sharp edges to a one perhaps the technique of not using one spot has worked, as all manufacturer's suggest the purchaser adhere to this method.

I tried flattening a stone I got from my grandfather recently, using a silicone carbide stone exactly like yours, but wasn't very successful. I think that the stone must be harder than the one you have. I think that I will try the diamond stone that you found on Amazon.

Without that wooden holder it's just not grandpa's stone anymore. Why not rebuild the original ?

Does the starboard glue up well? Can you laminate?

You should have used wood instead of plastic.

Holio shit Tom, cant wait to see the build videos. Kindest regards. Joe.

Would it be more effective to do the flattening with water running?

I would save all the dust for coarse lapping compound...I do that with my soft grinding wheel...works great.

If every person would have this "terrible disease" what you have Mr Lipton we would have a much better world! :) Thank you for the video Have a nice day!

huh. I have one of these that was a hand me down, but my stone has two different grits, and I also have the top section of the wooden box still as well.

I think you're supposed to impregnate the SC flattening stone with honing oil or mineral oil first. It might cut down a bit on the speed it wears out. I have a couple of the diamond flattening stones and they work really well too and very quickly.

"...I'm gonna get off the horse...I promise..." 5 seconds later... "I changed my mind..." Hahahahaha!

Excellent use of Nimrod.

out in far left field. did you actually throw the dust away from the green tray.. or did you bottle it for later to use as a super course abrasive for aggressive lapping or for use with one of the self contained spot sand blaster rigs..

If you do any ID/OD grinding or know someone who does, the backside of worn out wheels make some excellent (free) benchstone flatteners. I've hoarded a lifetime supply from the company dumpster but I still can't resist taking them.

that star board almost seems as reflective as spectralon. 😎

Mr. Bozo is in the eyes of almost everyone he meets.

Mr Bozo also would try to restaurate the wood holder . Not that i had any todo with that suggestion..lol Well done , it comes down to taste, i´m very into old and stuff. The wood had a whole life to tell . Some wood filling mixed in the wood adhesive to film up gaps strongly clamped . But saw i your toolroom tour ...you have plenty of them too 😯😁..omg. Great work nonentheless , big thumbdup and greets from the Netherlands Johny Geerts

You should drill a finger sized hole through the bottom so you can poke the stone back out easier.

I see you have the ez-lap diamond lap, I think you should do a shoot out about how handy they are to have around the shop.

I'm a bit surprised you did that dry.

I bought a cheap dressing stone and fixed all of mine. It doesn't take that long to bowl them. You can get a decent dressing stone for about $5.

@17:00 How well does Shasta Club work as a coolant?

I don't know if anyone has suggested this, but with all the dust that is being produced, I would suggest a respirator mask.

not crazy about the starboard, but it is cool you can cut with a two flute end mill with the rapid button pushed!

Wish the big box stores in my area would carry this Star Board product. Being right on Puget Sound here in Washington you'd think it would be readily available.

King Plastics Starboard made two blocks down the street in North Port FL.

How stable is starboard? I tried a similar project with HDPE and it warps terribly after cutting.

Tom, Can you please make some video on how to diamond-ground/diamond-lapped toolroom flat stones

I love the project, but I would like to have seen you use a piece of hardwood for the box, perhaps walnut.

Did Mr bozo comment on putting your fingers next to a spinning bit? Will the diamond plate work on aluminum?

I have the same Silicon Carbide flattening stone and the instructions that came with mine said to soak it in water for 10 minutes. Used wet, as soaking stone, I use it to flatten the Japanese waterstones that I use for sharpening my kitchen knives and have found that it has worn very little. I wonder if using it dry as you did was the reason it wore so quickly?

Looks like a coffin, and just the right size for Mr. Bozo.

you could use the ugly wood part as a lid

As my Uncle Herman used to say: "We ain't building no fxxxxxg church!"

"Don't worry.. I'm not stupid I'm panicking." lol

You did a good job on the plastic box but I think you are going to have to do a video on fixing the original box! lol

I'm still thinking about it!

Now, if you'd spent half the time and effort cleaning up that wooden box..... Just sayin' There is enough 'fantastic plastic' in the world! Paddy

WOW Tom that looked trick

WILL THAT WORK ON GREAT GRANDFATHERS RAZOR STONE , 1/4 " SWAY BACK ??

3rd! Thanks Tom!

I use a decent quality coarse diamond stone. It's fast and I've never worn one out. You never need to dress it. Look for a DMT full size bench stone and you can dispense with the Norton forever.

Give my regards to Mr. Bozo . Always showing up after the problem.

I like the new boso cameo he just needs a voice filter

It wasnt grampas stone . Back in the day every hardware store had a sharpening stone stone on the nail counter . The ole timers sharpened their pocket knife while they talked with everyone that came in . Hence the divot in the center .

i have my great grandpas stone if i did this to it i would only have a 1/4 in stone left when i finished

I think Mr Bozo need a few months on the couch. Oh, and I miss the opening music.

I've got one that's virtually identical. Were they sold with the wooden box or were those home made?

That silicon carbide dust scares me...

Holy crap the amount of people that shit the bed about ‘muh wooden box’

Now you need a lid!

Well...The stone resto went over great with the masses...The box not so much huh? Ha, be trying that router bit set on a hunk on tree carcass soon? ;-) Cheers.. :)

Would a block plane have created a chamfer with less fiddling?

A little epoxy and a clamp would have taken care of that great old tray nicely. What do you think happens to all the plastic chaf you make?