[stickman]

How often do you clean your stones?
I usually wipe them off as the cutting oil starts looking dirty and then apply new oil and start again.But eventually I have to clean them with hot soapy water and a scrub brush to get all the metal fillings out of them or my stones kinda of stop working.Any thoughts would be appreciated

[dryheat]

If you can pull it off a trip through the dishwasher works great. If you can find one big enough the ultra sound type jewelry cleaner works best. Just boiling in water with a bit of dishwasher soap works well too.
I'm always amazed at the amount of crud that comes off in a good cleaning

Ed

[AlArchie]

I've found that if I use water instead of oil, the stones don't clog as fast and are a lot easier to clean...usually just a rinse under the faucet does the job. You can use water on oil stones, but it's not a good idea to use oil on a water stone as even if you wash it thouroughly, that soaked in oil will repel the water if you want to use the stone as a water stone again.

I clean mine whenever they look a bit clogged....only takes a rinse.

Come to think of it, I kinda like that dishwaser idea...have to try it.


Al

[bbeery]

Ya Al, right, ....your wife is going to let you put a sharpening stone in the dish washer......me thinks if that happens, she will have had to left the U.P. and probably taken the boat with her.

[mark yundt]

How about a bit of Dawn (cuts oil and grease well) and an old toothbrush or something like that?It's a fairly straightforward process. Simple green,,or some other degreaser,,a little scrubbing ,,rinse and reoil when dry? I use water stones,,and occasionally have to flatten them using a fairly coarse sandpaper and a flat surface,,you might want to consider that as well depending on how yours are wearing if at all.

[AlArchie]

GEEZE, BILL! I sure hope she doesn't take the boat. Around here a woman with a boat is a prize catch, and there just aren't many left around. And at my age I don't know what I'd do to attract a new woman, let alone one that has a boat.

Guess I'd bettert take Mark's advice and use a toothbrush (mine) and Simple Green, eh?.

Al

[Kenny_S]

Nah LA, use her tooth Brush!

Mark you are spot on with the Simple Green and tooth brush.

My little bride bought a new brush after her saying her's didn't taste right. Hmmmmmmm! Didn't know toorh brushs had taste.

[bbeery]

Smart thinking Al, never was great at math, but I figure a clean sharpening stone isn't worth as much as a boat plus the hazzle of having to wash your own dishes. If my wife left, I don't know who I'd get to mow the lawn, paint the house, asphalt the driveway; little stuff like that, that needs doing occationally while I'm carving....

[stickman]

Thanks for the replies folks.I don't know if the wife would like the dishwasher idea to much I'll have to do it when shes not home.LOL

I like the idea of water stones although not much extra money in the budget I might suggest it as a x-mass present .

don't know much about them what would be a good set?I mostly sharpen knives .but would like to be as versatile as possible.

[AlArchie]

Check out the Smith Tri-Hone tripple stone system; three 2"x6" stones on a base. Coarse, Medium and Fine grit, plus a bottle of honing oil. I think they sell for around 3o bucks.

I'm getting partial to those diamond hones. I have two; one a pocket style 1"x3" and a 3"x8" one. they cut fairly fast, and in the fine grit, it only requires stropping to bring tools up to carving grade! They can be used dry or with water, and the debris from sharpening just rinses off with water, although I like to use a little dish soap or simple Green to clean.

Even that small pocket hone can be used to true up fairly large gouges,

Those reasonably priced "hardware store" carborundum stones work quite well, too. The smaller pocket size ones come only in a fine grit, but you can get the larger 3"x8" ones in dual grit......fine on one side and coarse on the other. My opinion on these dual sided ones is that the coarse side is WAY too coarse for practical use.....might be good for axes or matocks. Water or oil works on these, and they are fairly easy to find.

Al