Finer waterstones stored in water : acceptable or not ?

[pompon44]

Hi,

I do own 2 combined Ice Bear waterstones (250/1000 and 1000/6000). I keep then in a plastic container filled with water. As the 6000 is attached to the 1000 (and because I did not care so far), the 6000 is also somewhat burried under water all the time.
Now, reading David Charlesworth's first book, I notice a sentence where he says that finishing stones should not be stored in water...
So what ? Did I destroy my 6000 in any way, or is it just not *necessary* to let them in water ?

Thanks,

PS: I'm a beginner, slowing progressing along the slope...

 

[NickZ]

My finest stone has a wooden bottom. If I stored it in water I think it would rot.


I can see a problem if you store all your stones together. The sludge from the coarser stones will clog your finer stones. But I seriously doubt you've ruined them. They might just cut too agressively for awhile until they get cleaned up.

 

[Anonymous]

I actually wouldn't store any of them in water. When their wet they flattern much slower, and its harder to quage when their flat.

When you flattern a dry stone they high points are clear. lighter in tone. When their wet theres more stuffing about.

The idea is to store the coarser stones in water, because they need time to re-absorb the water for use. But it should only take 1/2 a minute to re-wet them enough for use. Bring them out of the bucket with a puddle on top and rip into it. no big deal.

The finer stones don't need any time at all. So don't worry about.

 

[Anonymous]

Pompon, don't leave the 6000 in water, just spray it before use -they only need a little water

 

[Mittlefehldt]

Which begs the question, at least for me, what about a 4000/8000 cobination Norton Waterstone, store in or out of water. I take your point about the finer stone but what about the 4000?

 

[Nick W]

I keep my 6000 stone in water and it has not come to any harm. The reason you don't need to keep the fine stones in water is that they are not porous (well not to any extent that matters) and so a quick spritz with garden spray will be all they need.

So why do I keep mine in water? Tidiness really - it is with the others, and my stone pond has a lid so they stay free of dust. I always (well, usually ) flatten and then rinse my stones before use so cross contamination is not a problem either.

 

[Bernhard]

Bonjour Pompon,

I keep all my waterstones in water all the time. So they are ready any minute to sharpen my irons.

In order to avoid that they get in contact with the mud on the bottom I cut a 120 mm plastic tube (for waste water) in two halves so that I get a half pipe. In this half pipe I cut spaces for my stones. Now they are lying secure from the mud fixed in the half pipe.
Another advantage is they cannot hit each other.

Hope my explanation are understandable.

Bernhard

 

[Frank D.]

I keep all mine permanently soaked in water together too. A quick rinse under running water gets rid of any contamination. There's no clogging. However I do keep my 8000 on top, so it isn't soaking in the sludge on the bottom. I prefer the feel of my 8000 Norton when it's thoroughly wet.

 

[David C]

Just don't soak Shapton Pro series , they turn to mush!

David C

 

[Mirboo]

I have a set of Norton Stones (220, 1000, 4000 and 8000 grit). I store all of them in water all the time in seperate containers. The containers I use to store the stones are actually called "meat keepers" and they are made by a New Zealand company called Sistema Plastics.

http://www.sistemaplastics.com/klip+it/meat+keeper

The meat keepers (which I bought at my local supermarket) come with a little removable plastic mesh tray that sits in the bottom of the container, and in the case of waterstones helps to lift the stone clear of any sludge that may accumulate in the bottom of the container. The containers are perfectly sized to comfortably fit one waterstone and they stack up (in my case on the bench behind my drill press) so that the storage of my stones doesn't take up too much space.


I know you don't need to store 8000 grit stones in water all the time, but can someone please tell me whether I should expect reduced performance from the stone given that I do store it in water?

 

[Pekka Huhta]

I have stored my stones in water for ages. I first dried them out after use, but I did not want to wait for them to soak - five minutes of soaking and fifteen seconds of touching up the blade.

But what interestes me the most in this thread is: How do you hold the stone while sharpening? For my oilstones I just clamp the box between the bench dogs for a good grip, but do you have a separate "holder" or something for the waterstones as well?

Probably my worst idea in years was to make a stone holder from a scrap of oak. You may well imagine how it looked after the steel swarf and water got into the oak That was really a disposable stone holder from 32 mm oak...

After that I've used the lid of the plastic container my stones are sitting in, but the stones move around a bit.

Pekka

 

[Mirboo]

How do you hold the stone while sharpening?

I use a waterstone board that I made which has provision for clamping the stones and flattening them. I described it in an earlier post (see link below).

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... c&start=18

 

[Nick W]

I use a piece of float glass with wet'n'dry paper on top to flatten the stone, then I just put the stone on that to use it - simple. There is enough friction at both interfaces to hold the stone.

 

[Frank D.]

I know you don't need to store 8000 grit stones in water all the time, but can someone please tell me whether I should expect reduced performance from the stone given that I do store it in water?

I don't really know the answer, but IME I'd say NO. I've gotten .00035" shavings (won a planing contest with those...) after sharpening with my permanently-soaked 8000. I've never compared results with a stone that's just been sprayed before sharpening, though, but I don't see how or why I'd need a sharper blade.
I hold my stones on a piece of melamine. The melamine has swelled around the edges dur to the water, and the stone just locks into place when I push it against the swelled edge. I like it because it's like planing against a stop...no time-wasting clamps or other holding devices are necessary. The melamine is sitting on an anti-skid mat that I bought from a dollar store.