Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Dry waterstones
Marcus D
>I have some waterstones that I haven't used in years. They haven't been used very much. Unfortunately, they haven't been sitting in water for 2 years. They've been dry. Can these be rejuvenated or do I need to go purchase another set of waterstones? TIA.
Re: Dry waterstones
Andy Lincoln,in Dearborn,MI
>Nope they are absolutely no good once they dry out!! You 'd better just send them off to me for a proper ecological disposal:0)
Seriously ,I am not an expert but I would soak them in water and after a day or two try sharpening with them.All should be well.
Andy
Re: Dry waterstones
Vic P
>Just did search on "care of water stones" on Google. Just said to soak before use. Mine were shipped dry and I suspect were in a dry warehouse for some time before that.
What have you got to lose? You sure can't use them dry. If they melt or whatever (which I highly doubt), you can throw them away and not have to worry any more. In the mean time I suppose you could always use them as door stops or paperweights.
I keep mine in water with about a tablespoon of bleach in a closed container. This keeps the water from evaporating and more importantly, keeps debris out. Also I keep a pitcher of clean water close at hand to replenish when I do get a bit of evaporation working. Good luck.
Re: Dry waterstones
Jim in Burlington Ontario
>I have some that I only use ocassionally and keep them dry. The longer they soak the faster they cut IMO. I don't put bleach in the water and have never had any problems. Personally I've had the water splash up in my face while accidentally dropping a stone in the water.
Re: Dry waterstones
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>I stopre my stones dry becasue they are left in an unheated shop all winter and it's jsut a habit for me to keep them out of the water so they don't freeze and disintegrate. There is absolutely no problem with storing water stones dry, and I suspect storing them in water is probably harder on them than storing them dry. Whenever I plan on sharpening I just make sure I get some water ont he coarse stone a few minutes before I use it, and the fine grit stoens (6000-8000)will not absorb much water at all so I just spray water on them and use them.
Re: Dry waterstones
JL
>I always store mine dry so they won't start growing any crud. I typically soak them until the bubbles come out (about 10-30 minutes) before using. That way I don't have to worry about bleach.
Re: Dry waterstones
Vic P
>As far as splashing, the bleach just keeps gunk from growing in the water. Hardly enough to hurt your eyes. I'd flush my eyes regardless with or without the bleach if I got some in my eyes. Been there, saw the eye doc and wore the patch.
Re: Dry waterstones
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>If your stones are Shaptons, do not store them in water. Otherwise, water or dry storage is just fine.
Pam
Re: Dry waterstones
Tim of San Leandro
>If you actually sharpen steel with your stones and don't change the water....nothing will grow in the water. There is too much metal ions in the water to allow for nearly any microbial growth.
I suspect those with problems of microbes growing in the water clean their stone ponds and stones and then try to store them in clean water.....'tis better to just rinse off the old swarf and such before use....and only change the water at the beginning of a sharpening session if the amount of old swarf gets to be too much.
just my 2 cents....
Tim