Maintaining Water Stones

Re: Someone call a doctor?

vlparisian in Houston

>Why not, from time to time (most of the time) it holds just about everything else in my shop. :>) Keeps the floor and work bench clear.

Victor - getting back to work.

Re: Maintaining Water Stones - 1 LAST COMMENT

Bob Haines

>One Last Comment

One of the things that makes Wood Central great is that you get a large number of diverse opinions which is healthy for this hobby / profession and at least for me, has made me a much better woodworker. In looking for ways to solve the "slime" problem on my water stones that are stored in water, I consider the following:

-  Isopropanol or any of the lower alcohols (ethanol, methanol) has excellent and persistent antibacterial / antifungal properties

-  It is relatively cheap and available

-  Ethanol is too valuable for use in other, more entertaining activities

-  Bleach or other forms of chlorine at effective concentrations will soon dissipate and will not be available (persistenance) over a period of more than a few days (converts to sodium chloride or dissipates into the air). One would have to make routine bleach additions to the water to maintain antibacterial activity for a longer term.

-  Chlorine or bleach is a strong oxidizer. I am not sure of the binder systems used for synthetic water stones but there is a real possibility that bleach over time could deteriorate these expensive water stones.

-  Isopropanol changes the surface tension of water and makes the water "wetter". I suspect that antidotally this is why my stones seem to do a better job and present a more consistent abrasive surface to the object being sharpened or honed. This is pure speculation on my part.

-  Isopropanol and other polar alcohols form an azeotrope with water, which is simply a constant boiling mixture that does not separate out into it constituents by evaporation or distillation at certain concentrations. This is why the liquid will always contain alcohol until the entire liquid has evaporated. Bill Tindall gave a much better explanation above.

An even laster word......

Bill Tindal, E.TN

>I looked in the barrel where I am rooting some willow branches and it was green with algae.

Re: LOML tells me Ivory liquid is without triclosa

Tom MacGregor

>I haven't asked for one for Ivory Soap, but I have never had any company refuse to provide me with a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for a product. I don't think they can legally refuse. Businesses are required to have them on hand and accessable. There's a lot of information on chemical make up and safety proceedures on those sheets.

Good point, Tom. Thanks.

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

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