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Thread: waterstone questions… please

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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    waterstone questions… please

    Wow, the more I read about taking care of waterstones the more complicated it gets. I just received my stones from Stu last week “Sigma Power ceramic 1000-6000-13000 special set”; and I already had a King set of water stones (800-1200-6000 grit) that I purchased around 1985, but didn’t use much. Would the King stones be natural stones purchased back then, or how can I tell?
    This question has been asked so much on this site and the web I hate to ask again, anyway here goes… I’m still not sure about soaking all the different grades of stones? Right now I have all 6 stones in a 5 gallon bucket full of water. Some people say they keep all stones soaking continuously, some say not to keep the finer stones soaking, and some say it doesn’t matter??? Personally, I like to keep the stones in water so that when I need to use them their soaked and ready to go when I need them. I think the most important questions are: can I hurt any of the stones by keeping them in water all the time, and will it hurt their performance by keeping them soaked?? Thanks!

  2. #2
    You can soak all of those. I personally wouldn't soak the king 6k, and you may determine that you don't need to soak the 6k and 13k sigma, but it won't hurt them to soak them. I like to soak the 13k sigma, it has a nicer feel when soaked.

    If you haven't hurt the 6k king yet, you have your answer (basically if it can dry and be back to like it was before it was soaked).

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Kagawa, Japan.
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    Soaked or not is ok, but change the water regularly to keep growing stuff away.

    We're having a small problem with bleach, water and the stones, and trying to work out what's going on. So change the water if you must keep stuff from growing in it.

    (The bleach/water ratio that's causing the problem is quite high, but until we get to the bottom of it, I'd avoid any bleach in the water if possible.)

    Just an FYI, I've used them soaked, splashed and dry and tend to favour splashed or a short soak before use. Drying them is not a problem however, and to be honest it's the method I use and highly recommend simply because no gunk will grow if the stones are dry.

    (Dry them anywhere you want. Heat isn't a problem.)

    Stu.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Prince George, BC
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    Hey Stu,

    Just for some clarification, what kind of time frame do you mean when you say "short soak"?

  5. #5
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    Williamsburg,Va.
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    I refuse to have to deal with soaking stones and keeping changing the water all the time. Diamond and ceramic stones do not require such annoying and messy maintenance.

    Be careful pouring the water down your drain. Stone slurry will settle in the bottom of your traps and really clog up your sink. Draino won't help,either. The gunk is insoluable.

    Even the whiskers from my electric razor clogged my bathroom drain very badly. I got some of the GOOD stuff(powerful acid used by pros. They don't sell it to everyone) at the hardware store. It made short work of the whisker clog,AFTER I wasted my money on a snake. You will not get by so easily with stone slurry,though.

  6. #6
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    Jun 2010
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    Kagawa, Japan.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Dickson View Post
    Hey Stu,

    Just for some clarification, what kind of time frame do you mean when you say "short soak"?
    1-2 minutes.

    Stu.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Tokyo, Japan
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    1,550
    Stuff growing in the waterstone bucket is a problem, especially mosquitoes. Stinky and dangerous. First step is to keep the bucket covered with a plastic shopping bag. Flimsy is fine.

    Second step is to add a chemical. Chlorine is not good for either stone or bucket, and the chlorine in the water will permeate the stone and will then end up in the pores of your blades causing rust in unseen places. Bad idea. Try a few drops of this http://www.simplegreen.com/products_pro_3.php. Works perfectly. Crud and bugs will shun your bucket. Be careful to keep your dogs and cats and toddlers away.

    BTW, did you know that more children under three years old are killed by drowning in 5 gallon buckets of water than lasagna in the US? Strange but true. So if you have small ones, don't use 5 gallon buckets unless the lid is firmly in place all the time. Too deep, too stable.

    Stone slurry is a real problem in the drain. Be prepared to clean the trap occasionally if you use a sink. While it sounds strange, there are ways to minimize the amount of stone slurry. In fact, I never use a sink.

    Stan
    Last edited by Stanley Covington; 01-10-2013 at 5:49 PM.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    I see a 5 gallon bucket ban coming!! The staggering preponderance of murder weapons in the USA are baseball bats.
    People don't kill People... Buckets do!!!
    Lots of good advice Thanks!!!
    Tell me if I’m wrong… I take what everybody is saying is that it will not hurt any stones (my type of stones anyway) if they are kept in water 24-7, but some stones (the finer grit/denser) may work better if they are not continuously soaked, and soaked several minutes before use?

  9. Quote Originally Posted by Stuart Tierney View Post
    Soaked or not is ok, but change the water regularly to keep growing stuff away.

    We're having a small problem with bleach, water and the stones, and trying to work out what's going on. So change the water if you must keep stuff from growing in it.

    (The bleach/water ratio that's causing the problem is quite high, but until we get to the bottom of it, I'd avoid any bleach in the water if possible.)

    Just an FYI, I've used them soaked, splashed and dry and tend to favour splashed or a short soak before use. Drying them is not a problem however, and to be honest it's the method I use and highly recommend simply because no gunk will grow if the stones are dry.

    (Dry them anywhere you want. Heat isn't a problem.)

    Stu.
    I'd be interested to see what a set up looks like in a real, working professional Japanese shop (not a western shrine thereto) - water baths, buckets, etc. Anybody have photos?
    Last edited by Charlie Stanford; 01-10-2013 at 8:26 AM.

  10. #10
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    Williamsburg,Va.
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    How to eliminate stone slurry: dump it in the yard. Neither should you put cat litter down the drain!!

  11. #11
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    Sep 2011
    Location
    Eureka Springs, AR
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    Children and buckets of water

    That would be my guess, Stan, since 3 year olds don't attend schools or summer camps or movies where these gun toting psychopaths go to find the easiest prey. Of course, we'd know much more about guns and society if the NRA hadn't cut off NIH research years ago. Wimps.

    Real Japanese shop

    Charlie, this is fairly easy, just watch some videos; but Stu's shop is real and it's in Japan, so look at his videos.
    Last edited by Jack Curtis; 01-10-2013 at 9:21 AM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    How to eliminate stone slurry: dump it in the yard. Neither should you put cat litter down the drain!!
    Or gas, dirt, sawdust, concrete…

  13. #13
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    Feb 2010
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    Cary, NC
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    Nothing to see here...
    Last edited by Jason Coen; 01-10-2013 at 12:18 PM. Reason: Removal of quoted stupidity.

  14. #14
    Moderator cleanup needed in aisle (post) #12. (it would be nice to not get threads locked for no good reason).
    Last edited by David Weaver; 01-10-2013 at 9:39 AM.

  15. #15
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    Central CT
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    [Deleted by author]
    Last edited by Dan Alt; 01-10-2013 at 12:10 PM. Reason: Too far off topic

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