How do I clean sharpening stones?

[Knurl]

When I flatten the back of a plane-blade or chisel, all the crummy rusty stuff comes off on my stones leaving them black and gummy.

What's the best way to get the crummy black muck off the stone without damaging the stone?

I thought I might wait for your collective advice before I tried my theory and perhaps made it worse!

[craigb]

What sort of stone?

If it's an oil stone, soak it in kero.

If a water stone, just sitting in its normal bath should do the trick.

[echnidna]

If an oil stone is really gummed up just boil it in water for a while with a little dish washing liquid.

[AlexS]

If it's a water stone, the stuff that comes off the blades should just wash away in the water that's on the stone. Are you getting little patches that are glazed where the stuff is sticking to the stones? If so, it may be because of glue, wax or oil that's on the blade. You need to clean these off before you start honing.

You can clean and flatten water stones using a piece of plasterer's sanding mesh (available from specialist paint shops). Place it on a dead flat surface, wet it liberally and rub the stome back & forwards. As the high spots wear away, they reveal the lighter colour underneath.

[Groggy]

I just cleaned up and flattened my old oilstones.

Soaked them in warm soapy water and rubbed them on a 600grit diamond plate. They weren't very oily but I would have used kero or similar to remove that.

For water stones, I usually give them a light rub together in clean water. The 1000 King always sits in a water bath and I put a drop of White King in with it to keep the wugglies at bay.

[MikeW]

Hi Dave,

After a session of sharpening or flattening an edge tool, I prefer to simply flatten which in turn also cleans the surface.

If one flattens their stones often, the stones are both better prepared for sharpening the next go 'round and are faster to flatten--takes but a few swipes.

Take care, Mike

[scooter]

If an oil stone is really gummed up just boil it in water for a while with a little dish washing liquid.

Did this a while ago on an old India oilstone, but using washing soda instead of detergent. Worked very well