Thread: Waterstone storage

I use the sandpapers dry. 600/800 if there's been some damage to the edge.
Then 1500 grit. I tear off a rectangle which more or less wraps around the tubing.
Wrapping at each end with masking tape. I don't see the need for a pretty cylindrical fitting. The paper bends so easily to the tool sweep.
Those papers are dark gray and matte finish when new. They get sort of shiny in use and they don't have the velvet "feel" anymore. Plus, the cutting action seems reduced. (Lot of tool edge inspection in bright light) = time to chamge the paper.

Will have time later today to post a picture. Gotta load my stuff to do an on-site carving demo where my kitchen sticks are being sold.

Got quite a bit done in my little carving demo yesterday. Not much interest except for a Pac NW native carver who was really interested in my tools. Good chat.

Here's my "tubular" sharpening things and a bunch of crooked knives which needed a tune up, anyway. Not very sophisticated but I get what I need and I'm better at it every time I try. When I believe that the sheets are no longer very effective, I peel off the sheets & tape and start over. Probably not as often as I should!

Mate, I like it. Nice and simple system. It's a very transportable system if you go on the road. Thanks for sharing the info.

Are you going to post a link to your Kitchen Sticks demo RV?

On the road for 2 weeks as of tomorrow/Monday. The sharpening things fit in a carving tool roll (what a coincidence). I'll take a box of things with me. Must remember to pack lots of spare paper. I will be far enough east in Canada to snoop around for soapstone vendors. I hear there's good stone coming out of Manitoba. Plan to take a bunch of kitchen sticks as little gifts along the way.

Can't be a cheap trip with a 454cid/7.6l V8 pushing me along.

The demo? All I did was sit there and scratch away at a few more kitchen sticks.
Got tired of the spoon-like things so worked on half a dozen 4-tined forks with 20mm x 350mm shapes. You can get as wild as you like, stirring anything, and they never splash. Rice, spaghetti, soup, stew (such as wine-braised bison). I used the blunt end to make a batch of pizza dough: unlike many wimpy wooden store-bought kitchen spoon handles, mine do not break.

Interesting: I'd made a couple of sticks, about 18mm handles. "Careful, RV, those are too thin."

Today is Father's Day here. My kids gave me some gift certificates for Lee Valley. I've spent it 5 times over, already! I'll be back in July.

Sorry RV! I read "demo" and thought you were being posted up on a website somewhere.

Well done on the fathers day gifts! I tend to do the same thing with gift cards. It helps me buy the tools I want as opposed to the tools I need!

Good luck on your trip mate. At least you have a big truck to haul a big load back from the east! My brother is over in In BC at the moment visiting family. It's some real pretty country where you live.

I've been told that less than 3% of British Columbia is flat. The village of McBride
(pop 475 on weekends) is on the upper Fraser River flood plain, about 90 minutes west of Mt. Robson, almost 13,000'. It's a big nasty hill.

I have seen "flat." The drive between Echuca, Vic and Albury/Wodonga. I had to stop and get out and marvel at the flatness of that place. Amazing.

I intend to drive east into Jasper Nat. Park then down the Icefield Parkway to Lake Louise then east to Calgary. About 8 hrs of the best Rocky Mountain scenery there is. And, I live in it without the National Park crowds and prices.

I'm looking forward to having a bunch of carving stuff along with me. It's fairly compact (unlike guitars and banjos!). I can use the flat papers for gouges if/when I have to, the water stones stay home.

Gotta get supper going.
Adios

As a recent convert to waterstones I just keep my stones in the same container, in the same water, in the same sludge. I have a Bester 1200 a Suhiero Rika 5000(?), maybe its a 6000 and a Naniwa Snow white 8000. The Naniwa Snow White I do not keep wet. I only use it as a splash and go but with a 10 to 15 minute soak prior to use. the other two stones I store as stated above. Is this not standard operating procedure? Am I harming my stones by doing this?

Funny you say damage your higher grit stones by leaving them in the pond. I have never questioned why you don't store them in the water. It's a good question planebill!
Have you noticed anything funny happen to your 5000 grit stone? How long has it been in the water?

I have seen no damage to my stones with repeated wetting and drying. I am never in so big a rush as to be impatient, waiting 20 minutes for a soak. I thought that my stones and slips were getting gummy, in the tub, so I clean them and let them dry. I do believe that scrubbing a used stone is important to keep the grit open and not jammed up with finer-grit, smashed particles of smaller size.
If it is your intention to sharpen big edges, like planes and spokeshaves, keeping the stones flat is important, clearly. I don't need to do that so I'm blissfully ignorant of the chore.
I'm on the road. Not a cheap trip ($1,100 fuel pump assembly). I will try to make myself feel better by going to Lee Valley today. There was a duck which exploded when it hit my windscreen at 110kph. I've got that all cleaned off.
The windscreen didn't shatter so I got no egg on my face.

I only sharpen occasionally and tend to do a batch of tools when I do. Store the stone dry and soak when needed. I have found putting a little detergent in the water helps to stop the stone clogging up. Does anyone else do this and is it likely to cause a problem.
Tony

Thanks Tony. I don't use any detergent but a drop or two can't possibly hurt in the clean-up. I will soak and use in plain water but add detergent when I scrub my stones before rinsing and drying. Good experiment. Possibly the detergent will act well enough as a surfactant to keep the swarf from jamming into the stone.
If that works, I'll add 1 drop to the soak and run water, too.

WRT to the perma-soaking of higher grit stones. I was of the understanding that the finer grit stones are held together by different binders compared to the coarser stones. Some coarser stones are just a sintered lump of abrasive particles baked together into a brick shape, and the water wont hurt them.

Stu is the man with the answers here, as he seems to know the ins and outs of the stones and their construction. Perhaps perusing his blog might shed some light on things.

I feel confident to take some advice from Leonard Lee (of Lee Valley) in ch 5 of his book, The Complete Guide To Sharpening. (ISBN 1-56158-067-8).

Artificial stones have either a vitrified bond or a resin bond. In the Note Box, p49,
"With stones which have an open structure and a soft bond, glazing is caused primarily by crushed abrasive particles packing the pores. With such stones, water is all that is required as a flushing agent."

I sort of guessed as much. Hence, I continue to flush off and scrub my waterstones at the end of each sharpening session.

The other thing about the book is that many of the illustrations are scanning electron microscope pictures done by the National Research Council of Canada (= CSIRO).