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In Memoriam Comment by A. G. Russell on May 22, 2011 at 22:15

a message for all of the 12 year olds in this group.  Do not use acid of any kind without adult supervision.

 

A message for the adults that I assume make up this group.  If you do not know how to handle acid with care, learn before you begin to handle the acid.

 

Sorry Hal, I assumed that this was a group of adults and would not need the above.

Comment by Halicon on May 22, 2011 at 18:00

Russell, please watch what you are saying. People can have stones worth hundreds of dollars and you're recommending hydrochloric acid?

 

Regardless of the concentration it will get loaded in the stone and it's effect on steel is documented.

In Memoriam Comment by A. G. Russell on May 22, 2011 at 17:16

soak the stone in a weak solution of muratic acid until all trace of oil has gone

Comment by Halicon on May 22, 2011 at 17:00

There is no way to use water on a stone loaded with oil, the only way to make it useful for water again is by resurfacing a fresh "face". In other words grind away the contaminated portion of the stone.

 

Robert, your method is a good idea in practice but I'm afraid there isn't any cleansing solution that is fine enough in particle size to clean and completely evaporate/disappear afterwards from a stone.

In the end it will only add further contamination to the stone.

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on May 22, 2011 at 15:57

I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable members will know but I cleaned an oil stone with WD40. Of course that might make your wet stone worse. I can't wait to see what the guys say.

Comment by Terry Waldele on May 22, 2011 at 14:49

Can anyone tell me a way to restore a whetstone that has bee inadvertently oiled (out of my own ignorance, of course)?

Comment by Halicon on May 22, 2011 at 10:51

That's another way of putting things. I see that they also mention some of the finer oilstones which produce far superior results over an Arkansas.

 

For some reason no one has been interested in acquiring one here on iKC, I guess it's because of it's scarcity, price and that it doesn't exist in the states.

If you're considering the abrasive nature of Novaculite I would hands down never settle for only an Arkansas but finish with a Charnley Forest due to the deep serrations (grooves) Novaculite leaves, it still does with the Charnley though but much finer and barely noticeable except in 300x magnification and up.

Comment by Andy Voelkle "AxeMan" on May 22, 2011 at 0:51

Just an eastern word for whetrock.

 

Comment by Halicon on May 21, 2011 at 7:49

Oh, and please don't feel that you're "out of touch". In Asia the polishing techniques was officially established already at the 13th century with several competing schools.

 

The way I see it is that mankind has taken a big leap back when it comes to getting the most out of steel, we were actually better at understanding the way an edge functions with it's serrations in relation to the abrading particles used and what it gives.

 

It may sound crazy but at the middle of the 19'th century in the world of barbers they had already reached single digit micron sizes on their edges and they knew how to perform it reliably.

It goes without saying that it's virtually beyond imagination of reaching that level without a flattening device and microscopes were but a remote dream of scientists.

 

Yet they managed to achieve results on par with a perfectly flat ~15-20k grit stone. Truly amazing and it was nothing but sheer skills and sharp minds.

In order to be able to have that level of control when sharpening you probably need to spend the better portion of your life sharpening with your hands.

 

You can only dream about what the men of that time would be able to accomplish with today's discoveries and leaps in science, I'm like a lost lamb without my diamond plates for maintaining the flat surface.

Comment by Halicon on May 20, 2011 at 23:16

Absolutely not Robert, I was once myself in the position of a beginner and I have vivid memories of how confusing it was with all the brands claiming their bonding agent and particles are superior and so on.

A huge part about sharpening is also trust, I normally don't bring this up unless I know a crucial moment where either money or time is coming up.

 

Trust is crucial when trying to teach online since I can't step in and correct your technique or physically show results of different stones.

 

Those free stones sounds like a good starting point if what you own right now is cheaper no-name brands. My personal opinion of establishing a kit however is to first decide on what type of stones you need judged on your needs (this is where I will come in and we'll solve it together depending on your budget, needs and what kind of results you're looking for).

 

To explain exactly what the different degrees of whetstones are in a short manner it's something like this; cheaper stones use uneven particle quality, a cheap bonding agent like glue or minerals to get it to harden into a "stone". Basically the results you get will be uneven and the performance will be -very- hampered compared to a "true" stone.

 

Next is the category of stones I mentioned in my previous post, these are engineered in a way that mimics the tectonic movement of how natural stones are created. They're literally baked and subjected to extreme heat and compression, giving results that are resembling natural stones but instead of how natural stones are (uneven), the particles are uniform in size and you get the latest science in abrading particles yielding a far superior cutting speed and results.

 

That's why officially even in Japan everyone has stopped using natural coarse stones even for sword polishing. There are some that still use them (like me) but it's accepted now to "sway" from the traditional method of using natural stones and instead use synthetics - because the results they give are more reliable and also cut much, much faster.

That's entirely the result from the new method of producing synthetic stones.

What I'm getting at is that I wish you place trust in my knowledge about whetstones when you get to the point of a purchase because I know most of the differences all the brands have in production method, particle quality, consistency, performance, steel compability and so on.

 

Good luck on your new venture Robert, if you have any questions you know where to toss them :)

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