Waterstone question

[welshwhit]

Probable a nice quick one,

I have a dual grit 1000 / 6000 combination waterstone.

I know you soak these in water to use and have had good success, but I was wondering how long does everyone soak theirs for before use?

I do 5-10 minutes, Is this long enough??

Thanks folks

Drew

 

[penvisser]

I do the same, but I keep adding water from time to time.
The coarser stones are soaking for 20-30 minutes.

Best regards,

Jan

 

[Wilderbeast]

soak them until they stop bubbling!

 

[welshwhit]

Thanks folks!

Drew

 

[Finnman]

I store mine in water...

 

[welshwhit]

I thought about that but wasn't sure if the combination stone would coma apart!

or am I just being silly?!

Drew

 

[Leonidas]

Not being silly at all, seems a reasonable question.

The combi stone should not split, I store all my stones in water.
But! Because I use mine quite a bit the water is changed regularly so it does not get stagnant.
Also never leave them in water if there is any chance of freezing as the stone may weaken or break entirely when it freezes.

Most important thing is to leave them to soak fully immersed for at least 10 minutes, second most important thing, never let it dry out, always put some, (not too much) water on the stones when in use.

However! With the finer side of the stone if you put too much water on it when in use you will actually defeat the whole purpose!!

The fine stones actually rely on the slurry that is created to sharpen the edge, so it is important to keep 'adding' a 'little' water on the fine stone when sharpening without washing the slurry away......too much water, the slurry will wash away, it will take longer and wear the stones quicker getting to the desired result.

Hope that made sense!