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Cleaning ceramic rods

W

will62

Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Messages
372
What is the best way to clean ceramic rods? I have an old Lansky Crock Stick sharpener that the rods are turning black from use. This is mainly used for touching up the edges on the kitchen knives. I tried one of the erasers that was supposed to be for cleaning them without any success.
 
The best method for me is Bar Keepers Friend used with hot water and a sponge. Only Bar Keepers for best result. It contains Oxalic Acid. I don't wear gloves with it but wouldn't want to wait too long before running hot water over the rods.
 
Barkeeper's friend. Works like a charm, make a paste of it with some water and scrub the rods with it, then rinse off. They'll look like new, bright white again.
 
I've always just used some kind of oil, honing, vegetable, and just rubbed with my fingers until the black let's loose. Then I just wipe it off with a paper towel.
 
I'll 2nd (3rd, 4th) the motion on Bar Keepers Friend. Works great (use with water, and rinse thoroughly). It's especially effective if the hone is really neglected and clogged heavily, as the oxalic acid makes all the difference in dissolving the embedded steel particles. They'd be next to impossible to simply scrub out, if really clogged with swarf.

If the hone isn't too dirty, some Comet/Ajax & water works well, especially if used in conjunction with a Scotch-Brite pad (I use this with the BKF also).

I one is motivated enough to clean the hone after each sharpening session, some dish soap & water will handle that pretty well. Scrub with a Scotch-Brite, sponge, toothbrush, etc.

I also noticed recently, you can use some Simichrome/Flitz polishing paste to scrub most swarf out of ceramic hones. Just rubbed it on with my fingertip, and then washed it off with some dish soap & water.
 
a pencil eraser works in a pinch. they do a decent job if you want to clean your ceramics in the field. i just use dish soap and the green side of a scotch brite pad when i'm at home though.
 
Barkeepers Friend works really well, I have also had a lot of success just throwing the Spyderco Sharpmaker rods in the top rack of the dishwasher for no effort cleaning.
 
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