how do you clean a clogged oil stone?

J

John Frankl

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Oct 16, 2001
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I have a couple of Norton India stones (one fine and one medium) that are in good shape but seem to have lost their bite due to clogging with oil and steel particles. I am wondering what the best ways are to bring them back to good working condition.

Thank,

John
 
John, try rubbing clean oil on the surface, then wipe it off.
If that doesn't work, try soaking in kerosene, or some other solvent, for awhile, then scrubbing the surface.
There is also the baking in the oven thing, but that is a last resort. You don't want to do that with your regular cooking oven. You also don't want to do that after soaking in solvent. :eek:
 
I use soap and warm water and then I rinse the stone off really good (multiple times) and I let it air dry. it works for me.
 
Hello,

I've used a few things succesfully for this operation, lemme list in chronological order:

1. regular hard rock I picked up besides a river here, I cut that one in half with a diamond disc for concrete, and rubbed the other stone clean with the flat side. Works pretty easy, simple and fast. Make sure you cut the stone FLAT in half, and bump will result in a groove in you stone.

2. A synthetic carbasil coarse stone, also an oil stone, but much coarser, double sided and grey. They use them a lot over here for sharpening of HSS tools since it's pretty hard and open bonded. I just oil both stones, and rub the carbasil stone up and down over my clogged stone. Depending on how clogged your stone is, it will be cleaned in no time, and with a little more effort flattened.

3. Special ceramic stone made for this purpose, with wide grooves.. flattens a stone easy and cleans it like new.

4. grinding belt for stone... be carefull, you can ruin you flat surface this way easy.

hope this helps a bit.
 
"A clean stone works better. All stones should be oiled before each use, then wiped clean before they're put away. Because dirt and dust can load an oilstone just as much as sharpening dust and metal particles, always keep stones covered and in a clean place between uses.

When stones do need cleaning, use kerosene and scrub with a stiff fiber brush. Then re-soak the stone in oil. If a stone is so badly glazed that brushing doesn't work, rub down the stone surface with 80-120 grit abrasive paper instead, then re-oil. Proper maintenance can extend the life of a sharpening stone or file beyond what might be expected."

(Copied from Norton instructions available online at www.knifecenter.com)
 
John,
The best success I've had cleaning a clogged india stone is to place in in a pan of water (fully submersed) and bring to a boil.......allow it to boil about 15-20 min or until all of the crud is floating on top the water. Dump the water off BEFORE you take the stone out. The stone should be in near new condition after your done.
 
i clean mine(norton fine india, some DMT's, and a spydie ceramic x-fine, and a hard/soft ark too) in HOT water and brush it good with a stiff brush and comet sink cleaner,rinse, repeat a time or 2 or 3 - then let 'em air dry, works fine for me, but i dont let them get too bad in between washings either

greg
 
I have done the boiling, note if done inside this will put a film of oil and grease around the house. Since it is just the surface that is clogged, I would try lapping as Bart noted in the above. Assuming a light scrubbing doesn't eliminate the problem

-Cliff
 
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