I used oil on my edge pro water stones

donnord

donnord

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Dec 22, 2007
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OK I did not pay attention an put oil on my EP water stones when I first used them. I figured out the mistake after some sharpening and cleaned them in Dawn dish soap several times. Is there something else I can do, or did I just make them into oil stones for the future.
 
donnord said:
EP water stones
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I assume you don't have them but if some how you wound up with the WHITE Shapton Glass Edge Pro stones (I have many of them they are really great ) . . .
then I would be leery of using much in the way of Citrus or other more aggressive water based cleaning solutions .

Even too much water for too long can soften these Shapton Glass WHITE stones .
E.G. , my 220 grit one gets softer while I use it and I NEVER soak any of these ; just splash and go.
It is scary how soft the 220 gets ; to the point I avoid using it much .

It seems to me like if I soaked it in Citrus Cleaner I might come back to a little pile of white stuff in the bottom of the container ; heat or no heat .

I hesitate to even mention it but . . .
Probably OBVIOUS to all reading this that some hydrocarbon based solvents may not play well with a hot plate ; unless you like big pretty flames or worse .
 
I used the stones this evening and they took water OK, and seemed to cut well. I'll clean them in degreaser or dawn once or twice more to see if they cut even better.
 
donnord said:
I used the stones this evening and they took water OK, and seemed to cut well. I'll clean them in degreaser or dawn once or twice more to see if they cut even better.
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Do not use degreaser! I would only use Dawn only.

Dawn works really well removing oil and grease and is gentle on things. I used it for a very long time in the automotive & heavy vehicle industry cleaning everything (as in engine parts and such) with no issues.
Also, don't overdo it, they will only get so clean then that's it.
 
I wouldn't worry. Seems like you already did the best thing by using dawn. Live & learn. It happens, don't sweat it.
 
I would suggest using a lot of dish soap in the water that you soak your stones in when sharpening. This will help them avoid loading up in the short term and clean the oil out of them in the long term, with no ill effects.

Dish soap and isopropyl alcohol to sharpen with for a time or two may help too. The alcohol also dissolves oil and mixes well with dish soap, helping the water to wash the oil out.
 
I'd be tempted to try brake cleaner. It might work. Or it might screw them up worse. But I'm a gambler, so I'd probably try it.

Just thinking out loud here...not really giving advice.
 
Dish soap like Dawn, etc will handle mineral oil pretty easily. I've occasionally used it to clean up some of my oil stones and it works very well for that.

I won't speculate as to the effect it has on waterstones, if any, as I can't claim any experience with that. Others more experienced here seem to think it's OK for those and I'll defer to their expertise on the subject.

But if the basic worry is whether or not dish soap is enough to handle the oil, I'd say it should handle it easily.
 
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