Japanese Waterstones Storage

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yorgos238

Joined
Nov 12, 2003
Messages
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I happen to own 3 King-brand Japanese waterstones (800, 1200 and 8000). After reading some of the posts here in the forums, I decided to store them separately in plastic containers full of water. I do have 2 questions though:

1) Is the 8000-grit stone OK with being permanently saturated? I know the 800 and 1200 ones will be fine.

2) Should each stone be stored in its own container, or could you store them all together? I guess the same question applies to the Edge Pro aluminun oxide waterstones as well.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

George
 
If you are a purist, you store them seperately, so that the fine grid can not clog the pores of the coarser ones. If you are not careful, the coarse grid can also get imbedded into the finer stones but, for that you would have to be very careless. If you flush the stones right before use once and once before you put them away, you should be fine. I personally store them all together in one big container with a lit. As long as the water in which they are stored stays reasonably clean, you should be fine. For the #8000 (and any grid above) it depends on the stone. There are certain stones that have a bond that doesn't like to be stored in water permanently. If it has a wooden base, you obviously NEVER store it water, while combination stones with a coarser side are fine, being stored in water. Again, I personally would not store any *single grid* waterstone #6000 and above in water. Its not necessary and storing them dry is easier anyways. (Amendment: Re-reading your post: The King brand #8000 should not get damaged being stored in water...its a clay bond,... but still wouldn't do it. I find the #6000 + King stones get a little slimey, stored in water, prefer to put them in water for only a minute before use and to use plenty of water during use, but that goes for all waterstones.)

Don't know about the edge pro. Western waterstones tend to be completely differently bonded than Japanese water stones

Nice choice on the waterstones....love waterstones, hmmmmm ;-)
 
I have never heard of problems with storing them in water, it is common to do so. However if you have them together you can get contamination which you don't want. If you are doing this then rinse them well before storing and before use.

-Cliff
 
HoB,
Thanks for the advice. I'll take out the 8000 one out of the container tonight. It's the one with the hard-plastic base (not wood).

Cliff,
Thanks for your reply as well. I just read your Edge Pro Apex review. Could you please be more specific on how you would store those aluminum oxide stones (coarse to super-fine and everything in between :) )?

Thanks again guys.

George
 
I rinsed them well to remove loose grit, and then rinsed them again before using. I had them altogether in water. If you are a real purist you would not do this because of the possibility of getting a piece of coarse grit in the finer stone. But practically I never saw this as a significant problem. You can of course get small plastic containers for a few cents each and thus avoid this problem completely.

-Cliff
 
I store my waterstones (coarse and medium) in water. The fine is left dry, pretty much. it just needs to be wetted before use.

With my Edge pro stones, they are so small so you don't need to soak them for a long time. I usually fill some water in the sink, and put the stones in the water (I fill it only a little, so that the stones turnes stoen down are submerged, but the aluminum back is sticking out of the water). Then I go about setting up the Edge Pro. By the time that is done, the stones are soaked enough!

"Normal" sized waterstones take longer to soak, so that is why I store 'em in water.
 
If your going to store any of them dry, you'll want to use distilled water whenever possible. At least if you live out in the country and have friggin hard water like I do. I guess it can leave mineral deposits in the stone if your soaking it and drying it all the time :confused:
I only have a 1000 grit stone and I store it in water.Don't know much about them but I read that about the mineral deposits somewhere when I got mine.
 
Yes, that is true, but only applies to "coarse" and "medium" waterstones. Most Japanese wood workers classify as "coarse" anything between #80 and #800 (sometimes split into x-coarse and coarse), "medium" as #1000-#4000 and as "fine" #5000-6000, while #8000+ is commonly referred to as "polishing" stones. Fine and especially polishing stones have such small pores and are so dense (ratio of abrasive to binder) that they don't really soak, the water doesn't penetrate the stone like it does in a coarse and medium stone. So you don't really have to be worried about calcification of your fine and polishing stones, it occures only on the surface and is removed with the first few passes of the blade. As a matter of fact, polishing stones with woodbase can not be stored permanently under water, as it damages the base, and certain stones, like the Shapton #12000 have binders that don't like permanent storage in water (the Shapton also has a laminated wood base). Clay bonded stones like the King stones are usually ok. For the coarse and medium stones it is so much of an issue (the calcite can clog the pores and mask the abrasive, dulling it), that it is best to keep them in water all the time.
 
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