Subject: cleaning oilstones

From: "John W. Hall" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 95 20:31:38 -0300

I have several small slips that have sat in gluey old kerosene for 
years, and some that have been used dry. Does anyone have any hints on 
cleaning the gorp out of them? I have gone through all my old 
reference books and cannot find anything although I know I have read 
"how to clean old oilstones" many times in the past. 

I am tempted to boil them in a caustic(lye), but am hesitant about the 
heat.

Thanks for any suggestions.

John

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From: [email-masked] (James Foster x2912)
Date: 3 Oct 1995 15:38:45 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, "John W. Hall" <[email-masked]> writes:
|> I have several small slips that have sat in gluey old kerosene for 
|> years, and some that have been used dry. Does anyone have any hints on 
|> cleaning the gorp out of them? I have gone through all my old 
|> reference books and cannot find anything although I know I have read 
|> "how to clean old oilstones" many times in the past. 
|> 
|> 
|> I am tempted to boil them in a caustic(lye), but am hesitant about the 
|> heat.
|> 

I'd be hesitant too. I'm not sure what benifit this would give either.
What I remember (and my rememberie isn't what it used to be, but then
it never was) is something like: Soak the stones in clean kerosene.
Wrap them in a clean cloth and bake them in an oven. Mind you, I wouldn't
plan on this with 1.) my wife around, 2.) poor ventilation in the dead
of winter 3.) a gas oven. For flat stones I've had good luck with just
reflattening them (a concrete slab makes a good starting place, followed
by loose grit on a glass plate, a sanding belt cut and glued on a plate,
and/or wet/dry paper glued on a plate) and then using a very light honing
oil on them. About 50/50 mineral oil/mineral spirits works pretty well and
is cheap. Obviously this won't work too well for curved slips, but start
out just soaking them in clean kerosene and wire brushing them. This will
probably open up the pores pretty good. For very fine stones you can try
scrubbing them with kitchen cleanser on a stiff brush.

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From: [email-masked] (Edward Haas)
Date: 3 Oct 1995 09:26:57 -0700

--If you can get access to one, use an ultrasonic cleaner. Works 
great for me...
-- 
	"Steamboat Ed" Haas	:	--Inventor of
	phone: 	(805) 968-7534	:	the banana sharpener
	FAX:	(805) 562-8928  :	
		---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

---

From: [email-masked] (Threeputz)
Date: 3 Oct 1995 23:49:56 -0400

According to the Norton abrasives specification manual re: dressing/honing
sticks and sharpening stones lubrication and maintenance:  ..."scrubbing a
dirty stone with kerosene and a stiff fiber brush should, under normal
circumstances, suffice to clean the surface...badly glazed or loaded
surfaces may require a rub down on coarse abrasive paper then re-soak the
stone". To relap the flat edges..."use coarse waterproof paper laid on a
flat surface. Use water as a lubricant and to aid in the carrying residue
away from the abrading surfaces".

Here is some more information that may be useful:

Synthetic stones are manufacturered with man-made, electric furnace
abrasives. Crystolon and India sharpening stones grain is graded for
consistent particle size.

1. Crystolon stones manufactured from silicon carbide are best suited for
fast cutting       when a fine edge is not required. This stone is gray in
color.

2. India stones manufactured from aluminum oxide used for sharpening high
quality     tool steels whenever keenness of edge is more of a concern.
This stone is brown in     color.

Natural stones are quarried from Ozark quartz (silica) and precision sawn.

1. Soft Arkansas for extra fine finishes after synthetic stoning. This
stone will be off     white in color.

2. Hard Select Arkansas are those stones graded between soft and hard.

3. Hard Arkansas for ultra fine final hone when the sharpest possible
final hone is     required. This stone will be white to dark gray in
color.

Think, be for you add heat to cook out the oils already absorbed in the
stone, it glaze and seal the stone to the point that it may not absorb the
oil in the re-soak step.

Good luck, 
Ken DeMarsh
http:/www.virtual-ventures.com/gfs

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From: [email-masked] (Russ Kepler)
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 11:46:25 GMT

>	--If you can get access to one, use an ultrasonic cleaner. Works 

What kind of solvent did you use in the ultrasonic cleaner?

-- 
Russ Kepler posting from home  [email-masked]

                      Please don't feed the Engineers

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From: Bob Unitt <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 95 12:37:38 GMT

> I am tempted to boil them in a caustic(lye), but am hesitant about the 

One suggestion I've seen is to leave them in a low-heat oven for a couple
of hours - supposed to drive the gunge out of through expansion, I presume.

Caveats:
 1) I haven't tried this myself (let me know if it works...)
 2) Make sure she's out of the house :-)
-- 
Bob Unitt

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From: [email-masked] (Andy Dingley)
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 1995 23:04:24 GMT

"John W. Hall" <[email-masked]> wrote:

>years, and some that have been used dry. 

To clean them, sit them in a container of white spirit overnight, then
scrub with a nylon nail brush. Any tough stains can be removed with
aerosol carburettor cleaner (spray-on toluene - powerful stuff !).

If they're badly grooved, don't bother cleaning them too much, just
let the flatting process take care of it. I use a "brick stone"
(extremely coarse carborundum, used for smoothing plasterwork) to
knock the lumps off first, then grinding paste on a steel plate to
flatten. Wash off in paraffin (kerosene) afterwards.

I never use oil on my stones, just copious quantities paraffin. I keep
a sandwich box to swill and wash them in, although I store them dry.

To be honest, I rarely use oilstones since I discovered the far
superior waterstones.

--
Andy Dingley                          [email-masked]                                          

If all it takes is an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters, 
how come AOL haven't written any Shakespeare yet ?