Thread: Charnley Forest paddle hone

Hello everyone,

I recently bought this Charnley Forest to improve my honing. Actually I wanted a finishing stone with a high grit.
Here it is:






The stone has perfect dimensions for me 165mm/31mm, I really prefer small size stones.

It has clearly been used wih oil, do you think there's a solution to de-oil it and use it with water or it's irreversible??

It has also very fine lines on her surface, can I lap it with sand paper and water as a coticule for example??

Thank you!!

Try tapping down on the end of the paddle with a small hammer, on either end to see if it is glued to the paddle or just mortised in. If mortised, it will come loose, old swarf only holding it in. You will hear the sound change once it breaks loose.

Then soak the stone in Simple Green and water, ¼ Green to water for a week, change the water and continue until it stops releasing oil. The paddle can be cleaned with WD40.

If glued, clean with WD40, some have had luck heating to loosen glue or you will have to cut or split the paddle.

Nice stone. I would just bevel the edges and give it a go. Use some Smith's Honing Solution and water.

Thank you for your answer!

Nice CF. Just put it in the oven at about 150 degrees Celsius for a couple minutes and the glue will melt. Putting the stone ontop of a newspaper will prevent a mess in the oven. Removing the glue from the stone is easiest while it's still hot.

Just lap the stone and you will be able to use it with water.

And not to have your wife around when you will be baking the stone as she would not be pleased.
As for degreasing no point to be soaking it for long time as these hone are non porous. only oil which would be in would be in cracks and inclusions. I personally use oven cleaner foam. Spray on and in fifteen minutes wash with hot water and stiff brush. Sometimes mixed some swarfega to assist. If once it was not enough repeat. Lap it and enjoy.
Use water or oil as you wish. Just keep in mind that if your wooden box is full of oil and swarf it would not be much possible to completely degrease it and therefore any time you store your clean hone in it it would get contaminated. One way around is to wrap it in the cling film before you store it in the box.

correct me if I am wrong,but are not charnleys meant to be used with water OR oil,If so cross contamintion would not be an issue.

What stone will you be using before the CF?

Most CF's are quite fine, so honing on water will work ok. To learn a CF's true potential, you need to use an oil like sewing machine oil or an oil-less "honing oil". This is one stone that you can spend months and months on to learn it's true qualities and capabilities. I personally don't use water, those old-timers who used oil knew a thing or two...

If I had to get rid of all of my finishers, my CF would be one of the last two to go.

Thank you all for your advices!

So I put the paddle in my oven(my wife is not in!) for a few minutes, the stone is now out of the wood. I don't know if it was glued or not but it come out easily.

It's quite dirty, I'm going to clean it up and I'will show pictures.

I intend to use it right after my coticule.

Well done. That was quick. Good luck with cleaning and lapping.

Congratulations nice CF quillaume. Since you have removed it, is there a stamp on the bottom? Like has been said you can use water or glycerin, they are supposed to be used with oil. You should be good to go using it after a coti. Be careful do not drop it on a hard surface now that it’s been removed. Thank you for sharing. Have fun and be patient. Here’s a couple more for eye candy.
Mike