Thread: Sealing synthetic waterstones

Hey Occamstrop!

The Suehiro coat failed because it absorbed just as much water as before and took just as long to dry.

The Snow White failed too, just not with me. It never cracked on me with or without the coating, but after coating and using it for a while, I sent it to a friend in Lake City, FL who had been through 4. Sure enough, after a while he notices fine spiderweb cracks on the surface which is how all 4 of his began failing.

I don't know what the difference/cause is. My first thought was water, but we both use distilled water to hone with. Humidity maybe?

The idea to coat the Snow White came from the Shapton Kuromaku/Pros that also once had a cracking problem in the Westen US. Allegedly they reformulated the stones, but the Pros also appear to be coated on the sides (they're 2-sided now) and the Kuromakus on the sides and graphics side. So I decided to try coating the sides and back of the SW then send it to my pal as an 'acid test'. Oh well, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you...

Cheers, Steve