Thread: Cleaning a DMT8c?

I used this 325 grit hone both to lap my Naniwa 1,000, and to take out some micro chips on a Robeson Shure Edge. I ran it under water a good deal, rubbing with my hand to wipe of slurry / metal. When it dried, however, it's still unevenly colored; it still looks dirty. I am looking for advice re cleaning it so I can have a fresh start lapping other hones, etc.

I did not find anything in other posts or in the wiki. If I overlooked it, please accept my apologies.

DMT recommends comet or ajax or the equivalent with a scrub brush. I have their cleaning kit and it comes with a brash bristle scrub brush but nylon will do.

I used ajax cream what you'd clean your bath wit and nail brush works trust me.

+1everything posted above!

All of my DMT's have developed an unevenly colored surface after they've been used a bit. It doesn't seem to affect how they work, though.

It's probably similar to the Ajax cream, but the best thing I've found for cleaning any DMT is Barkeepers Friend liquid, and my finger rather than a brush. I wet the DMT, shake it off, squirt the Barkeepers Friend liquid pretty generously all over the surface. I then rub the entire surface vigorously with my first few fingertips, until the mixture turns into almost a black paste from all the metal shavings it lifts off the DMT.

I rinse, finish it up with another application, then another rinse. Only a brand new DMT has a completely uniform surface color, but the Barkeeper's Friend gets it very clean and pretty close to uniform, and back to cutting nicely.

I use a toothbrush or, if that doesn't work, some Scotchbrite. I've yet to need to use any sort of cleaner. I'm sure any sort of dish soap would work quite well. You may notice some color change in your DMT as you "break her in."

It does take some time before the uneven color goes away but it really doesn't seem to make any difference in use.
It may have been a bit overboard but on that grit I used a small file that was pretty used and just used some water with liquid soap to smooth things out a bit as far as feel and to make it an even stroke. That worked fine for me. It took about 4 minutes or less.