Degreasing an old stone.

Howdy all,
My apartment manager gave me some old hones from the toolshed and one of them looks very promising. No box, no label. It's extremely fine, and just might make a decent finishing hone. The problem is that it had a very heavy coating of grease and dust from years of disuse. I had hoped to able to degrease it and use it with water but so far that hasn't happened. I soaked it for a week in strong 409 cleaner, then a few days in plain water, then another week in 409. It feels totally ungreasy but water just beads up on it like it was wax. Does anyone know a process or solvent for getting the old grease and oil out? I may have to just decide to use it with oil after all but I'd prefer not to.

I got oil off a vintage Thuri pretty good by soaking it in a bucket of water with oxiclean and dishwashing soap.

Followed by a good lapping seemed to do the trick.

all dirty stuff you can use brake fluid cleaner and clean up then move to next step.
put stone inside salt box for a week . then check see what you left.
oven cleaner works too.gl

Depends how deep the oil penetrated. Most degreasers should work if its near the surface. If it's deeper you could try something that can draw the oil out. Maybe some of that stuff they use in garages to absorb oil or kaolin-clay might work too.

Howard from The Perfect Edge recommended oven cleaner. Easy Off with the blue label IIRC. Less fumes with the blue label. Haven't tried it myself. :gl:

Washing Soda is often used, but may not be any more effective than your 409 cleaner - both are very alkaline. . A strong mix of bio washing machine detergent in very hot water used as a prolonged soak often works, too.

A stronger alkali would be caustic soda (lye or drain cleaner) but you should read-up on its use and hazards before using it - it generates heat when dissolved in water and can cause severe burns if you aren't careful.

Industrial degreasers are another option. The older ones were quite hazardous (trike, etc) but modern ones are 'greener' and safer to use.

You could go the solvent route - soak the stone in a volatile solvent like alchol or industrial methylated spirit (the clear type, not the blue one) in a closed, non-reactive container. Dispose of liquid when saturated and add fresh stuff, slightly diluted with water. Repeat, adding slightly more water each time. When you reach the 50/50 mark whatever is left should be soluble in a strong detergent mixture.

Or - you could add dish-washing detergent to the honing water - that will allow it to spread out on the surface of the hone - a quicker and cheaper solution than the above!

Regards,
Neil

use oxiclean scrub the stone get an old pot and towel or large rag put the rag in the bottom of the pot and then the stone turn the heat on put some oxiclean in the pot get the water hot until it steams but not a boil the stone should be sitting on the rag it will protect the stone from the heat on the bottom of the pan the oil should float to the top of the water

Thanks Guys, you've given me some good ideas. Film at eleven.

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Originally Posted by Ogershok

Thanks Guys, you've given me some good ideas. Film at eleven.

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OK it is 11:30 here...
Where is the film. :)

If it is a saturated oil stone you will never get all the oil out.

Scrub the surface with common kitchen cleaner like Comet
and a brush or green Scotch Brite a couple times.

You can use it with a spray of water+detergent perhaps with a very small
amount of alcohol. You may find that diluted common mouth wash
makes a good honing fluid. "Simple Green" cleaner works for
me. I keep a dilution for cleaning grease from the outside of my BBQ
so it is handy.

And it is not silly to use oil on an oilstone. Mineral oil works
well and does not harm razors.

Maybe a local machine shop will give or sell you a quart or so of water-based cutting fluid; many use a lot of it and it is rather inexpensive. It is an emulsified solution that should pull some oil out of your hone by "binding" with it. Just soak the hone in it overnight and slosh it around several times.

I also think that all the oil can not be removed. If it's an oilstone, I would just continue to use oil with it.

I hate using oil because of the mess. I've found that, with stones that have been previously oiled, if I can get them mostly clean, I can use them with water that has a little soap in it. The soap prevents the water beading up & rolling off the stone.

I have never been able to get all of the oil out of a stone, maybe enough to use it with water but not all the way out. It seems to rise to the surface during use. Some stones are meant to be used with oil and perhaps you should experiment with stones before spending so much time on them. They might be just what you need as is.
Kurt

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Howard from The Perfect Edge recommended oven cleaner. Easy Off with the blue label IIRC. Less fumes with the blue label. Haven't tried it myself. :gl:

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+1 on Easy Off. I used the old fashioned fuming version (outside in a good breeze and with kitchen gloves and goggles!) on some incredibly gunky hones from an eBay lot. Let it soak for half an hour and hosed the stones down. That got most of the grunge off them and revealed a coticule among the lot that was unrecognizable prior to cleaning. The rest of the staining had to be lapped off on a DMT-a good arm and shoulder workout! Good luck and hope you have a nice hone under the crud.

Here is my suggestion for cleaning that old stone.

Find something to soak it in, preferably something that fits fairly close around the sides. A small, squared off tub would be best, but a glass jar will also work if large enough. My own best choice would be something like a glass bread loaf pan.

Put in the stone, maybe resting it on a couple of tooth picks or something to give some space under it.

Now pour in either naptha or laquer thinner until the stone is covered. Cover the pan to prevent evaporation.

Let the the stone sit in the thinner for a week. Then drain and repeat using fresh thinner as required.

The laquer thinner should leech out that old oil fairly well.

Naturally, after the final soaking you are going to have to let the stone sit and air out before you take it into the house for use.

Note: You do not want to do this in the house and you will want to be certain that this is done in an area where there is no source of ignition which might set off any fumes that escape from the tub.

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Originally Posted by ignatz

Here is my suggestion for cleaning that old stone.

Find something to soak it in, preferably something that fits fairly
...snip...

Now pour in either naptha or laquer thinner until the stone is covered. Cover the pan to prevent evaporation.
....snip...

Note: You do not want to do this in the house and you will want to be certain that this is done in an area where there is no source of ignition which might set off any fumes that escape from the tub.

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Solvents are OK to use when the old oil has turned to goo
that resembles varnish.

Your comment about danger and flammability is important.

Solvents and some modern resin bound hones would be a blunder.

A trick to ponder is to pull the solvent through the stone. If and only
if you understand the fire hazard of oil/solvent soaked rags try
soaking the one side of the hone in a shallow (1/3) bath of solvent
overnight. Then remove the hone and invert it on news paper
or something that "draws" out the solvent and dissolved goo.
Keep pulling solvent through always in the same direction.

However once the goo, varnish and gum is gone use an oiled stone as
an oil stone. Oil is not a bad thing... except that you cannot
mix oiled stones and water stones in a progression without
good cleaning habits. Oil and resin bonded hones may not
react well no cross contamination...

Once mostly clean of oil an oil stone can be used with soapy
water (dilute dish detergent) just fine.

+1 on all the cool ideas I read but has anyone considered that if it has been cleaned and is non greasy and water still beads that maybe it's a barber hone?
IMHO have a go at using lather or as mentioned before a little dishwashing liquid in the water.

Another solution may be to convert the oil into soap and then simply rinse the stone. It's important to note that this project isn't as silly as it sounds.

If you soak the greasy stone in a solution of lye and water, then the oil will saponify (i.e. turn to soap) and then should simply rinse or soak out of the stone. I'm not sure what concentration of lye-to-water should be used, nor am I sure how long the entire process should take, but I am sure that it will work. It will convert all the oil to soap. Chemistry simply doesn't lie.

One of the soapmakers should be able to add some insight.

OK Guys, here's the final resolution and how/why it came to be. I had planned to go to the store and get some oven cleaner to try but it rained really hard so I stayed home. I had several hones that needed lapping so I got out my stuff to do that instead. I decided to lap the the greasy guy and so I lapped the living snot out of it. When I was done it was perfect. Not a trace of grease at all! Thanks for all the fine suggestions.

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Originally Posted by Ogershok

OK Guys, here's the final resolution and how/why it came to be. I had planned to go to the store and get some oven cleaner to try but it rained really hard so I stayed home. I had several hones that needed lapping so I got out my stuff to do that instead. I decided to lap the the greasy guy and so I lapped the living snot out of it. When I was done it was perfect. Not a trace of grease at all! Thanks for all the fine suggestions.

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Aha.... so you are saying the problem was not grease but snot.
Go figure..
:idea:

Nice resolution. What did your lapping stone or plate look like afterward? Hope all the snot rinsed off without problems. Good job!

I used wet/dry sand paper and just tossed the snot covered sheets (several of them) away.

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Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Aha.... so you are saying the problem was not grease but snot.
Go figure..
:idea:

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In that case it must be one of those incredibly rare Flemish Greenstones from Holland. They are very slow - only persons of a phlegmatic temperament should attempt to use them... :)