My Nortons have been soaking for over a year and are still together. :shrug:
YMMV, I guess.
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My Nortons have been soaking for over a year and are still together. :shrug:
YMMV, I guess.
My first question would be why keep them in water 24/7? I don't believe Norton recommends this. I am on my second 4k/8k combo. My first set showed considerable separation around the edge where the two stones are joined after many overnight soakings. While it did not affect the performance I decided to stop soaking overnight and my second looks like the day I bought them.
My guess is that water quality varies considerably and any pool owner will tell you what chlorine will do to a stone surface overtime. You must have pretty soft/ph neutral water. I think you have been lucky. If I were to store the stones in water then I would probably use distilled water to minimized this risk. This has been my experience. Regards.
There again, when you hone most everyday, soak 24/7! I use distilled water, but actually find a tablespoon of bleach keeps algae from creeping in. Again, with no ill effects.
My 1K and 4K Nortons have been soaking for over three years. They are the full block, not the combo stones. I don't soak the 8K or my Naniwa 12. There have been no bad effects from the continuous soaking.
I keep mine soaking because I also use my stones for woodworking. I mostly use hand tools, so I need to be able to grab a stone and sharpen quickly without having to wait for them to soak.
To make sure I keep my stones flat for razor sharpening, I use the bottom side for woodworking tools, and the top side for razors.
Yup norton's good to soak. Naniwa's bad. Lol