Thread: Honing in Running Water

I seem to have a problem keeping my stone wet. Even soaking it overnight, I have to add water more frequently than I feel like I should. It occurs to me that keeping a trickle of water running on the stone while honing could keep it hydrated. Is this sound reasoning or would it create issues I haven't thought of?

Originally Posted by leadduck

I seem to have a problem keeping my stone wet. Even soaking it overnight, I have to add water more frequently than I feel like I should. It occurs to me that keeping a trickle of water running on the stone while honing could keep it hydrated. Is this sound reasoning or would it create issues I haven't thought of?

I have this issue with my Norton 4K -- it's just plain thirsty... every ten passes I have to put down the razor and shpritz the stone... again. Lengthy soaking doesn't help. So, I tried what you've suggested: hone on top of it's storage case, in sink, under faucet.

Pros: A slowly-dripping spigot works well, and keeps the surface wet.
Cons: A steady stream of water is not so good, 'cuz (AFAICT) it tends to come between the blade's edge and the stone... unless you correspondingly increase the pressure, which is self-defeating. Also, I live in fear of hitting the spigot with any part of the blade (OK, "fear" is a good motivator for staying aware, but I can do without it).

In the end, I "bite the bullet" and just keep shpritzing!

Do it all the time,pump is on a footswitch,washes away unwanted slurry (when I do not want slurry) and all the other crud,gets filtered at 40 microns and re-circed.

instead of a spray bottle, use a clear plastic squeeze bottel like the kind they use for mustard and mayo. Restraunt supply or Costco. I also put a squirt of dish soap in the water for lube. You can control the amount of water from a drop or two to thin or revive a drying slurry or wash it all off. Also works well to squirt the blade before wiping for inspection. I like to keep my hand and the razor dry during honing. Just the stone and blade are wet and water stays out of the pivot. I dry hand and razor with a micro fiber cloth.

What stone are you using?

Some are thirsty. With norton 1k I have t spray frequently. Norton 4k keeps water on top for me and so does the 8k.

Honing under a tap should work but I've never found it necessary.

Michael

Yeah I have the same problem with my King 1k...MAN is that thing thirsty!! I must say, that's a pretty ingenious contraption you got yourself there, pixelfixed!!

Thx.it works

I think you should rig together a few of those contraptions and sell them on this site...

Maybe soapy water works better?

Originally Posted by sheffieldlover

I think you should rig together a few of those contraptions and sell them on this site...

Sorry,never rig togeter contraptions,I make things that actually work.