Thread: Three old hones, and three old questions.

Originally Posted by regularjoe

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 Ok..3 questions: Is lapping on 600 grit a good idea in order to bring the big one back to flat, and the little red one back to smooth? Would using a Norton lapping stone be a better idea? Is this yellow one made out of real stone?

Somehow we got all wrapped up on cleaning the stones, which I wasn't super concerned about. I want to know the best way to make them useable again. Thanks for everyone's tips on cleaning them but I'm more concerned about the questions I posted. Thanks again to all!

In my humble opinion Joe, you need to clean them as best as you can first; now I'm sure you know this. The reason you got so many cleaning tips.
I use a DMT 325 on most all my stones to bring them back to life.
The yellow has some serious "digs" on the edges; I would go rougher that 600 to smooth it . Depending on it's size I might have it re-cut.

Thanks Theseus! I ended up finding all the info on this forum with the search engine, but it's great to have someone confirm it all. I did use the Norton for the little red one, but I don't think I used it long enough to completely ruin it. I think I probably just created more work for myself. The hones are starting to look alot better though, and within a few weeks I hope to have a good enough handle on using the Nortons to try one out. As far as finding out what they are, I guess it doesn't matter. They are hones, and I'm hoping they'll work for my purposes. God knows I'll never see a Shapton. haha. Thanks again!

Originally Posted by rodb

Another thing to try is, go to the good-will and buy a cheap pan, fill it 1/2 with water and put in some Dawn dish soap, boil the stone for an hour or so, you'll be surprised how much junk will boil out.

Speaking of pans...
If you trip on a $5 black iron pan... you can put common sand in
the pan and worry the rock to be flatter. If it is real bad sidewalk
can make a big lap if you find some that is nice and flat.

EDIT:
For many uses flat is not an advantage.
Growing up my favorite pocket knife hone
was the swayback oil stone at Berrys hardware.
The wood base was fixed to the counter and
all the customers would run their pocket knife on
it. Old man Berry would oil it once a week or so.
By all water stone measures this was an ugly
and wrong way to care for a hone yet it would
put a good old edge on any pocket knife with
only a swipe or two. The deep sway back
gave a natural bevel angle to a whittler.

When you discover what the grit is you
will know what to do.

Hindostan hones can have layering like that. Once you've lapped the surface you're ready to go.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Speaking of pans...
If you trip on a $5 black iron pan... you can put common sand in
the pan and worry the rock to be flatter. If it is real bad sidewalk
can make a big lap if you find some that is nice and flat.

Ok, that's a good idea??

Originally Posted by Hirlau

In my humble opinion Joe, you need to clean them as best as you can first; now I'm sure you know this. The reason you got so many cleaning tips.
I use a DMT 325 on most all my stones to bring them back to life.
The yellow has some serious "digs" on the edges; I would go rougher that 600 to smooth it . Depending on it's size I might have it re-cut.

Yeah, it looks like there was only one exception to the "clean it first" approach. Niftyshaving, I was thinking that way too. Why go through all the trouble of removing the oil, just to re-apply it later. Since I had three stones, I've just been running each one through a different routine. The biggest, which I think is an Arkansas,got brake cleanered, got boiled, and will get easy offed today. The little red one got washed with soap and water, Norton lapped, in standing water, then sanded with 220, then 1500 grit. The one I'm claiming/hoping is a hindostan got 220 dry, then 1500 dry. I'll post back with a pic when I'm satisfied with what I've got, and you guys can tell me if they look ready to use. Thanks so much to everyone!!! I'm not sure the standing water approach was a good idea, but it kept the lapping stone from loading, which was really a big issue. Of course, now I know I shouldn't have used it at all, but the damage is done. It's just one more thing I need to lap now. haha Niftyshaving: I'll hold off on lapping the "might be an arkansas", until we figure out just what it is. I'm going to clean it though, so it's easier to ID. If it's a knife stone, then I'll probably leave it alone. I agree that a little contour on a knife sharpening stone seems to make it easier, and work better for that purpose.

I would clean, I've found a few natural stones that probably laid in the bottom of tool boxes for 50 years and the user possibly used old motor oil as a honing fluid!! Repeated Easy-Off and boilings and 80 grit lapping finally got them looking good. Old tool box residue and unknown honing fluid could be acidic and bad for razors, personally I would want to start as close to clean as possible with the stones/hones (even if the stones turns out to be only good on knives).

Ok ok..You've all convinced me. I also realized that by running three different stones through three different treatments, there was potential that I would find three ways to ruin a stone, and no ways to make it useable. Since everyone who posted has more experience than me, and oven cleaner, boiling, and lapping were major suggestions from almost every poster, they will all get the treatment. Thanks everyone! It's tough reminding myself not to try to re-invent the wheel. Thanks for everyone's guidance