[Jasper Kade]

Hey guys,

I came across a small waterstone a little while ago, and I notice that it has an almost diesel kinda smell to it, and there are very obvious dark stains - like water-colour marks on both sides. Seems like at some point someone added some kind of oil to the stone not knowing the difference I guess..

So my question is: Whats the remedy for oil in a water stone? How can I extract the oil? I've thought of boiling the stone in water mixed with a detergent - but haven't actually tried that yet.. Anyone ever come across this problem before?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

[jimmyray]

I have found this close to impossible with some synthetic stones I use on knives. I've washed, rinse, rewashed, soaked, etc. and eventually, more oil makes it's way to the surface. Maybe if it's not soaked through you could lap the stone and grind away the oil stain? If not, lots of dish soap, a toothbrush, and lots of time?

[ronnie brown]

I PUT SOME OIL ON A WATER STONE BEFORE I KNEW BETER , I PUT IT IN A POT OF WATER AND BOLIED IT FOR ABOUT 1 HOUR AFTER IT COLLED I LAPED IT . IT SEEMED TO HELP IT HAD NO MORE OIL SMELL , AND THE LAPING DUST WAS DRY.

[Jasper Kade]

Thanks guys.
I figure logically, boiling with water and a grease-cutting detergent should work - I'll try that over the weekend, it's worth a try since I picked the stone up for about $2.00 at a garage sale

Thanks again.

[JimmyHAD]

Another alternative is to try covering it with kosher salt. Put a little alcohol in and let it sit. Works on getting tar out of old tobacco pipes. May work with stones. Kees had one with oil and tried it. He could tell you if it worked for him.

[thebigspendur]

If its a natural stone I wouldn't boil it. If there are any internal flaws or cracks in the stone the stone might self destruct. As far as the smell depending on how old the stone is when they cut these stones they use diamond cutters and as a coolent for the saw they often use a mix of diesel and oil. of course if its an old stone the smell should be long gone. usually when oil is used on a waterstone depending on how porous the stone is it might be next to impossible to get off. You might just try some degreaser and see what happens.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

I recently found oil on my green Escher, how it got there is still a mystery. I ended up letting it sit in salt and used hot soapy water the next day. It cleaned up fine. Of course it was a natural hone and not so porous so that probably made all the difference.

[Utopian]

Since most oils dissolve in alcohol, you could try soaking it in isopropanol (rubbing alcohol). It's cheap and readily accessible. I think Jimmy was already alluding to this but I'm not sure what the salt would do. Anyway, soak it for a day and some of the oil should have dissolved out. Dump out the alcohol and replace it with fresh stuff and soak it for another day.

[JimmyHAD]

The alcohol acts as a solvent and a vehicle for the oil to free up and the salt leeches it out and absorbs it.

[Russel Baldridge]

Oven cleaner is supposed to work as well.

The alcohol/salt sounds like the least harsh method, so maybe start there and try the others if it fails.

What does this waterstone look like? Natural or manmade?

[metalhead]

I used carburator starter fluid which took most of the oil out of my one stone then used hot water, grease cutting dishwashing liquid, annd a toothbrush and scrubbed it

[spazola]

I like the oven cleaner and carb starter ideas. I would probably try something like mineral spirits or naphtha first then move on to caustic cleaners like oven cleaner or TSP. If the stone is soft enough I would lap on coarse sandpaper till the damage is gone. Then go on to normal lapping.

I also lapped my Chinese 12k on coarse paper initially.

Here are some pics of a stone I bought recently, and cleaned up. I just knew I bought a big coticule but it ended up being some sort of sedimentary stone after I got the crud off. Still a good stone but......

Charlie

[Russel Baldridge]

Nice lookin stone!

Any guess on the grit level?

[spazola]

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

Any guess on the grit level?

It is not a polishing stone. I shaved off of it but would no do it again, my guess is somewhere between 4K and 8K.


Charlie

[thebigspendur]

From the pattern and layers it looks like sandstone. Could also be shale. But thats just by looks which means nothing.

[JohnP]

+1 on the oven cleaner idea. It has worked for me in the past.

John P.

[Howard]

I regularly restore vintage stones and I've tried a lot of methods. What works for me is Easy Off Fume Free. It's designed to clean cooked in grease from stoves. It's in a blue can and smells a lot less than the traditional Easy Off in the yellow can. It's cheaper at Lowe's than it is at WalMart. I put the stone in the sink, spray it so it's covered with EasyOff and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then I scrub it off with a plastic dishwashing brush. Repeat if necessary. There was a period of time many years ago when oil was recommended for belgian stones but it is no longer recommended.

I've cleaned a lot of really nasty stones with Easy Off.

[PonderingTurtle]

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

The alcohol acts as a solvent and a vehicle for the oil to free up and the salt leeches it out and absorbs it.

WHy would salt want to absorb oil? I can see salt atractiving water based liquids but I don't see why it would attract the oil.

I would say a good soak in alcohol is what I would try. Gasoline or Kerosene might work well too.

[Kees]

I soak Arkansas hones in a cooking pan filled with water and add some bicarbonate of soda and heat the water to just below boiling point. Works a treat.

Yesterday I received a natural coticule BBW combo that had been used with oil: I lapped it and gone was the oil as well. It was a vintage one and much smoother than my new kosher coticule from Ardennes coticule.