Cleaning Sharpening stones

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Echo63
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#21

Post by Echo63 »

JD Spydo wrote:
Echo63 wrote:i clean my sharp maker stones with a scotchbrite pad and a common aussie cleanser known as "JIF"
diamond stones get scrubbed with dishwashing liquid and a scrubbing brush
edge pro stones just get flattened - but i haven't clogged one yet either.
Interesting!!! I always like to experiment with new stuff for cleaning. I'm wondering if this "JIF" product you speak of is available here in the USA?

I've yet to find any cleaner that surpasses "Bar Keeper's Friend" powdered cleanser for my Spyderco ceramic sharpening stones. But I'm always willing to check out new products. IF the stones are really clogged up I'll sometimes use either Comet or Ajax to get the worst of the filings and then finish it with the BKF.

I've heard of serious woodworkers using a solution to soak stones overnight before attempting to clean them. The heavy duty Scotch Brite pads seem to be the best cleaning tool you can get for getting stones as clean as they came from the factory IMO>
https://www.unilever.com.au/brands/our-brands/jif.html
Lemon Fresh Cream - is the one i use.

not sure if its the best thing for the job, but it seems to work for me.
I don't let my stones get too loaded up though, but it has always got them back to "factory fresh" condition, except for the corner of one of my profiles, which has a bit of Aluminium stuck to it.
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Water Bug
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#22

Post by Water Bug »

Great information on cleaning sharpneing stones!

Thanks for sharing!
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JD Spydo
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#23

Post by JD Spydo »

Again I keep wondering if there might be something good to soak stones in overnight that would make cleaning easier and more thorough. Not trying to be redundant but that's the only complaint I have with Spyderco's high alumina ceramic stones. The uniform bite and abrading pattern is always consistent and for the modest price of the stones they are hard to beat in that price range.

I was hoping that Cliff Stamp would chime in on this one because he has worked with an extremely wide variety of different sharpening stones and I'm curious as to what he uses mostly.

So far "Bar Keeper's Friend" chemical based cleanser you find at the grocery and hardware stores has given me the best results up to now. But I'm always looking for a better and even cheaper way. But I'm sure all of you agree that none of us want to use anything that would harm or alter the abrading effects of the stones.
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Bloke
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#24

Post by Bloke »

Jif and a scotchbrite work exceptionally well. Jif is nothing special, it's simply a mild abrasive most likely pumice in a creamy soapy solution. I clean all my Spyder Stones thus after every use. It's nice to start with a clean stone and it only takes a minute. Then I wipe them down with a cloth and let them dry in the dish rack. I also make a point of telling beloved wife how much I like my Spyder Stones and how much I like her and how upset I'd be if anything ever happened to either one of them. She's a lovely lady but sometimes askes silly questions like, "Alex, how long do these things have to stay in the dish rack?" Everyone knows they only stay there till they're dry! :rolleyes:
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#25

Post by JD Spydo »

Bloke wrote:Jif and a scotchbrite work exceptionally well. Jif is nothing special, it's simply a mild abrasive most likely pumice in a creamy soapy solution. I clean all my Spyder Stones thus after every use. It's nice to start with a clean stone and it only takes a minute. Then I wipe them down with a cloth and let them dry in the dish rack. I also make a point of telling beloved wife how much I like my Spyder Stones and how much I like her and how upset I'd be if anything ever happened to either one of them. She's a lovely lady but sometimes askes silly questions like, "Alex, how long do these things have to stay in the dish rack?" Everyone knows they only stay there till they're dry! :rolleyes:
This is interesting your suggestion that is>> because I tried all three of the Clorox "soft scrub" products and I was a bit unsatisfied with the results I got from that liquid cleanser. Now Bar Keeper's Friend has a new liquid cleanser and it worked very nicely on the fine and ultra fine stones but no so well on the brown/gray medium Spyderco stones :confused: >> the Bar Keeper's Friend powdered cleanser so far is my top pick>> but again if I can find something even better I'm always wanting to experiment with different products.

Now one item that has helped recently>> I got some very coarse, very abrasive Scotch Brite pads at one of the local Paint stores ( Sherwin Williams) and those pads worked better than the ones I got from the grocery store. I'm also currently experimenting with the Mr. Clean erasers and I've had mixed results from them. Maybe I'm not using them correctly??? :confused:

Now last night a friend of mine suggested an ammonia rich mixture to do an overnight soaking with>> I'll keep all of you informed when I try that out. Please keep the thread open because I know in my gut that there must be other ways and better ways to clean these stones>> and other sharpening stones too for that matter.
OldHoosier62
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#26

Post by OldHoosier62 »

How about Naval Jelly? Basically phosphoric acid in suspension, same ingredient that makes BKF work so well. I have used it with great results on various ferrous metal cleaning projects. (and its cheap and readily available...Walmart, Menards, True Value, etc.....)
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#27

Post by JD Spydo »

OldHoosier62 wrote:How about Naval Jelly? Basically phosphoric acid in suspension, same ingredient that makes BKF work so well. I have used it with great results on various ferrous metal cleaning projects. (and its cheap and readily available...Walmart, Menards, True Value, etc.....)
That's an interesting suggestion "old hoosier" because a few years ago when I was doing a lot of commercial painting we used it for prep of rusty metal surfaces and it seemed to work pretty good overall. Being it comes in a jelly form I'm wondering if it wouldn't be good for overnight soaking as well?

I may give that a try. The only thing that worries me is the fact that it's "acid based" and I'm wondering what effect ( if any) it might have on the stones>> I'm worried that the acid in a high strength might change or alter the abrasive properties of the stone? Hopefully I'm worried over nothing but it is something to check out just to be on the safe side because personally I've got a lot of money invested in my stones.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#28

Post by OldHoosier62 »

JD Spydo wrote:
OldHoosier62 wrote:How about Naval Jelly? Basically phosphoric acid in suspension, same ingredient that makes BKF work so well. I have used it with great results on various ferrous metal cleaning projects. (and its cheap and readily available...Walmart, Menards, True Value, etc.....)
That's an interesting suggestion "old hoosier" because a few years ago when I was doing a lot of commercial painting we used it for prep of rusty metal surfaces and it seemed to work pretty good overall. Being it comes in a jelly form I'm wondering if it wouldn't be good for overnight soaking as well?

I may give that a try. The only thing that worries me is the fact that it's "acid based" and I'm wondering what effect ( if any) it might have on the stones>> I'm worried that the acid in a high strength might change or alter the abrasive properties of the stone? Hopefully I'm worried over nothing but it is something to check out just to be on the safe side because personally I've got a lot of money invested in my stones.
Given the weak solution and past experience using it, I would place a comfortable wager on the alumina ceramic on Spyderco abrasives to be quite safe in the Naval Jelly.....but I understand the apprehension as I have lots of cash tied up in my collection of stones also..(way too much, most would say). I will go out to my shop and drop part of a broken 701 stone in a dish with some Naval Jelly and we can find out for certain. Should have a solid answer by tomorrow morning.

ETA- put the piece in some NJ...I'll check it tomorrow morning and look for damage.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#29

Post by JD Spydo »

Hey Old Hoosier there might be a positive side to this dilemma of using chemicals on stones without knowing it's ultimate effect on them. On the flip side of the coin I have 2 extra of the medium/gray Spyderco 302 benchstones that I acquired in trades over the years. I truly would like to use a caustic and/or highly acidic chemical on one of them to hopefully increase the abrasive properties to maybe increase it's performance overall.

I took some wore out diamond stones and scored up a set of medium 204 Sharpmaker stones and they ended up being great for really dinged up blades. Don't mean to veer away from the subject of the thread but there could be a useful side to the use of harsh chemicals on older stones or stones you don't normally have much use for. Just a thought.

On another note I was talking to an old buddy on mine last night and told him about this thread and he said that soaking stones in white vinegar might have a good cleaning effect for most stones. It makes sense because white and apple cider vinegar both are great cleaning and etching solutions for a wide range of jobs. Just a little FYI to think about.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#30

Post by OldHoosier62 »

JD, just went out and checked the 701...no damage and the embedded metal streaking has been greatly reduced. I rinsed it, did a thorough check under a bright light then put it back in the NJ to soak again. I will check it again this evening. Looks promising so far.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#31

Post by JD Spydo »

OldHoosier62 wrote:JD, just went out and checked the 701...no damage and the embedded metal streaking has been greatly reduced. I rinsed it, did a thorough check under a bright light then put it back in the NJ to soak again. I will check it again this evening. Looks promising so far.
That's really good news>> that might also be a good answer for an overnight soaking solution too. Well at least we know it's safe for ceramic stones and I very much doubt that it would hurt natural stones either but I would probably be careful just to be on the safe side.

I'm going to try out the vinegar option that my friend talked about today if I get time. I think there might be some promise there because we've used it for all kinds of cleaning jobs and I've even used it for oven cleaning with some success.

Yeah keep us posted.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#32

Post by OldHoosier62 »

Just pulled the 701 out and checked it....no problems. Still has a very slight shadow of sharpening residue but it is fine is all respects. I would call it safe and effective.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#33

Post by JD Spydo »

OldHoosier62 wrote:Just pulled the 701 out and checked it....no problems. Still has a very slight shadow of sharpening residue but it is fine is all respects. I would call it safe and effective.
That's cool now we know that Spyderco's ceramic is resistant to certain acids. But if it's resistant to the acid that's in Naval Jelly and Bar Keeper's Friend then I would almost have to conclude that it would probably be resistant to many other acids as well. I'm not a chemist but common horse sense would tell me as much.

Also I'm convinced that's why Bar Keeper's Friend works so well as it does. Because the basic chlorine type cleansers like Comet and Ajax never worked for me nearly as good as BKF does. It would seem to me that it's more of a chemical action that is efficient to clean Spyderco's ceramic stones rather than simple abrasive compounds. Albeit there might actually be some type of abrasive that might work just as well but I haven't stumbled on to it yet.

Also do make note that I've also had a couple of brands of oven cleaner that seemed to help as well.
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Bloke
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#34

Post by Bloke »

Just a little update, I cleaned my new SM rods and instead of using Jif as I usually do I used the dishwashing liquid from the cupboard and a piece of brown abrasive scourer I got from the diesel fitters at work. I think panel beaters use them too. Anyhow, it worked a treat, probably the best so far. :)
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#35

Post by JD Spydo »

Bloke wrote:Just a little update, I cleaned my new SM rods and instead of using Jif as I usually do I used the dishwashing liquid from the cupboard and a piece of brown abrasive scourer I got from the diesel fitters at work. I think panel beaters use them too. Anyhow, it worked a treat, probably the best so far. :)
That's really interesting "Bloke">> this "brown abrasive scourer" you made reference to? Is it similar to an abrasive grade of SCOTCHBRITE? Where could any of us order such an item. Could you get us the name and manufacturer of it? Again I'm always wanting to try out anything new because I clean my Spyderco ceramic sharpening stones quite often and anything that could save time or work would be highly appreciated.

Also if any of you could tell me of anything that works better than the "Bar Keeper's Friend" cleanser does I also want to know about that as well?

Anyone else have anything to say about the Mr. Clean erasers?
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Bloke
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#36

Post by Bloke »

JD Spydo wrote:
Bloke wrote:Just a little update, I cleaned my new SM rods and instead of using Jif as I usually do I used the dishwashing liquid from the cupboard and a piece of brown abrasive scourer I got from the diesel fitters at work. I think panel beaters use them too. Anyhow, it worked a treat, probably the best so far. :)
That's really interesting "Bloke">> this "brown abrasive scourer" you made reference to? Is it similar to an abrasive grade of SCOTCHBRITE? Where could any of us order such an item. Could you get us the name and manufacturer of it? Again I'm always wanting to try out anything new because I clean my Spyderco ceramic sharpening stones quite often and anything that could save time or work would be highly appreciated.

Also if any of you could tell me of anything that works better than the "Bar Keeper's Friend" cleanser does I also want to know about that as well?

Anyone else have anything to say about the Mr. Clean erasers?
G’day JD,
I just left the Diesel Fitters who give them to me and I grabbed a couple of spares while I was at it! They are indeed a Scotch-Brite, Heavy Duty Hand Pad 7440, made by 3M, ironically in the USA! They come in a 6”x9” pad.
The 7440 designates the abrasive grade and is as coarse as they make. I've used finer and they work exactly the same. I clean all Spyderco ceramics after every use and sometimes during. I have a set of Spyderco fine ceramic files I bought over ten years ago and after plenty of use they are still as white as the driven snow! Ah, hahaha!
I think clogging of these super fine ceramics is like copper fouling in a barrel, in that it’s easy to remove a little after each session, but it becomes a nightmare if it’s allowed to build up.
Anyhow, have a look, and if you have any problems at all, please PM me and I’ll gladly send you a few! :)
Last edited by Bloke on Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Cleaning Sharpening stones

#37

Post by JAfromMN »

I use comet powder cleaner
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