Refurbishing Old Oil Stones

[Rasch Chronicles]

Fellows, I got to thinking...

With things being as expensive as they are, any place to save a couple of dollars is a good one. I have a stack of oil stones that I have inherited over time. Mnay were given to me, or I received in a lot of tools, or bought at yardsales. Of course more than a few are completely glazed or worn down to where they are useless.

I've boiled them in water with TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) and have seen good results. The boiling and the tsp seems to remove all the dried up oil and metal particles.

As to the flattening... oil stones aren't very easy to flatten it seems to me. Do you all have a technique or system for doing so?

Best regards,
Albert “Afghanus” Rasch
Mama Domicenti’s Kitchen: Albert Tries Market Hunting

[dbr]

Iuse emery and a flat 1/2 ' steel plate.  Lot are not as hard as you would think.  Little hand lapping will flaten them out.  I have reground broken ends square on an old grinder.  Dont ask the grit...  it dosent need to be too agresive I just use whats laying around.....Just give it a try. You will be happy with the easy results.  I have saved several really nice stones in ths manner.
Yer not yapping up a coonless tree .  The really hard stones do require a little more work.  I have never tried an artificial or ceramic.  Probably would work just as well.

[James]

One of the modern carborundum or other man-made stones can be used to true up the surface, Can also take the place of the boiling. Takes the top layer off.

[flehto]

When I was a tool and die maker all the stones were kept in a large coffee can submersed in mineral spirits and were always "clean" when ready for use. The mineral spirits {paint thinner is cheaper} are also used when wet stoning....Fred

[Glenn]

As to the flattening... oil stones aren't very easy to flatten it seems to me. Do you all have a technique or system for doing so?

Best regards,
Albert “Afghanus” Rasch
Mama Domicenti’s Kitchen: Albert Tries Market Hunting

I got to thinking about it after reading this.  I wonder if you could try using a tile saw to flatten them?  The way I see it, you could somehow fab up a vice or clamp contraption to hold the stone steady then pass the tile saw blade over the top of the stone, taking very thin passes until you had a new shaved flat surface ... might be worth a try ...

[Habu]

Being the naturally-cheap sort, most of my stones are old ones picked up at farm sales, auctions, etc.  And being equally lazy, I don't put a lot of work into cleaning them up and getting them ready for use.

Initial cleaning of old grunged-up stones is done with cheap lye-based oven cleaner.  Put the stone in a ziplock bag, spray both sides with over cleaner, spray in some extra and seal the bag.  The next day, take it out, rinse, and either move on to the next step or repeat the oven-cleaner process if the stone is still dirty. 

I do rough flattening by using my foot to apply pressure while sliding the stone back and forth across a concrete floor or sidewalk.  This is a great job for kids (my youngest brother became an expert).  Once it is basically flat I finish up with coarse emery cloth or loose emery on a plate (or the side of a cinder block). 

Jim

[heinz]

You can buy carborundum paper designed for this job.  Woodcrafters among others have it.  You put the paper on a flat base that is slightly wetted and grind away.  When I was  kid in a sheet metal shop they had some toothed wheels that would remove the surface for a first quick pass but I have not seen one of those in 40 years.  

If you use the carborundum paper every use or so you can keep the stone nice.  Lie Nielsen has a good video of the process on their website.

[Macon Due]

Habu
Has mentioned one of the best ways to flatten a stone .I was given one by a good friend that his Dad used for over 40 years. The Dad was a 'scrubber' [sharpened knives by going around in circles near the middle of the stone] and had it worn down badly in the center half and tilted badly.It took a while on the sidewalk but the stone is now flat and straight. [and prob. 50+ years old]
Macon

[okieboy]

 Al, since you have a pile of them, you can use them to flatten each other. Pick ones of similar grit and size and rub together. If you are wanting to get particularly flat surfaces, take three stones,A, B, &C. Flatten A to B, then B to C, then A to C. A & C will be very flat.
 I seldom use oilstones any more, I use diamond for prepping an edge, rough, but fast; then ceramic for sharpening, slow, but flat for life and very smooth and cleans with soap and water. I do a final polish sometimes on leather attached to wood with a very fine dry polish compound. However much work it takes to sharpen a chisel or gouge or knife, once it is properly sharpened it is easy to keep it sharp (assumes a good hard tool) and I keep a small two sided ceramic stone (Ffne and very fine) on the bench and touch up the edge as I work. Thats a habit that pays off over time.

[Lucky R A]

    You guys sure go to a lot of work to hake an easy job hard.  Just put one one of your worn sanding belts on your disc/belt sander fire it up and flatten the stone with the sander.  When you get the stone all flattened and cleaned throw it away.  I rarely use a stone any more since I started sharpening my chisels with various grades or wet/dry sand paper or the 3-M Micro film papers designed for this task.  Cut a piece of paper about 3" X 6" and place it on a piece of plate glass or heavy acrylic.  I tape it down on both ends if I am going to be doing any heavy grinding, but for touch up of chisels I just hold it in place as I sharpen.  You have a wide choice of grits right down to about 4000,  You never have to worry about flattening or cleaning.  when a piece of paper wears out, you just relace it.  You can make all kinds of special shapes for gouges or for any sharpening job at hand.   Ron

[smart dog]

Hi Albert,
Over the years I've probably used most of the methods described in the other posts.  They all work , although the best for me was a worn belt on my 8" edge sander.   However, hard Arkansas stones are more difficult to flatten.  I had moderate success with my sander.  Recently, I've converted mostly to ceramic stones for the fine polish and my sander or sandpaper (as Ron explained) for the coarser shaping and sharpening.  I like the ceramic stones because you lubricate them with water and detergent, which is a lot less messy than oil.  They also clean up very well with soapy water.  BYT, I've successfully and easily cleaned Arkansas stones using aluminum oxide powder and oil.

Keep safe Albert,

dave

[dannylj]

One of local harware/gunstores always has a bunch of sales bins full of useful (cheap) gadgets. I have picked up a set of 3 diamond coated sharpening steels set in a plastic base for less than $10. They are fine, medium, and coarse and about 2 1/2 by 8 inches. Lay the coarse one down and rub the stones across until flattened. They work great.  Danny

[Rasch Chronicles]

Lots of great tips! I really like the oven cleaner idea, I had not thought of that.

I sharpen my chisels and plane irons with a diamond plate and then the "Scary Sharp" also known as, sandpaper on a glass plate technique. But I do have a stack of inhereted stones, and I just don't like them sitting there all dirty, cockeyed and crooked. I have to be honest, I didn't realize you could grind them down with emery paper or a worn down belt. That will give me something else to do when I get home. Come to think of it I have several CMUs (cinderblocks) in the shop/garage too. Ron great tip on making special shapes for gouges and convex or concave blades.

Thank you all for your helpful comments!

Best regards,
Albert “Afghanus” Rasch
Mama Domicenti’s Kitchen: Albert Tries Market Hunting

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I also have a collection of old stones all bellied out and with grooves in them. The other day I was about to buy a special stone to smooth them out and the gent that does the sharpening class at Woodcraft told me to just use about a 150 grit paper set on a flat surface and work the stone till it looks new. Gradually I'm planning to get new diamond stones with the full surface grit to replace them all.

[Kermit]

I still have stones, oil and water--some belonged to my grandfathers. I keep them for sentimental reasons, but they seldom see the light of day. I mostly use the sandpaper methods, attached to a granite slab with 3-M spray googe. You can get paper (actually cloth) to 12,000 grit at least. How fine a polish do you need? I sometimes go to 8000 for some chisels and carving tools, but most chisels and plane irons  stop at about 4000. Throw the stones in a box under your bench.

[Rasch Chronicles]

Hi Fellows!

If any of you have read my blog, particularly the Pirogue series, you know that a lot of kids drop by the Wonder Works/garage to see what Mad Mr Albert is up to this week. (Just wait, he's bound to blow something up...) Some of those stones will do well as teaching aids. 

Thanks again fellows!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
We Build a Pirogue!

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

I still have stones, oil and water--some belonged to my grandfathers. I keep them for sentimental reasons, but they seldom see the light of day. I mostly use the sandpaper methods, attached to a granite slab with 3-M spray googe. You can get paper (actually cloth) to 12,000 grit at least. How fine a polish do you need? I sometimes go to 8000 for some chisels and carving tools, but most chisels and plane irons  stop at about 4000. Throw the stones in a box under your bench.

Yep, Went to a sharpening class at WoodCraft and then went to the granite counter top place and got some scraps..... the sandpaper with spry adhesive on the granite works awesome..... when the sandpaper wears out throw it away and replace it.  So I pretty much stopped messing with stones.

[Kermit]

Exactly right, Tim. Some places try to separate you from a wad of cash for a special super flat hunk of rock for such uses. Many stone counter places have remnants that are free. I pulled two granite tiles a foot square out of a rubble bin. They both have bullnose edges that work very well as hooks to hold on too the front of the bench. They're as flat as the tables on my saws.

[Rasch Chronicles]

Doc,

Great idea on the bullnose!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
I Would Rather Hunt, Than be Hunted!
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

[FL-Flintlock]

Y’all go through a lot of trouble.  I sell abrasives, primarily the coated types but I still prefer stones.  If needed, run ‘em through the cleaning machine then it only takes a couple minutes to resurface one with a diamond wheel on the radial arm saw.  Keep the oil off them and with a little care they’ll last a lifetime and then some.  No messing with gluing paper or anything else, just pull the desired stone out of the can and have at it.  I did go to using bearing ceramic for the final hone, works great and it’s fast.
Mark