Diamond stones

Guys at PP told me how to refresh my diamond stones.  It tried it and it worked great so I'm sharing.


Stones before cleaning.  Lots of gunk on them.

wet the stone apply the soft scrub and brush with a brass or stiff brush. Rinse and repeat then rinse well.  Didn't seem to make any difference to ceramic stone though.


After

I also picked up some new Swix stones which are the premium models.  Guys at PP told me that these have the diamonds in bedded all thru the tool vs coated on the surface like the DMT stones with the dots I had before.  These cost almost double the lower quality ones but they say they last pretty much forever.  As much as I use them it's worth it.  I'll let my son use the old ones particularly for travel tuning which with a teen carries a high risk of loss.

You must use your stones a lot Z. Here's another way.

Use the 50/50 alcohol-water mixture (used for wetting the diamond stones while sharpening) and the brass brush to scrub the stone when you're done sharpening. Do it every time. Quick and simple.

Sports Page sells an elixir they call "the juice" that comes in a mason jar for $19.99 soak your stones and files like combs at a barber. Works great!

Snowballs wrote

You must use your stones a lot Z. Here's another way.

Use the 50/50 alcohol-water mixture (used for wetting the diamond stones while sharpening) and the brass brush to scrub the stone when you're done sharpening. Do it every time. Quick and simple.

I use alcohol as a cleaner/cutting fluid as well. A brass brush to clean them and store them in soapy water. Mine last for years, I use them and my grand daughter uses them so we tune about 6 times (2 to 3 days, 2 to 3 pairs) per weekend. Some of my stones are 5 years old. The red ones last about 3 years before I replace them.

On ceramic stones, use a little base cleaner on them and then throw them in the dishwasher. They won't come out completely white again but they will be refreshed and will polish the edges again.

Note: I only buy the moon diamond stones anymore - they are the best IMO.

I keep a little spray bottle of water on the bench.  I'll try adding rubbing alcohol to it.  Thanks for the idea.

fiddy/fiddy ratio Z. Will clean your diamonds right up. Better for sharpening too. Dip finger in solution, place drops on stone and sharpen away.

Never heard of storing them in soapy water though. Perhaps PT can expound.

Coach Z wrote

I also picked up some new Swix stones which are the premium models.  Guys at PP told me that these have the diamonds in bedded all thru the tool vs coated on the surface like the DMT stones with the dots I had before.  These cost almost double the lower quality ones but they say they last pretty much forever.  As much as I use them it's worth it.  I'll let my son use the old ones particularly for travel tuning which with a teen carries a high risk of loss.

If those have stones all the way through, how do you dress them to keep them true and flat? If you can't flatten them, how do you get a true edge when you use it with a guide?

mm

Darkside Shaman wrote

Sports Page sells an elixir they call "the juice" that comes in a mason jar for $19.99 soak your stones and files like combs at a barber. Works great!

How much do you want to bet that the juice is just 50/50 isopropynol?

mm