Waterstone Storage?

I store mine in water so they are ready to go. As long as they don’t freeze, that’s the way to go.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I do that to rp. I just have a tupperware container with a lid. I try to keep the water around them evenly by standing them on edge. Not sure why exactly but I thought it made sense to keep them wet evenly and not rubbing each other.

-- Better to say nothing and be thought the fool... then to speak and erase all doubt.

I do the same as Chip.

-- Roger - Havertown, Pennsylvania

I keep mine in the store. I don’t own any.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

It’s settled then, storage in a sealed container covered in water is it, unless I don’t own them,
then they’ll stay at the store in their original packaging.

Thanks all!

-Ray

P.S. My apologies to the forum, just realized this was posted
in the design area. No clue how I missed that, but I did…

-- Still learning everything

I keep anything up to 1000 in water – the finer stones do not need to be soaked in water, you can just spray the surface before use.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Mine are all dry. Mostlly I don’t store them submerged as the 10 minutes or so to soak them before use is not a big deal for me. That way I can take them with me if needed. Artificial stones are fine to store submerged. It’s more of a preference.

I never store my natural stones submerged.

-- Joe, Oakland, CA

These are artificial stone. I never go anywhere with them, and it seems I am always sharpening something in the shop.

-- Still learning everything

If they’re soaked, they’re ready to roll…the reason I don’t store my 3000 and 6000 on water is because they’re mounted to a backing, which would fall off if left in water…(it’s happened before)...That said, I should correct what I said above…I store all my water stones that are not mounted to anything – in water, so they’re ready to roll. I want them at the ready. The finer stones that are mounted don’t really need to be soaked…

I’m working with all Japanese water stones. I like to keep them in a deep tupperware, just under the work bench, and I use them with a bench hook on the bench…Garrett Hack had a good idea for one

Also, if you haven’t done it already – keep materials to flatten the stones at the ready! For example, a granite surface plate and/or plate glass and wet-dry sandpaper. Those Norton flattening stones work well too…though you have to flatten them occasionally as well.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I don’t use mine that often so I store mine dry. I did store mine wet once and had problems with my 8000 stone. I pulled it after a couple of months in water and the outer surface had soften. It took a lot of work to sand it off and get it flat again. Also, unless you keep your water really clean, I don’t like to leave my stones stoking in all of that mess. As Joe said you only need a 10 minute soak to use them. I just put them in water as soon as enter my shop.

-- http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/