# Waterstone Soaking?



## 12strings (Nov 15, 2011)

What is the reasoning and necessity of soaking waterstones?

I just got my very first waterstone (a dual-sided 1000/6000) and the instructions say to soak for 5 minutes, or just store it in water. (It is from Japan…I don't know if that makes it a "Japenese Waterstone" or not.)

I was always under the assumption that you could just spray some water on it and use it right away. What's the problem with this?


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## lumberjoe (Mar 30, 2012)

Dunk it in water and you will see why soaking is necessary.


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## MonteCristo (May 29, 2012)

These stones are like sponges in that they soak up a lot of water. You need to pre-soak them, especially the coarse ones, so that you can get water to remain on the surface and foam a slurry while you sharpen.

The really fine stones (say 4000x or higher) don't really need pre-soaking . . .


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## lumberjoe (Mar 30, 2012)

I find my 4000 still benefits from a soaking. When I am working with chisels and planes a lot, I just leave my stones in a tupperware container of water so I don't have to keep soaking them.


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

I only use a waterstone for final hone/polish, so I typically spray my waterstone (king) with a spray bottle so that the top is fully covered (sometimes spreading the water around as needed). Then I will do my other sharpening/back flattening on the more coarse stones (I use DMT's) and keep an eye out for any dry spots on the waterstone, and re-spray as needed. By the time I get to the waterstone it's generally ready to go with out having to submerge the whole thing. I only use the top, after all…


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## stonedlion (Jan 12, 2011)

I use a similar technique to Mos. I tried soaking my King 6000 grit for a few minutes, but found that was really not providing any benefit. I just use a spray bottle and re-apply as I go.


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## lumberjoe (Mar 30, 2012)

I spray my 8k. Soaking has no effect at all. If I try to spray my 250, 1k or 4k without soaking it first it is dry almost instantly.


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

I guess that's somewhere I don't have experience, a 6k stone is all I use, everything else is DMT's, which definitely don't benefit from a soaking lol


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

If you soak them thoroughly, they stay wetter during the
session and require less frequent spraying.

Sometimes instead of soaking them I use a wet sponge and
squeeze water onto them until it pools on the surface,
but leaving them to soak and coming back in 10 minutes
is the less effort really.


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## 12strings (Nov 15, 2011)

Thanks for the info…I suppose if I want to use the 1,000 grit without waiting, I'll have to just store it in water. (I'm impatient).


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## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

lower grits….yes, vause they are so porous
soaking higher grit stones will do anything and will afect their performance


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## rossboyle52 (Dec 31, 2012)

I use an old tupperware butter dish (upside down) about 1/4 full with water to store my water stone. I keep the cover on (base) when not in use to retain the bath of water. 
All my oil stones are in an oil bath as well. (wooden cases with an oil wick under the stone.)


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