Diamond stone clean-up?
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I recently picked up 3 Eze-Lap stones and glued them down in a holder like the one Paul uses. I typically use whetstones and I was wondering what you guys who use the diamond stones, holder and glass cleaner do to clean up the stones when they get a bunch of steel on them since you aren’t using water on them.
Any info is appreciated. Thanks.
I use a large microfiber cloth to wipe the slurry off the tops of the stones. This is sort of the quick and dirty approach I suppose. Whatever slurry floats around and under the stones I just leave to dry on its own. I use lavender soap and water (helps me to relax as I sharpen 🙂 ). Also, I don’t glue my stones down. I leave the rubber feet on them and just sit them in their recesses. I did this because I take the stones out and place them on a pedestal when sharpening kitchen knives, and I also believe this lets air circulate under the stones and lets the water evaporate from out of there. So far so good 🙂 I don’t feel like I’m damaging my stones doing this. Once in a while I clean them with a stiff nylon brush and some Bon’ami powdered cleaner.
Also, my first set was Eze-Lap’s and then I switched to DMT’s. My impression is that the DMT’s are less prone to surface corrosion. I think they are more thoroughly nickel-plated, but who knows.
17 April 2014 at 9:44 am #56209I have mine in a holder, not glued down so I can remove them to sharpen difficult tools like my axe. To give them a good clean, I run them under warm water, add a little washing up liquid, then brush them with a suede brush. I use Simple Green when sharpening, wiping the excess off when I’m done, then will sometimes give them a once over with the brush to remove debris.
George.
17 April 2014 at 1:00 pm #56210Yes, Jay you a right it’s build up quickly,but that not a problem,I just spray it and leave it alone till they dry. I didn’t mount my plate as well, I have rubber stone holder, I don’t have a feeling I have to permanently mount them.
Thanks for the responses, guys. I have a couple DMT’s that I have had for a long time I use for other stuff. I have always just used them with water and rinsed them off. I know they do just rinse off easily and I guess I was just curious about this now that I have mine glued down in a holder, and am using the glass cleaner/simple green.
Basically, the black grit from the steel just builds up. Thank you for the suggestions, I may try the eraser… in fact, I have a little eraser thing that is meant for cleaning off ceramic stones, like Shaptons. I may try that as well, but I think it may be a bit too soft and might get torn up by the diamonds pretty quickly.
23 April 2014 at 11:30 pm #56381Good post, I just got mine mounted and have used them for about 5 minutes and used glass cleaner as Paul suggested.
So rinsing under water like water stones doesn’t hurt the diamond plates ????
Steve
24 April 2014 at 2:43 am #56384I have several DMT stones, all on their rubber feet, not mounted in a base, so as I can position them on the table according to the task and angle I want. Sometimes I go lengthwise, sometimes sideways etc. I work on a rubber mat on the table.
For cleaning, Paul’s glass cleaner idea is excellent and I’ve adopted it. On the bench, I clean the stone slurry with a microfiber cloth, damped with water. I use it to clean the blade being sharpened too.
After sharpening, I usually clean the stones by washing them under water, with soap and a sponge, then drying with a towel. Never had any rust problem whatsoever. The stones are like new, after some 3 years of use. If they get contaminated with oil/grease from a blade, I clean with alcohol or benzine
Regards,
RicardoI find that minute iron particles come off very well with water and a kitchen scouring powder (the sort of stuff that ruins fine surfaces in the kitchen) – in the UK it’s marketed as ‘Vim’ or ‘Ajax’.
If you use water based lubricants without wiping the plates dry, you may find obstinate rust patches and occasionally if you use the plate to flatten really grotty blade backs with patches of ancient rust, you’ll end up with a sort of ingrained gunge on the plate; this responds to a vigorous rub with one of those rubber blocks that are sold for cleaning sander-belts, then use the scourer powder.
Hope that this helps.
Excellent ideas all. I use DMT stones with a 10% by volume solution of Simple Green diluted with water. I also keep an old toothbrush at the bench. When I am done sharpening i just stir up the wet surface of the stone with the toothbrush and use a paper towel to wipe it off. I am not seeing any buildup of residue, although it may be wise to run the stones under tap water every now and then to remove any residual Simple Green. I have tried polymer erasers but found them a bit messy.
3 June 2014 at 10:09 am #57824the best way to clean your diamond stones is to invest in either a dmt cleaning kit it retails about £29 from axminster tools in the uk or use a simple rubber and go over the surface of your plates hope this helps
http://www.axminster.co.uk/dmt-diamond-whetstone-care-kit
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