old hone question

[DonOhio]

I got an good sized honing stone the other day for a couple bucks. The surface is kinda clogged with dust and old oil. Don't want to risk damaging the stone in any way. What's a safe way to clean it?

Also, the other side was used so much it has a smooth groove worn in it. I believe the term for having stone surfaces leveled out is "relapped" (?) Does it cost much?

thanks for any advice

 

[michiganlover]

I believe the term for having stone surfaces leveled out is "relapped" (?) Does it cost much?

The term is actually lapped. You lap a stone to make it flat.

You can lap it yourself quite easily with some medium to fine grit sandpaper, and a decent amount of elbow grease. You need to tape place the sandpaper onto a truly flat surface, otherwise you would be wasting your time. I have a piece of granite tile I got from my local lumber yard for about $2.

Draw some sort of pattern onto the stone with a pencil. Proceed to rub the stone in circular motions on the sandpaper. You will quickly see which parts of the stone are higher, and which parts are lower, as the highest parts of the stone will have the pattern removed, while the lower parts will still have the pattern.

Continue to sand, until all of the pattern is removed. The stone will at that point be flat.