Jnat, to soak or not to soak?

[Dave Sl8r]

I would think not, but I read this on a site that has a good many expensive stone listed.
From the site:
”Wetting the stone: theories on how long before use one should soak natural sharpening and honing stones vary greatly, even in Japan. There are professionals who speak of 2 weeks! Others advise at least 30 minutes, and yet others who say that simply wetting the surface of the stones works just fine. Our advice: soak a natural stone in a water bath for at least 30 minutes before use. If, once you have become familiar with the stone, you feel this is not enough, try soaking it for up to 24 hours or even longer. The right soaking time serves to stabilize the structure of the stone for consistent results. It is important to remember that these are natural stones, each one is different, and so each has a different need for water. Harder stones, for instance, need more time in the water than softer ones.”

I was thinking to start with the least amount of water possible, but what do I know. That’s why I’m here to learn.
What are your thoughts, and experience?

 

[147_Grain]

Mine are all sealed on the sides and bottom and treated as splash-and-go rather than soaked. I'm too paranoid about fissures to soak them.

 

[iamryan25]

I was thinking to start with the least amount of water possible.

This is a good thought.

I personally don't like the idea of leaving a jnat fully submerged for any length of time.

 

[Steve56]

They need to be wetted for a few minutes, including the tomo nagura if used. Harder jnats absorb some, but very little water. However, if they are absorbing water while you’re trying to make slurry, the nagura wants to stick to the hone, and if it tips it will scratch the hone. When both have been wetted for a few minutes, the nagura is less prone to stick.

You don’t have to soak the hone, just pool some water on top and wait a little bit, 3-30 minutes, keeping the surface wet. I put about 1/8” water in a saucer for the tomo and just put it in face down.

 

[rideon66]

This is probably not what you are talking about, but the only stones I really soak are the Mikawa Toishi like Botan. I usually give them about 5 minutes. They seem to work better that way. My regular Jnats I would do what Steve says above.

 

[stone and strop]

If they do not soak up any water then no.
Keep the surface wet for a few minutes or even longer on thirst hones will help.
Once they stop drinking up the water readily, you are good to go.

 

[Gamma]

Schmidt tools. I hate that they leave that on their website. It's b/s.
A blanket statement of 'soak a natural stone for 30 minutes is just irresponsible. I've seen some stones turn to usless gravy in less time.

Mostly, it depends on the stone. A super hard Oozuku might (I said MIGHT) benefit from a short soak, upside down in a tray with a few mm of water. Maybe. Depends. If you don't know for sure what do to, don't do it.
Drop the stone in a water bath? No - no... just no.

Aoto - not shale, it's a softer mudstone - no soaking unless you want to make mud pies.
Iyoto - igneous, not shale, some types can turn to complete and total mush in under 20 minutes.

Nagura - you can also turn them into mush, I do soak some natural - sometimes - but it's a controlled effort and I don't do it with every nagura, just certain harder pieces. They tend to absorb a lot of water and they can become dimensionally unstable due to uneven drying. In other words they can crack. I would never soak a nagura larger than, say - a golf ball.

Other types of stone, various Suita for example, might or might not be ok with being soaked for longer or shorter times but you would need to know the stone very very well or it's just an experiment and not every experiment turns out as planned. Sometimes, you know the stone and it goes south anyway because you only 'thought' you knew.

 

[Frank Shaves]

I have been doing more reading about JNATs while on vacation and it just dawned on me that perhaps I should not be rinsing my Nakayama Asagi under the faucet before and after using it.

This thread is about soaking. Is it a bad idea to rinse a JNAT under the faucet, and best to only drip/spray water on the surface and pat dry with a towel after use?

 

[Steve56]

I have been doing more reading about JNATs while on vacation and it just dawned on me that perhaps I should not be rinsing my Nakayama Asagi under the faucet before and after using it.

This thread is about soaking. Is it a bad idea to rinse a JNAT under the faucet, and best to only drip/spray water on the surface and pat dry with a towel after use?

Huh? I rinse all my hones, natural or synthetic before honing to remove any dust/grit and yes there will be some grit especially of you dry them with a towel after honing. They need to be clean and dust free, so rinse them off before use, you’re going to have water on them while honing anyway.

There are some folks in Japan that recommend not rinsing the slurry off because it becomes finer with use. This might be good advice for knife hones, but the risk of contamination by dust, etc that can be bad for a fine razor edge is too great. Rinse your razor jnats well before and after razor use. Knife stones, doesn’t really matter that much.

 

[relli1130]

short answer. NO

 

[MO1]

What Steve said.
I'm even careful to not touch the surface with my hands after rinsing them before use, as the chance of getting unwanted particles in the slurry and on the surface gets higher after you wipe your hands dry with towels ect.
Sometimes even that isn't enough if a dust stray particle finds it's way to your slurry then you can even feel it.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Thanks for the clarification, everyone.

 

[Slash McCoy]

No Jnat fanboy here, and certainly not an expert. I own one, and it is the only one I have ever owned. But, I am with @Steve56 . I rinse it good and lay it down and if the water goes away in 5 minutes, I wet it down good again, then make my slurry. It really doesn't seem to drink up much water so I figure it doesn't need much water. I haven't broke it out in a couple years but that's what I did when I was trying it out and that's what I will do if I ever break it out again.