Madness or Genius? You decide.

[ErieSurfer]

I found a roaster like this one over the summer at a garage sale:

Instead of vegetables, I put stones and PJ in the individual pans, set the temperature to about 200F, and left them to soak for 5-7 hours. I did not add any kind of wax. I probably ran 20 stones through the process over the course of three days. The stones absorbed about 25 ounces of PJ.

There was no dripping PJ when they came out of the liquid PJ; the stones' surfaces were dry almost immediately. I was surprised by that. I expected more of a mess. The result was very satisfying. I put a drop of mineral oil on a room-temperature India and it took a couple of hours to be absorbed by the stone.

I only tested one natural stone, a queer creek. That stone is in the middle of the photo below. On the left is a de-oiled and cleaned queer creek for comparison. The two stones were previously identical in appearance. The stone on the right is washita that I've not been particularly fond of, mostly because it's a PITA for razor bevel setting. It's not dirty. That's just how it looks, orange/tan speckled with black.

I put 10 kitchen knives on the oiled QC and PITA washita about two weeks ago. The QC was plenty fast enough for the coarse work and the PITA finished the edges nicely! I am a happy camper.

I'll be oiling a hindostan in the springtime.

 

[Singing in the brain]

I think its a great idea! Im thinking what synth i have to try it on

 

[cotedupy]

I found a roaster like this one over the summer at a garage sale:

View attachment 1564368

Instead of vegetables, I put stones and PJ in the individual pans, set the temperature to about 200F, and left them to soak for 5-7 hours. I did not add any kind of wax. I probably ran 20 stones through the process over the course of three days. The stones absorbed about 25 ounces of PJ.

There was no dripping PJ when they came out of the liquid PJ; the stones' surfaces were dry almost immediately. I was surprised by that. I expected more of a mess. The result was very satisfying. I put a drop of mineral oil on a room-temperature India and it took a couple of hours to be absorbed by the stone.

I only tested one natural stone, a queer creek. That stone is in the middle of the photo below. On the left is a de-oiled and cleaned queer creek for comparison. The two stones were previously identical in appearance. The stone on the right is washita that I've not been particularly fond of, mostly because it's a PITA for razor bevel setting. It's not dirty. That's just how it looks, orange/tan speckled with black.

View attachment 1564369

I put 10 kitchen knives on the oiled QC and PITA washita about two weeks ago. The QC was plenty fast enough for the coarse work and the PITA finished the edges nicely! I am a happy camper.

I'll be oiling a hindostan in the springtime.

Interesting stuff Mr. Surfer, and I like your improv machinery for it! That’s quite a significant amount they absorbed too.

And now that I think about it - I can imagine a totally pj soaked QC might be a significant improvement on their natural state.

 

[Empire straights]

Interesting stuff Mr. Surfer, and I like your improv machinery for it! That’s quite a significant amount they absorbed too.

And now that I think about it - I can imagine a totally pj soaked QC might be a significant improvement on their natural state.

Probably slows down grit shedding if I had to guess.

 

[Singing in the brain]

I put one of those puck sized jars of vaseline on the stove and held a piece of bester 1000 in it and brushed the remaining part if the stone with the hot fluid until it and me had enough and tried honing a knife with camelia oil. Its intresting stuff.

 

[Singing in the brain]

In my opinion it kinda upped the results on the stone. Perhaps the oily stuff holds the slurry to the surface better and dont flush it off. It also lacks a bit in feeling from before. Maybe its means its less agressive now. What i got on the knife and edge is more like 2k, and pretty easy at that. Maybe its hood for razors now...cause alledgedly its not.

 

[Singing in the brain]

Yep its killer, just tried it on something else. Defo trying it on a razor.

 

[Rosseforp]

I think its a great idea! Im thinking what synth i have to try it on

I've got a Sharp Pebble 400/1k that water flows through like a sieve that might benefit from this. Interesting stuff here.

~doug~

 

[Singing in the brain]

I've got a Sharp Pebble 400/1k that water flows through like a sieve that might benefit from this. Interesting stuff here.

~doug~

Cut off a piece and soak it. Im tempted to do it to a piece of NP400 or some higher grit synth but i need some decent magnification for the bester-results first.

 

[Rosseforp]

Cut off a piece and soak it. Im tempted to do it to a piece of NP400 or some higher grit synth but i need some decent magnification for the bester-results first.

Why not the whole stone? I don't use it for anything much, just sits in the drawer with some other garbage stones I got at the asian market.

~doug~

 

[Singing in the brain]

I guess for the amount of jelly it would take, but thats it.

 

[Rosseforp]

I guess for the amount of jelly it would take, but thats it.

I'm sure there's plenty at the Dollar store

~doug~

 

[Singing in the brain]

I'm sure there's plenty at the Dollar store

~doug~

Go for it man!

 

[Singing in the brain]

Ok so because im a responsible adult with care for others, i tried setting the vaseline on fire with lighter and a torch and it didnt work. Quick check on the internet showed that it wont burn. It will however boil so be mindful of that. Everybody that has fried anything with moisture knows what it feel like. Perhaps the guy with a dedicated frier is on the right track.

 

[ErieSurfer]

Probably slows down grit shedding if I had to guess.

You are probably right about that, but I can't say for sure. You know I don't get on the stones nearly as often as many folks here. I had cleaned up the QCs and left them sit for another day until taking the one and filling it with PJ.

What I noticed the most when sharpening the knives was that there was no glazing and the swarf would come off the surface with a little extra oil and a cleaning rag, just like you would expect from a washita.

 

[ErieSurfer]

Ok so because im a responsible adult with care for others, i tried setting the vaseline on fire with lighter and a torch and it didnt work. Quick check on the internet showed that it wont burn. It will however boil so be mindful of that. Everybody that has fried anything with moisture knows what it feel like. Perhaps the guy with a dedicated frier is on the right track.

The roaster is made to work kind of like a double boiler:

Water went into the lower interior volume of the roaster and the water level was high enough to be in contact with the three smaller pans. I liked having sufficient heat applied to the oil and stones without risking hot spots. I really didn't want any of the stones to crack under an uneven heat source.

I was able to do the whole thing in the garage, which was good because my wife didn't want the smell in the house. I really can't blame her. The odor wasn't horrible, but it also wasn't pleasant.