Near Miss! About Killed my Shapton pro 5k

[duke762]

I was using a Washita to sharpen a pal's Benchmark, fixed blade. It's D2 steel was pushing back at me pretty well so I thought I'd try my Shapton Pro 5k. I removed all oil from the blade and was giving it the business on the water stone. Summertime, working in from of the fan, dried the stone out and needed some more water. I gave it 3 drops and rubbed it in a little with my finger. It looked a little funny but I took one pass with the knife I was working on. Oh Dang that was 3 drops of WD 40 I just put on my water stone not the spray bottle full of water I wanted. My adored Shapton 5k.....

I immediately wiped it off with an absorbent paper towel trying to dry it as much as possible and absorb as much as possible. Next I sprayed it with electrical contact clearer while wiping with paper towels.The stuff is almost like a dry cleaning solution. It will dissolve and float oil to the surface to be dabbed away with paper towels.

Next step was the Atoma 600 plate to lap away any horrors I had created. I haven't tried it since the incident, but it looked like I had 2 oily finger prints at one end of my hone.

Anyone else ever had a stupid attack like this? How'd It turn out for you?

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yup, years ago put a drop of Dawn dish soap on a 8k Norton, it foamed up and ate a divot in the hone, even though I rinsed it off immediately. The divot is still there, but now I only use the stone for tools and large knives.

Oil on a synthetic stone is not as big a deal, hot water will remove it, do not use soap or degreaser. Not sure about contact cleaner.

If you put the stone in a tub of hot water from the tap, (I keep a plastic shoe box in my shop sink) it will force the oil from the stone.

Using electrical cleaner probably did not remove all the oil, just drove it in further. To test if all the oil has been removed, soaking the stone in hot water will tell you. If you see a rainbow sheen, the stone is releasing oil. Keep soaking in warm/hot water until there is not sheen on the water.
You should be Ok.

 

[duke762]

Thank you H Brad! I needed some reassurances. I was panic stricken....I flippin' knew I'd do that someday....

 

[Gamma]

I have used dish soap on a Shapton Pro to clean it. It's not recommended as a regular thing to do all the time but for cleaning up once in a while it seems to be ok.
I had a similar accident with my 5k Pro, left a stain in the stone and the discoloration bugged me, Wasn't any real differences other wise. really, that I was aware of anyway. I lapped that 5k with mild soapy water, I use Dawn, until the stain was 'ghosted' and then lapped a bit more and eventually it was gone. It did take longer than I wanted it to though. Seemed like forever actually. That was years ago and I still have that 5k and it's fine.

 

[thp001]

Oh Dang that was 3 drops of WD 40 I just put on my water stone not the spray bottle full of water I wanted.

Luckily you can safely use oil on Shapton stones if you want.

 

[eKretz]

I think it depends on the exact hone and the binder used. I got oil on my Suehiro 5k and it got softened. Here's how that happened: I had the Suehiro sitting on the counter and had put some paper towel on top of it - I have a habit of doing that so that should I set anything else on top of a hone there's a little cushion. Got to using a Washita to hone something, then absentmindedly put the Washita on top of the Suehiro's paper towel. Oil ran down, soaked the paper towel a bit in one spot, which held the oil in contact with the top of the Suehiro. I noticed it pretty quickly, but not quickly enough. I did the dish soap lapping, got it to where it was a pretty small spot, but still soft there in that spot to this day. That place can easily be spotted immediately as it's a slightly darker spot in the surface of the white hone.