Washita Thread. Show off, discuss, etc.

[SliceOfLife]

As the Simple green? No.

WD40 is penetrating grease. Simple Green is degreaser.

 

[Legion]

Can wd 40 do the same

.....No....

Adding more oil will not remove oil.

 

[Legion]

Here.

Degreasing Old Hones the Easy Way-Simple Green

I've read, literally, hundreds of posts over the last year on degreasing old hones. I tried some, such as oven cleaner, which really worked but meant mucking about with nasty chemicals and having to do it outside and avoided others, like using the dishwasher, which seemed too risky both to the...

www.badgerandblade.com

Simple green. simply amazing!

Every time I use this product it surprises me how easy it cleans up the nastiest stones. I picked up this stone last week, it was oozing oil reminiscent of the Exxon Valdez, a two day soak in the wonder juice and it's squeaky clean again!

www.badgerandblade.com

Simple green - when not to use?

So, I like using simple green for oil laden mysteries. But wondering when NOT to use the stuff and any advice on other methods of ridding stones of "vintage oil". I recently put what I thought was a hindustan in the bath before I left the country for a little over a week. Went in a light tan...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Frank Shaves]

Simple Green is good stuff and useful to have around the house. Simple Green is readily available in the US but less so in some other countries.

In addition to soaking Arkansas stones in Simple Green, you can simply pour yourself a few ounces of Simple Green and use paper towels to rub/wipe the stone with the Simple Green. @David shared this very effective technique with me.

If you are in the US, perhaps you can "borrow" a cup of Simple Green from a friend or family.

 

[Jefforey]

Washita out of the simple green

 

[timwcic]

While at the market giving my sellers their X-Mas gifts to keep them loyal to me and not the Ebay’ers, one reciprocated with this cute nugget. 3/4x3.5 inch in its wooden house. Guessing a 19th century Pike by the hook thru eye clasp and probably a pen knife/pen nib stone. A petite rock that makes a quarter look big

HAPPY NEW YEAR ROCK RUBBERS

 

[Legion]

While at the market giving my sellers their X-Mas gifts to keep them loyal to me and not the Ebay’ers, one reciprocated with this cute nugget. 3/4x3.5 inch in its wooden house. Guessing a 19th century Pike by the hook thru eye clasp and probably a pen knife/pen nib stone. A petite rock that makes a quarter look big

HAPPY NEW YEAR ROCK RUBBERS

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Like it. Nice little pen knife stone.

 

[Jefforey]

Why is one side of the washita more translucent than the other

 

[Legion]

Why is one side of the washita more translucent than the other
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Because it is a natural stone, and that is how nature works sometimes.

@cotedupy has one that is translucent in the middle, and opaque on the ends. That one is a trip.

 

[Jefforey]

Because it is a natural stone, and that is how nature works sometimes.

@cotedupy has one that is translucent in the middle, and opaque on the ends. That one is a trip.

Would the side that's more translucent be finer

 

[Legion]

Would the side that's more translucent be finer

Without being 100% certain, yes, probably.

 

[David]

Why is one side of the washita more translucent than the other

Maybe the one side was used with oil, making it more translucent? Just a guess.

 

[Jefforey]

Maybe the one side was used with oil, making it more translucent? Just a guess.

It has been in simple green for 2 days so there shouldn't be much oil in it

 

[timwcic]

Two handsome purple stones from the market. The 8” has a 2.28 SG, exceptionally fine, and a nice slug of skin on the side

 

[Empire straights]

Two handsome purple stones from the market. The 8” has a 2.28 SG, exceptionally fine, and a nice slug of skin on the side

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Those wavy calico ones are awesome for tools. I have one that I broke(they're really soft) that I use as an axe stone now. I have my son one that he uses on throwing knives.

 

[Legion]

I found something I have been keeping an eye out for for a while. A Norton India/Washita combo, as per their 1935 catalogue.

The Washita side seems rather hard, fine and fairly translucent.

 

[Empire straights]

I'll add a few thoughts.

First, these stones vary more, far more in softness/hardness than their Arkansas counterparts. The harder ones are virtually indistinguishable from hard arkansas on a lapping plate, the softer ones... well... I've had an almost pure white example, that could easily pass for a Lily white visually (unless very close)... that lapped every bit as fast as a Thuringian, and which pulled up mounds of slurry under my normal knife weight honing. What accounts for this difference? Structural integrity, which brings us to:

Second, The grades (LW/RR/#1 on down to #2, #3, etc); I theorize have little to do with color... that simply being a marketing gimmick to distinguish a "premium" #1 from the "standard" #1. What distinguishes the grades? Structural integrity... which basically means hardness or at least UNIFORM hardness. A #5 may be as hard as a #1, but it's hard in area's and soft in area's. A #1 is uniformly hard throughout. What DON'T you see on the surface of higher quality washita's (labeled or unlabeled)? The little broken bits... that look like the flaws in cast cement or other similar materials caused by air bubbles. The "gaps" in the surface... beyond the normal pores. The ones that aren't pores, but are actual breaks in material. Those flaws are what structurally compromises these stones... making them faster... but making them wear faster, feel worse under the tool, etc.

Thirdly, on that note. Don't think a #1 is necessarily better than a #3 for your purposes. Like I said, the lower (cheaper/worse) grade is going to likely be far more friable, and work faster. But it won't stay level as well (Will dish much faster), and will likely wear down many times faster. The cog in this (and probable reason the lower grades seemingly aren't preferred by anyone) is again, lack of uniformity. These lesser grade stones may wear unevenly; or they may be very hard, but only with pockets of soft that throws a wrench in the works of the stone wearing back to improve speed... so you can't just deliberately pick out a low grade washita and know you're getting a faster stone than a LWW. Also, this issue is likely part of the reason why so many washita's like to break in their boxes.

Fourth, related to all this again. If you're not thrilled with the feel of your washita: First, clean it. Second, lap it. Third, flip it and repeat. I've got an unlabeled or two (which I suspect are low grade examples), that feel dead with choppy feedback when they give it, and lots of breaks on one side... but the flip side is very nearly as regular as my LWW's (though softer). Lapping on both sides doesn't change the character... there's a divide somewhere within the stone. The hope is that the "good" side goes on for most of the stone, of course.

Stones being "Even grit" was a strong marketing point.

 

[Tomo]

Just finished cleaning up this little 5x2”

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

I have soaked Arks in Simple Green and other degreasers for over a year, changing the degreaser every couple weeks and they are still releasing oil. 2 days?

Go to a stone yard where 6-8-foot-tall stone slabs are sold, they are cut and stored on edge in flitches, as they were cut. You can flip through them, (with a roof crane) like pages in a book. You will see a dramatic difference in how the stones look from side to side.

It is not unusual for a natural stone to look and perform differently from one side to the other. Stones are made from silt sitting for thousands/millions of years, different materials landing on them are what make the patterns, who knows what the other stuff is.

This is why a type of stone cannot be grit rated or even grit typed, no one knows what the grit is in every stone. Your Ark may be very different from mine of the same type, and yours and mine could be different from side to side.

Soak it in any good degreaser until it stops releasing oil. Place in a tub of hot water, wait 10-15 minutes if you see a rainbow sheen on the water surface, it is still releasing oil.

Bought a Black boxed stone Sunday, have been sitting in Dawn Pro Degreaser since Monday, looks like it may be a Lilly White and may need a good long soak.

 

[Legion]

Nice squarish cut oldie for the collection.