waterstone storage containers?

[daniel lane]

Hi, all -

Separate thread from my coming out for two reasons:

It might be useful and good to keep separate for searches, or
This could wind up being a stupid thread that can be deleted without concern.

As I admitted earlier, I'm now a waterstone convert. I'd like to have some plastic containers to store them in, either in water or not (I wasn't looking to make this an "are Sigma stones permasoak or not" thread, but comments are still welcome). Are there conveniently-sized plastic containers out there that I don't know about (I know about none)? Anyone have a recommendation?


Thanks,

daniel

[David Wong]

I use a 5 litre plastic container from a company named Sistema, to store 6 of my perm-soak waterstones. The container has a silicone gasket lid, to it is keeps the evaporation down. I have my coarse stones (220 & 500) , my Kings (800 & 1200), and my Sigma 1000, in the container. The water gets pretty cloudy after a while, but the snap top lid makes it easy for me to take everything to the sink without spilling any water. I found the container at a local storage store.

[Stuart Tierney]

I use a plastic box with a gasket around the top and clips that lock the lid down.

And enough bleach in there to make it smell like a swimming pool when I open it.

There are, at last count, 10 stones living in there permanently and occasionally a few more when I need to soak them prior to use.

You don't need one as big as that though.

As for the stones themselves,

#400 is no-soak, as in don't soak it at all, I don't know what will happen to it.

#1000 is soak, permanently won't hurt it at all.

#6000 is soak/no soak depending on what you want from it. I soak before use for a couple minutes because it's nicer like that.

#13000 is soak/no soak depending on what you want from it. I soak before use for a couple minutes because it's nicer like that.

The #400 is the only one I'm not 100% sure can be soaked permanently. The others, no problem.

Hope that helps.

Stu.

[Chris Griggs]

This is what I keep my stones in (http://www.walmart.com/ip/ZIP-SNAP-RECTGL-9.5C/14862645). My 1k perma soaks in one, and my others sit dry in the other:

Also my sharpening station stone holder is just a small cookie sheet with some of the grippy drawer liner on it.

[Jim Matthews]

I use a cheapo Tupperware variant for the two stones I keep in my kitchen.

Every month or two, I add a drop of Chlorine bleach to keep the water clear.
Two years now, and the stones hold up fine, with very little evaporation.

I use them next to the sink, so clean up is a breeze.

[John Coloccia]

I keep in stone in an old tupperware. I fill it when I go get to the shop. I toss it when I leave. It's just a routine.

1) flip on the light
2) get the hide glue going
3) fill the tupperware

The whole routine takes about 30 seconds. Don't complicate this. There's no lid on mine, btw. On more thing NOT to lose.

[David Weaver]

Whatever was $10 at home depot and reasonably heavy (cold in the shop, don't want to drop or bang into something and get wet), though I don't soak stones much.

Every time I get a container, it gets repurposed, anyway - the wife gets it and it gets used for something else. At one time, I only had kings and the stones were soaked all the time. I used the same thing, whatever was $10 at home depot. I guess if you can get something that either only allows you to grab the bottom tray (as opposed to accidentally grabbing the lid and having the bottom of the container get away from you), or one with a good locking lid, that's nice.

I'd be inclined to use a 5 gallon bucket now if I were doing it again, because it would be free, strong, and have enough depth to let the swarf settle at the bottom and still have a lot of water at the top to work with when rinsing a stone.

Don't worry about being too complicated or grit contamination or too many of the bugaboos that people talk about (unless you actually see a problem from them). If you have more than one stone in the same thing with no divider, just splash the stones with water from the container as you're getting them out.

[Jerome Hanby]

Those are good to hold Evaporust for soaking and reuse too!


This is what I keep my stones in (http://www.walmart.com/ip/ZIP-SNAP-RECTGL-9.5C/14862645). My 1k perma soaks in one, and my others sit dry in the other:

Also my sharpening station stone holder is just a small cookie sheet with some of the grippy drawer liner on it.

[Ken Whitney]

I use an old ice cube "box" from a refrigerator. They are the right size, hold two or three stones on their long edges, and are fairly heavy plastic.

Thrift stores have them occasionally.

[Charlie MacGregor]

This looks like the one the Nortons come in. Says it will fit an 8x3 stone. $5.95
http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Water-Stone-Replacement-Box-P235C87.aspx

Regards,
Charlie

[Chris Griggs]

I used this (http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202021296/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) for a while too, but ended up re-purposing it to hold my saw files and sets. It worked really well for soaking a few stones in one container. Can hold like 3-4 stones sitting on their sides. The lid and the handle are nice too. Although the lid isn't at all water tight, its nice to have when storing or when just moving your stones around the shop.

[Jim Matthews]

I use an old ice cube "box" from a refrigerator. They are the right size, hold two or three stones on their long edges, and are fairly heavy plastic.

Thrift stores have them occasionally.

Now THAT'S clever, right there.

[daniel lane]

Thanks, guys. I forgot to put in my post that I wasn't sure if I would contaminate if I stored in the same container, but sounds like it's not a problem. I've got a good work area in the laundry room, too, with a sink nearby, so I think I just want something small to store them in and then will replace the water as needed. I'm amused at Ken's 'ice box' idea - a clever idea, and I might even have one sitting around, need to look!

Stu, thanks for the comments on the stones, I wasn't sure about permasoak or not. The only thing I'm trying to figure out now for storage is the 6000, which has the wooden base attached to it. Is seems like it would be easier to remove the base and store the stone with the others, but I don't want to break the stone trying to get the base off of it! I'll probably just keep them together in a large, dry container, then put them in a tray to soak while I get the work area set up. That gives a few minutes' soak to get them ready, but I don't have to worry about the wooden base, or leaks, or bleach in the water, etc...



daniel

[Terry Beadle]

I've got a King 8000 and a 6000 with wooden bases. I keep them stored in water continuously. The wood doesn't seem to be affected and the stone has shown no separation. They have been in this storage method for a decade or more.

So I'd say don't worry about the wood in the water. If it ever fails or separates, I'd just cut some new ones out of the scrap cypress left over from some out side chairs projects.

YMMV IMO

No warranty implied.

I use dish soap, very little, and the cheapest $1 kind. I do not use bleach as I'm afraid it would affect the binder medium. I think though with bleach you would have to have a pretty good concentration to affect the stone and I trust Stu's methods. I think we're talking of a table spoon of bleach in 1 gal of water....not two cups or some thing like that.

[Jerome Hanby]

I think we're talking of a table spoon of bleach in 1 gal of water....not two cups or some thing like that.

That's only about 8 times as much as you add to a gallon of water to purify it for drinking, so I bet it wouldn't damage anything.

[daniel lane]

Just in case the bleach comments were due to my pleasure in not needing to deal with it, my reasoning is in great part due to the two toddlers that run my household - we don't keep bleach or any other chemicals in the house if we don't use them regularly. At 14 months, my son figured out how to bypass every baby-proofing method we came up with (that was reasonable for us, e.g. we didn't nail the cabinets shut!), so we just decided not to bother. His sister is slightly older than that now and is likewise talented, so we don't regret the decision. Anyway, that leaves soaps, Lysol wipes, and a couple of tiny bottles of oils or solvents ("goo gone" type stuff), all of which are in an upper cabinet far out of reach. I learned years ago not to keep jugs of chemicals in an upper cabinet - the dropped acid bottle that exploded on contact with a lab counter edge helped...*ahem*...burn that lesson in deeply. YMMV, etc., it's just a path I chose.


daniel

[Archie England]

Just in case the bleach comments were due to my pleasure in not needing to deal with it, my reasoning is in great part due to the two toddlers that run my household - we don't keep bleach or any other chemicals in the house if we don't use them regularly. At 14 months, my son figured out how to bypass every baby-proofing method we came up with (that was reasonable for us, e.g. we didn't nail the cabinets shut!), so we just decided not to bother. His sister is slightly older than that now and is likewise talented, so we don't regret the decision. Anyway, that leaves soaps, Lysol wipes, and a couple of tiny bottles of oils or solvents ("goo gone" type stuff), all of which are in an upper cabinet far out of reach. I learned years ago not to keep jugs of chemicals in an upper cabinet - the dropped acid bottle that exploded on contact with a lab counter edge helped...*ahem*...burn that lesson in deeply. YMMV, etc., it's just a path I chose.


daniel

Man, can I relate to that from my former years of experience... The good news--they grow up, mostly wonderful,too. The bad news is, they get more expensive!!!!

Don't stop having fun!

[Orlando Gonzalez]

I have 11 Sigmas, 8 Hard and 3 Select II's, a Rikka 5K, and a Gesshin 400 and I don't store them in water. I soak them when I'm going to use them. This does not mean that you can't, as Stu has pointed out, it is that I choose not to because having them ready to go is not as important to me as it may be to others.

[Jim Koepke]

I just use the plastic storage bins that are often on sale at Home Depot or department stores.

I do not permastore my stones during the winter as I have had water freeze in my shop.

I do keep a gallon milk jug of water in the shop and a small water bottle with a very small hole drilled in the cap to get the stones wet.

I have also used a bread pan for soaking stones. Those can get rusty so plastic is preferred.

jtk