Experience with Ohishi waterstones

[Mike Brady]

I have an infrequently used 10000 grit waterstone. I recented decided to prep a handfull of often-used chisels and take the final polish all the way to 10,000. I was somewhat dismayed that the stone gouged easily, unlike the coarser Ohishi and Norton waterstones that I have. Re-reading the sellers current listing for this stone revealed a caution against soaking this stone before use. I don't recall ever seeing that before. I submerged it for perhaps ten minutes before using. Sounds like my experience is not unique. Has me thinking that this stone is now toast. What do you all think?

[ken hatch]

I have an infrequently used 10000 grit waterstone. I recented decided to prep a handfull of often-used chisels and take the final polish all the way to 10,000. I was somewhat dismayed that the stone gouged easily, unlike the coarser Ohishi and Norton waterstones that I have. Re-reading the sellers current listing for this stone revealed a caution against soaking this stone before use. I don't recall ever seeing that before. I submerged it for perhaps ten minutes before using. Sounds like my experience is not unique. Has me thinking that this stone is now toast. What do you all think?

Mike,

I have little experience with synthetic water stones but I'll bet just drying it out and then using just a spray of water will fix the problem.

ken

[bill epstein]

30 years ago King Stones were most common and sellers recommended soaking the 8000 for 20 minutes before use. That devolved into leaving it in the tub all the time with the "naked" 600 until everyone's wooden support frame dissolved. Gouging was common until somewhere I saw that best practice was to simply spray water on just prior to use. That seemed to cure the gouging (mostly) and my latest 5 year old King still has it's base. Don't know why you're stone would be unusable after drying and flattening.

[Mike Brady]

Thanks for the reassurances guys. I should add that the stone has performed well prior to this.

[Thomas Wilson]

I use the Ohishi stones. I follow the advice not to soak. I dunk in a bucket then spray occasionally. One of the other thing that I have found that helps when creating a secondary bevel is to take a couple of light strokes on a coarser stone to start the bevel. I draw the iron backward at first to reduce likelihood of the iron digging in. Once a small bevel is created, it provides a bit of bearing surface to prevent gouging. Light stokes and drawing backward solved the problem for me.

TW

[Flamone LaChaud]

For my synthetic waterstones, I do the dunk and drip . . .dunk them in the bucket of water, and then have a drip constantly going on them while they are in use. For my natural stones, I do the same thing, only I just get the face wet, not the whole stone.