Sterile diamond plates?

[Matt Lau]

I don't recall where I got that impression, but note that the fact that liquid water doesn't penetrate something says nothing about its porosity.

A simple counter-example to prove my point: Gore-Tex is highly porous, but liquid water has surface tension far too high to pass through it, at least in the absence of very high pressure. That's sort of the entire point.

Oh, and fun fact--- Gore made the first membrane for guided bone regeneration (at least in dental).
After the extraction and bone graft, a flap of Gore=tex membrane would be tacked over the graft site to avoid tissue growth into the area.
Later, it'd be taken out.

[Jake Elkins]

I'll tell you what--I'm going to autoclave my Fallkniven CC4 stone and use it this afternoon.
I'll report afterward work.

Awesome Matt - let me know how it works out.

As long as it can go in the tray, I don't think the hospital will care about the sterilization. I hope it works.

[William Fretwell]

Are you getting paid to operate or sharpen tools? You seem to be missing the bigger picture. Operating room time is a premium, the other staff just stand around while you sharpen or do they repair torn scrubs? You guys really crack me up!

[John K Jordan]

Although I know nothing about the medical field I'm glad to see people concerned about their tools.

Decades ago during a procedure (with local) an oral surgeon appeared to be having more trouble and I thought he was using way more force than I thought reasonable cutting through bone. Somehow he managed to shatter the root of a molar which caused intense pain some days later and the need for more extensive surgery. I always wondered if his tools were just dull!

When I had LASIK done almost 20 years ago the eye surgeon impressed me. He said he always prepared and inspected everything himself - he never trusted anyone else to even touch anything. (My eyes are still good!)

JKJ

[bridger berdel]

I scrub my Spyderco stones every week or two in dish washing detergent in a sink full of water; if that doesn't clean everything, I dust 'em with Bar Keeper's Friend and scrub with a non-abrasive pad (3M white) that works a charm. When clean, they show a pretty good level of hydrophobicity; droplets run off quickly, but when you can hold it flat enough, droplets bead up with a pretty steep contact angle (a primary measure of hydrophobicity). Never seen any sign of water sinking into the surface, as when rinsed, they drain dry and water rolls right off like a freshly waxed car fender. If they are porous, it would be good to have a cite to a source of this wisdom, if you can recall it.

I'd think a Spyderco medium and ultra-fine in combination would be just what the Doctor ordered. (So to speak.) Since they are all ceramic (Al203), they will have no trouble with sterilization. They are happy being used dry, although a bit of liquid helps manage the swarf. In the OR context, alcohol would do nicely; n-saline would also work well, if the steel instruments are rinsed in pure water and dried afterwards. (n-saline will wet the surface and perform better than pure water.)

I use isopropyl alcohol as a honing fluid in my shop. It works great on most stones.

[Matt Lau]

Sorry for delay.

The Fallkniven stone works like a champ and cuts smoothly and aggressively on my German steel scalers.
I'd imagine the Spyderco equivalent to work fine too.

Works perfectly fine through autoclave.

[Matt Lau]

I'm not sure if my previous post made it, but the Fallkniven stone works great.
I prefer the ceramic over diamonds for fine sharpening (since your profile should still be usable, otherwise you need a new supplier).
Also, surgical/translucent arkansas work well for standard German steel.

What we do at my office is ultrasonically clean the stones, then wrap in an autoclavable paper sleeve.
IMG_20171113_102717.jpg
Which we put through a Midmark M9 autoclave (pretty standard for most dental offices/vet clinics/hospitals).
IMG_20171113_102728.jpg