Hi All,

I got my first two water stones from Lee Valley (King 800 grit and King 4000 grit). I figure this is a good upgrade from using the scary sharp system (which was great to start with). I've been reading about water stones and noticed a lot of conflicting information out there so hoping to get a few ideas here please!

Question 1: Storage:

The instructions that came with the water stones suggest storing in water. I'm assuming this means fully immersed in water? If I only sharpen every 1-3 weeks should I still do this?

Question 2: Use

I'm assuming if it's stored in water I can spray a little extra water on top and start using it. If I don't store in water do I soak for 5 minutes and then start using?

Question 3: water stone holders

I saw a video of David Charlesworth suggesting to use a kitchen rubber sticky mat. I'm assuming that's good enough? Do I need to make a wooden stone holder?


Please let me know if there's anything else I should be thinking of!

Thanks

Luis