Water quality and sharpening
Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:36 pm
Does anyone know if and how water quality might affect water stones, tools, and the sharpening process?
I ask for two reasons:
1. I'm planning to build a shed that will hopefully include a little workspace, and I'm wondering about collecting rain water for a sharpening station. Will it be too acidic or something? If I'm collecting the water from the roof, will the roofing materials (lead, aluminum, or copper flashings, asphalt, metal, or slate) leech into the water and cause problems?
2. I sometimes use a spray bottle with my water stones. Once, awhile back, I used a bottle that had contained some multipurpose household cleaner. I washed it out pretty well, but there was still trace amounts of cleaner in the water when I used it on the stones, and I noticed that it helped lubricate the cut nicely. It really reduced the squeaky-stuttering-stiction that I sometimes get with larger chisels on finer grits. Do you think adding small amounts of surfactants (I'm assuming that's what was at work here) is a good or bad thing for sharpening stones and tools?
I guess in both cases I'm wondering about long term effects on the stones (durability), effects on the metal tools (corrosion), and effects on the action of rubbing the tools on the stones- could this be speeding things up or slowing things down? And will what's in the water have any effect on my final edge?
I ask for two reasons:
1. I'm planning to build a shed that will hopefully include a little workspace, and I'm wondering about collecting rain water for a sharpening station. Will it be too acidic or something? If I'm collecting the water from the roof, will the roofing materials (lead, aluminum, or copper flashings, asphalt, metal, or slate) leech into the water and cause problems?
2. I sometimes use a spray bottle with my water stones. Once, awhile back, I used a bottle that had contained some multipurpose household cleaner. I washed it out pretty well, but there was still trace amounts of cleaner in the water when I used it on the stones, and I noticed that it helped lubricate the cut nicely. It really reduced the squeaky-stuttering-stiction that I sometimes get with larger chisels on finer grits. Do you think adding small amounts of surfactants (I'm assuming that's what was at work here) is a good or bad thing for sharpening stones and tools?
I guess in both cases I'm wondering about long term effects on the stones (durability), effects on the metal tools (corrosion), and effects on the action of rubbing the tools on the stones- could this be speeding things up or slowing things down? And will what's in the water have any effect on my final edge?