Store Japanese Water Stones in Water?

[bkling]

I've been using Japanese water stones for a long time on knives and wood-plane blades and always let them air dry between uses. Recently, after using splash-and-play Naniwa stones for a while, I went back to some older stones (King brand) and wondered if I could store them in a container of water so they're always ready to use. Does anyone do that? Do you have to use a weak chlorine solution to keep it from being smelly after a while? Does it hurt the stones?

[bkling]

Yesterday I emailed my question to Chef Knives To Go and got this response:

Hi Barry,

As a general rule I discourage perma soaking stones. No stones improve by soaking them all the time and the amount of soaking you need to do on most stones is only 5-10 minutes so it's not a big deal.

That said, I seem to remember reading about some of my customers soaking the kings for long periods without any trouble.

Kind Regards,
Mark Richmond
ChefKnivesToGo.com

[Chemicalkinetics]

Thanks for the information, bkling.

Like he said, as a general rule, it is not encouraged. He is correct that there is absolutely no improvement for storing in water. It is always about convenience, not performance. Mark, being a seller, has no reason to tell you to do something which can potentially hurt the stones -- no matter how small the chances may be. He will be reliable if he did.

For example, I as an individual may tell you that it is perfectly to sharpen a Henckels Zwilling knife down to 15 degree each side or lower, but a Henckels customer representative probably will not.

[cowboyardee]

Basically, I agree with Chem. A lot of sellers and manufacturers will caution you not to soak stones just so they don't have to deal with returns - they err on the side of caution. I'd also take JBroida's word on how specific stones deal with longer term soaking. I've heard before that low and medium grit king stones can live underwater. As a general guideline, higher grit stones are more problematic. But it always depends on the stone in question. The only stone I've ever left in water for a few days was a cheap 240/1000 combo stone I got on amazon, and that was fine.

If you do decide you want to leave a stone in water, you can try this: soak it for an hour. If it's fine, soak it next time for a few hours. Still fine - soak it for a day. Still fine - soak for a few days. Still fine - you're probably good to go. One last consideration - I've heard there is some potential for mold or fungus when storing underwater. I've also heard stories of people adding just a few drops of bleach to their water to prevent this. But it's not something I've tried.

[knifesavers]

I've left a King 6000 for days and while it didn't hurt it, it didn't seem to work as well.

I have some Gesshin stones from Jon and follow his instructions. He tells you which can and cannot be kept in water.

If you have been to Jon's shop or look close in his videos you will see stones in the Cambro container he uses as a stone pond.

Jim

[Chemicalkinetics]

Knifesaver (or Jim),

How are the Gesshin stones? May I ask why did you get them as opposed to the bigger names? Thanks for your knowledge.

[TraderJoe]

<I have some Gesshin stones from Jon and follow his instructions>

When it's time to replace my Naniwa's it will be with Gesshin from Jon.

[bkling]

Thanks for the responses! I'll probably try it and report the results for Kings.

[JBroida]

king 1k is fine living in water... 6k (s1) and 8k (g1) are not

[TraderJoe]

I don't own kings but I'd never do this with my stones unless I was using them every day and even then I'd think twice because as others mentioned every stone is going to be different.

[Chemicalkinetics]

<wondered if I could store them in a container of water>

Some stones you can, some stones you cannot because they will actually turn mushy. My understanding is that this is not a problem for most of the King stones. In other words, you should able to store them in water for a long peroid of time.

I will double check just to be sure. Store them in water for 12 hours and check on them. If it feels solid, then you are good. If the surface starts to feel mushy or loose, then stop it.

I have never tried to do this, but you are correct that you will need something to inhibit bacteria or insect growth. You can try chlorine, rubbing alcohol, acidic (like white vinegar).... All of these will inhibit growth. As to which options is most comparable to waterstones.... that I don't know. :) Alternatively, just change the water every 2-3 days will do.

[bkling]

Thanks, Chem. But I was hoping to hear from someone who is actually doing this -- rather than seeing if my stones turn to mush. Judging from the lack of response maybe it's a boring question but I'll send this post once more in the hope that someone notices...

[Eiron]

I don't think it's an issue of "boring" so much as "untried" here on CH. I remember the question being discussed over on Knife Forums a while back & the answers were pretty much the same as Chem's response: each brand (& maybe models within brands?) responds differently to prolonged soaking. Some tolerate it fairly well, but others don't hold up. You might have luck searching for King soak results over there. Or maybe emailing King?

Otherwise, I think the general recommendation on KF was also "try it & see."

I have 1 Ohishi & 2 Suehiro stones, but my knives need sharpening so infrequently that I have no need to continually soak them. I drop them in water first, & then set up my other stuff, & if they need more time I can make an espresso. :-)

[Chemicalkinetics]

bkling,

Eiron said it more clear than I did. Each brand is different, and each sub-brand can be different too. In other words, some King stones may be fine, while King stones may be not. "Try and see" is a currently acceptable approach.