Official Luthiers Forum!

I got a Norton Waterstone "Starter Kit" for Christmas. I'm just getting around to using it. It comes with 2 combination stones, plus a flattening stone. The combo stones are 220/1000 and 4000/8000. It says in the instructions that all grits except the 8000 need to be immersed in water for 10-15 minutes, and the 8000 only requires a few splashes of water while in use.

Well since my 8000 has 4000 on the other side I was wondering what I should do. Will it harm the 8000 if I submerge it? I mean, I need to submerge the 4000 so how do I do that without submerging the 8000 since it is a combo stone? I just don't want to damage the 8000 in any way. So, you waterstone experts.... what do I do?
-John

I left my 8000 grit waterstone underwater for over a year before i read that you are not supposed to. It always worked fine, and still does, a couple years later. Sooo, i dont know if its ok, but i do it anyways. I dont think you will wreck anything. Waterstones are pretty forgiving.

_________________
Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

John,

Nothing bad will happen to the 8000 if you immerse it. That said, I put a little water in a pan and soak what ever stone I am going to use - a half inch of water is fine. One thought is potential cross contamination. If course grit contaminates the fine side, you might have trouble. Although, that has never been a problem in my experience.

In fact, many folks just keep their stones immersed all of the time. Don't let them freeze in the water. If that happens, the stone will become undone.

Oh yeah, and i let mine freeze, for a month solid. It thawed out and was perfectly fine, just cold for a while.

_________________
Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Thanks for the helpful info guys! I also wanted to ask.... what do I do if I want to travel with the stones? Obviously it would be inconvenient to travel with them immersed in a container of water. I also wouldn't want to risk the top coming loose and the water coming out! Is it ok to put them back in their individual plastic trays? Or will it hurt them if they dry out once they've been immersed?
-John

They will be fine. I keep mine in shallow rectangular tupperware containers, a different one for each stone, to avoid grit contamination. They are easy to cart around this way. You can even leave the water in with the lid closed.

_________________
Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY