Washita oilstone care ?

I use a new 18"X 18"X 1 1/2" concrete slab from the hardware store and running water. Quick, easy, cheap and pretty accurate.
John.
 
I was in the flea markets today and found a nice little Washita oilstone still in its wooden tray....I'm wondering if there is a way to get back its original tan/honey color?

If the discoloration is the iron oxides from sharpening, you could mix a bit of oxalic acid with water, and soak
the stone in that. Use a plastic tray, and DON'T put any metal into the solution, not even a stainless
spoon, or it'll etch. This assumes that you've first removed any grease, oil, wax from the stone.

It'd go a bit faster, even, in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Oxalic will etch ferrous metals, even stainless, and I've seen it take blueing off relatively cleanly. It's
available in hardware stores as 'wood bleach'. Rinse it off well (and it wouldn't hurt to let the stone
soak in a final distilled-water rinse, to get the last of it out), or tiny droplets of the solution will
turn into rust spots on anything nearby.
 
One thing I've learned over the years is that you cannot get a true flat surface on a fine cutting tool if the stone is dished. The reason is pretty simple; we're using our hands to sharpen with and this involves locking our wrists and pivoting on the forearm/elbow. If the stone is dished then the face of the tool will not be flat.

I use a 3/8" thick piece of tempered glass that is very flat and use wet/dry sandpaper, too. I start with 60 grit, though and progress to 120 grit, with water and a drop or two of Dawn as a lubricant. That is enough to get everything flat. I use a 6" straightedge to be sure I get it flat. Works for me, anyway.

And one thing I've learned over the years is that if you need a true flat surface you're not going to get it with a sharpening stone. Use the process you're using to flatten the stone to sharpen the cutting tool instead. Surface plate, plate glass (float glass is better), or a ceramic tile with wet/dry sandpaper on it and some fluid. The surface keeps the sandpaper flat. Life is too short to truly flatten sharpening stones other than Japanese water stones. And a couple minutes after you begin using a flat Japanese water stone it's no longer truly flat.
 
I once lived in the ouachita forest AR. "pronounced washita" I can tell you the rocks there would ware out a set of tiller tines every other year.:( Turned them into points.
 
And one thing I've learned over the years is that if you need a true flat surface you're not going to get it with a sharpening stone. Use the process you're using to flatten the stone to sharpen the cutting tool instead.

Your point about using a truly flat surface and sanding on it is well made. A surface plate and a sheet of lapping paper might work as well or better than a truly flat Translucent Arkansas stone. I was about to say something to the effect that "I just prefer my stones" but an open mind is better, I think. I have some lapping paper and I'll give it a try to see if it works as well as my stone. Hand sharpening a graver or fine lathe tool is also a tactile thing and I can feel the defects on the face of the tool at the start. When the tool no longer grabs but instead slides smoothly on that layer of fine oil on my TA stone, I know its sharp. I wonder if the same will occur with sandpaper. We'll see.
 
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