New Project need help: Grand UnifiedStone Soaking Chart

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I've been talking to Dave about pitting together a spreadsheet which lists the suggested soaking times for various kinds of stones, etc. Basically the idea is to do for soaking stones what the grand unified grit chart does for their grits. I was inspired to do this because I find it hard to keep track of which stones are capable of permasoaking, which should never be soaked for more than a few minutes but are best when soaked for a few minutes, which need never be soaked at all etc.

At present: I was planning for the spreadsheet to have the following three columns

Name of Stone i.e. "Shapton Glass 400"
Manufacturer's/Distributor's suggested soaking i.e. "Splash and Go"
Members comments/warnings "really is a splash and go, don't soak at all - no need for even a few minutes"

Can people think of more columns to add??

It will take a bit of time to reach out to manufacture/distributors to get their information but if people want to start posting their comments about stones here, I'll start putting together the bones of the spreadsheet
 
Do you want to try and capture something about drying time? Frequently read about people (that don't live in FL) having to let the stones dry before moving them outside for storage during the winter months.
 
Add a field for type of stone (magnesia, ceramic, clay, resinoid, etc...)

Separate manufacturer, product line and grit level into three separate fields; it would be easier to filter.

-my 2 bits
 
This is a great idea that will for sure help people out for a long time coming. Thanks for taking this on Gary!
 
Do you want to try and capture something about drying time? Frequently read about people (that don't live in FL) having to let the stones dry before moving them outside for storage during the winter months.


We could maybe have a general notes section to include stuff like this that covers all stones. Another general thing is to not try to dry stones out too fast - placing in front of a fan, in an open window, in direct sunlight, or in front of a heater are all bad ideas. Also, putting away wet stones in sealed containers will grow mold. Putting away wet stones in cardboard boxes will ruin the box and grow mold. Etc....

There are some specific stones that require some specific handling techniques though. Take the synthetic aoto....quick cycles of soaking/drying lead to cracking. Then there's the 5k Chosera that should really be mounted because more seem to crack than not regardless of how they're used. That's just a couple examples.
 
sounds like a good idea:

Columns now are:

Manufacturer, Product Name, Grit, Composition, Manufacturers Suggested Soaking Time, Manufactures suggested drying time, Column for Members comments as to soaking drying, quirks etc

Any more before I start trying to fill in the columns??

also, if people have email addresses for vendors reps in the US please PM them...
 
I'd be interested to see brief comments on the characteristics of the stone in terms of finish and whether it's particularly good (or bad) for certain steels.

(This should be really useful. Thanks gic!)
 
can that go in the member comments section or should we have a separate column for that??

Also Manufacturer column will be Manufacturer/Vendor so for example Jon's stones would be listed as JKI in that columnas the manufacturer isn't the relevant issue as it is a "JKI" stone
 
Just tell me where you want me to post this Ido for you and I'd be happy to do it. I should be able to cover not only my stones, but many others as well.
 
I'd be interested to see brief comments on the characteristics of the stone in terms of finish and whether it's particularly good (or bad) for certain steels.

(This should be really useful. Thanks gic!)


This chart is meant for soaking stones and all that entails. We'd need a whole other chart to be made if we're to head down that rabbit hole. :)
 
OK here is the .9 version as a prototype in PDF form, lots of gaps and lots of stones missing but please give me feedback as well as helping me fill in the blanks and add stones!

soaking chart .9_001.jpg
 
Interesting idea. On the drying - I have yet to see a specification from a manufacturer how long does it take to dry a stone - probably because it depends on temperature and humidity of the environment.

I did some measurements on the drying time - I was weighting the stones several time a day as they were drying. You can find the details here

The linked table seems too small to read.
 
Let me get my microscope out then I can help you. lol
 
I have it in PDF form but wasn't able to attach it in that form of course. Let's try .png - if you click on it you shouldbe able to enlarge it:


View attachment 25506

I only get a blank page using that link. It seems that you are uploading the image directly to KKF - that seems often not to work properly and for that reason I link all of my images from external webpage (flickr). You may try to use a dropbox or a Google drive if you want to link directly to PDF.
 
King 800, 1000 and 1200 can all be permasoaked. Suehiro rika with base can also be permasoaked. Beston 500, bester 1200 and gesshin 400 and Jinzo aoto also permasoakers.
 
Gesshin 6000 is spash & go, but can be permasoaked. It should however not be soaked and then dried on regular basis as it may develop cracks (personal experience). This is also stated on JKI website - I should have read more carefully.
 
I've read conflicting info on the Suehiro Rika and perma soaking. As a result I only perma soak half of mine.:groucho:
 
I believe that the Suehiro Rika used to come with documentation that stated to not soak it.....BUT......it used to be sold with a wood base so maybe this had something to do with that? Anyway, even though I've never soaked a Rika long term myself (I only have a wood based version) many people have and report no negative side effects. I'd assume that we could say that this stone can be perma-soaked if it has the newer plastic base or no base at all but I'll leave this to be answered by those users who have these types and have tested this theory out.
 
Latest version attached, does anyone know anything about the sigma power stones and their soaking characteristics??

Stu would be your main man but I perma soak my 1200 and have tried soaking my 400, 6000 and 13000 grits long term and noticed no ill effects. They seem to even like it a little bit.
 
Are you looking to put all known synthetic stones on the list or just the more common ones?

I ask because there's a lot of stone brands that are sold that we don't hear much about because they're not common, if added to the list it might take some searching to get the info required for soak & drying times.
 
I am trying to put as much info as I can,for eample, I wrote Daniel and Stu for info on the stones they sell that seem unique to them.
 
Maybe remove ATOMA diamond plates from the list? If folks can't figure that out then oh well. LOL
 
Occurs to me if you covered all the stones the vendors here offer it would be pretty comprehensive. And you would have an authoritative source(s) for any questions.

Thanks for pulling this together.
 
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