Disposing of water full of metal from sharpening on waterstones

I'm fairly new to woodworking having recently built a pretty simple "built-in" CD/DVD shelf unit which turned out a lot better than I expected and got me interested in trying some more ambitious work.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the metal-filled water from sharpening with waterstones. I have a couple of pretty cheap chisels and planes that I tried to turn into something useful by lapping the backs until they approximated a mirror and then sharpening the bevel. I got a decent edge, although I definitely still need to work on my technique as they seemed to dull very quickly.

Anyway, when I was done (believe me, it took a long time), I was left with a container full of water and metal filings, which I can't decide what to do with. It doesn't seem like it would be good for the flowerbeds or the sewer system. I'm really curious what others do. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

-- Keith

Reply to
Keith Amidon
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Someday, it'll all be over....

Reply to
Tom

Keith, Your roses will love it.

Reply to
TeamCasa

TeamCasa thus spake:

Gardenias are often iron deprived as well. Yellowing leaves in an otherwise healthy plant are a sign.

Greg G.

Reply to
Greg G.

Actually, your flower beds might be very interested in having them. Even plants need those trace elements and a fair amount of iron in their systems. One of the prettiest yards I've ever seen, the guy applied the dust from a brake lathe every so often.

Reply to
John Keeney

Easy, drop a magnet in the bucket and slosh it around, wait until the next day and pour the water on the ground, take out the magnet and give it a few rubs with a stiff brush to get the filings off of it over a garbage can.

Bert

Reply to
Bert & Eileen Plank

Hmmmmm, sounds like a description of - dirt.

Come to think, that's where it started, too.

Reply to
George

Come on folks, these are iron filings, not iron ions. Unless my chemistry is getting rusty (pun intended!) I think this is a big wive's tale.

Trace elements, such as in fertilizer, break into ions (Nitrogen, etc). That's what the plants can absorb.

Reply to
Larry Bud

They tell you to stick a nail in the pot with African Violets so there must be something to adding iron. Perhaps the environment breaks iron into ion when the "R"ust comes out.

Reply to
Greg

Here's one more - the ionization state of iron makes a difference!

Reply to
George

How much metal are we talking about? I dump mine on the grass or flowerbeds, and I've got a very nice lawn and gardens. Some iron (or other metals) is actually very good for plants. Don't dump it all in one spot, I usually toss the dirty water 30 feet.

Reply to
Phisherman

Reply to
Preston Andreas
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Most rose bushes & hardy shrubs love rusty water, stir it up & pour a small circle about six inches around the roots area.

Reply to
P©WÉ®T©©LMAN

On 21 Dec 2003 07:45:33 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Larry Bud) brought forth from the murky depths:

A lady friend tossed an old sack of nails under my favorite rose bush in Vista about 15 years ago and it started producing larger, prettier roses about a year later, and it stayed in bloom longer in those years. I disbelieved the tales until then.

Manmade iron parts DO break down into usable elements for plants.

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

You should see the weeds growing in the out door scrap pile. Must be good for plants.

Reply to
Mark

How long do you think a "filing" will remain intact when subjected to weather?

Reply to
John Keeney

Starting to get way off topic, but here's the formula for when iron rusts: (source:

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+ 3O2 = 2Fe2O3

You'll note that there are NO free iron ions. The iron combines with the oxygen. Nothing beside rust (2Fe2O3) is given off.

Reply to
Larry Bud

Which explains why a piece of iron gains mass as it rusts...

djb

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

But not what happens in the presence of other compounds.

Reply to
George

Even better, turn a small plastic bag (Glad bag) wrong side out and put the magnet in it. When it picks up the filings just grab the top of the bag and lift the magnet out, seal the bag and throw it away. That way you don't end up with a magnet with a slurry of metal on it.

Reply to
Jon Dough

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