Hi all; just wondering what people's opinions on this might be.
>
> I have a two-sided waterstone: 1000/6000. =A0The 1000-grit side feels
> smooth as glass to me and makes a beautiful edge. =A0The 6000-grit side
> feels as if it has acne or something. =A0There are bumps in the surface
> that my chisels bounce over or get stuck on. =A0I'm afraid to hone on
> this side of the stone since I'm sure I'll just damage the edges. >
> I suspect grits have become enbedded in the stone from a sanding
> pad that was previously used to flatten it, or perhaps it has become
> "rotten" somehow. =A0It was stored in a box that had a bottle of honing
> oil leak all over everything. =A0It also spent a lot of time in a zip-loc= k
> bag intended to keep it damp so I'm wondering if that damaged it somehow. >
> Has anybody else encountered this? =A0I'm going to get a proper flattenin= g
> stone and see if I can dress it out, but so far I've had no luck after a
> few minutes on a borrowed flattening stone.
The oil may be a problem, but that's a separate issue. To flatten the stone you don't need another stone, although some people just use the side of a concrete block. Get some wet/dry sandpaper in assorted grits, probably starting around 100 grit, and attach them to a piece of glass or a 12x12 piece of marble/granite tile with some spray adhesive, and then scrub your stone on that while flushing the sand paper liberally with water (like in a sink while you're doing it). Work your way up to the finer grit papers and end up around 220. Give the stone a test sharpening something, and if there's a substantial improvement you'll know if the side of the stone will be salvageable.
R