Thread: Weird stains on blades after honing

First, let me say thanks again to everyone who helped me with the "honing with tape" technique. I am now getting killer sharp edges with electrical tape, consistently and without drama. Thanks!!

Now here's the next problem. I've noticed this a few times, both with tape and without. After I'm done honing and I start to dry the blade off before stropping, I notice that there is a dark water stain across the bottom third of both sides of the blade, right where the water from the hone and slurry was in contact with the blade. There's never any staining above this level, and the stain always comes off with a little Flitz, but what the heck is going on?! I end up keeping my can of Flitz handy whenever I need to hone, which is kind of ridiculous. And this isn't a stain that comes from just making contact with water, because these blades get wet all the time when I shave with them! So what gives?

Anyway, what I'm using now is this -- Naniwa 1k, then one of my BBW/coti combo stones (both sides), then either a CF or Japanese stone to finish. Thanks for the help with this! --Jeff

Do you add anything to your water when you hone? Or maybe it's from tape residue in the water?

I have seen a few razors that tend to start to stain during prolonged contact with water (i.e. it happened during honing but not shaving).

J-nat slurry is acidic by nature so when you spend too much time with your razor on the stone you are going to get staining.

I've had occasions where I'd hone in a slurry, or without, and set the razor down, go to the PC or whatever and the edge begin to get red rust in spots. I don't recall staining though.

I don't add anything to the water except to raise some slurry at each step with either a diamond plate or, in the case of the Belgian, with a small slurry stone.

I didn't know that Japanese natural stones are acidic, but that would explain a lot, because I don't keep the blade wet or hone long enough for a stain to develop just by water contact. Do you think that a CF is also acidic? I actually switch around between two Japanese stones, my CF and an Escher or two, so I haven't been focused on which stones make a stain and which do not, but I will do so now.

Thanks for the insights, bros!

Couldn't it just be the metal particles accumulating after the water is gone like SUPER WATERSPOTs? I guess it just depends on how you dry the razor after honing. Do you strop after? Does the stain appear after stropping?

-G

I recently got an eBay Japanese Toishi Suita stone (but I didn't really know what I was looking at...but it had a return warranty, so I figured no big deal).

Note: this stone was returned, partly because I learned this guys gets his supplies from a guy named 330mate , which everyone suggests to stay away from. Didn't feel comfortable with the "rusty" band on the stone, although I experimented with the back side mostly.

I got the stone, tried honing on it...it seemed to work fine (fabulous sharp and smooth edge), but after 2-3 strokes (I used tape), I noticed a very rust-like stain on the entire length of the blade (except where the tape was). The stained area was a bit rough when it came to polishing it with MAAS...it went away with relative ease, but didn't feel too comfortable with the idea of rusting during honing (if you can call it that). So, I returned it...I would hate to see what would happen if one used it to hone a blade with gold wash or some sort of fine etching/art work.

What I had heard (from Stefan - aka mainaman) is that these Japanese stones come with iron oxide embedded say between two strata as a function of time (correct me Stefan if I am wrong). Could this iron oxide be leaking onto the stone where one hones causing this staining? Could this help explain some of the acidity and the strange staining (in my case red-ish rust) that Jeff is talking about and I experienced (at least with this Suita).

I wonder if all natural Japanese stones give this or just certain ones (maybe just Suita or other). I must admit, I don't know enough about these things to even know what I had bought was good or bad...it sounded interesting to try...but it certainly gave a very nice polish to the bevel...like nothing I had seen before (almost 100% no scratches...very, very smooth).

Robert,
I do not think the color correlates with any metal deposits in the stone. Those stones do not contain metals whatsoever from all the info I have seen.

I have had water stains before, and in the rare times I used tape, it did in fact become concentrated along the tape line.

What I discovered, was that my water itself was the problem. High acidity in the water, and the tape holds the water along its edge, prolonging contact. Also can be a problem in places where they put lots of chlorine in the water.

I have not tried it yet, but I am thinking that if you added some baking soda to some water, and used that instead of tap, you might help prevent such things.

just my 2cent

Whether the stone is acidic or basic I doubt the degree is enough to cause effects on a razor in the limited time it's on the hone. If there is iron in the rock you could just be getting some staining from the iron and water combination.