This often comes up from people with unheated workshops. Here is my experience:
A few years ago I took a discarded wheel and put it in a pan of water on our back porch. Two weeks of freezing/thawing weather later the wheel was no worse for wear. Then...
My last knife sharpening gig was a grocery store lobby on a snowy day about two weeks ago. I packed hurriedly and put my Tormek T-7 in the car with a full water tray. (Yes, Ken, it was there during the Hartville show.) Weather here has been below zero almost every night since then. Yesterday I made calls on several upholstery shops. At the first one the staff had brought in their knives so I needed the Tormek in addition to my scissor machine. The tray was a solid block of ice.
Fortunately the shop had hot water for tea so I poured in as much as I could. This thawed the tray enough that I could drop and empty it, but the ice still clung to the wheel. Two more trays of hot water and the wheel was ice free and unharmed. I proceeded to sharpen with no problem. BTW, this stop brought in over $200, in case anyone is thinking of a part-time business.
I do not advocate leaving water in the tray nor letting it freeze, but we needn't obsess if we accidentally do.
That's the Tormek news from the polar regions of northeast Ohio. As I recall, the outside temperature displayed on my dashboard was twelve below when I left Columbus around seven thirty. By the time I reached Hartville around ten, the temperature had risen to zero. Most of the schools were closed, however, the parking lot was packed with eager enthusiasts looking for bargains on Tormek stuff and other things.
Thanks for posting your story, Steve. That's real "from the trenches" reporting.
Ken
I don't believe that I'll try doing that. Already having a crack in the wheel, I can see the wheel in two not so pretty pieces. Also I wonder if the non stainless shaft with some rust would react differently. However it is good to hear the report.