Mold On My SG250?

[darita]

How do I keep mold from forming on my wheel?  When I'm done for the day, I discard the water and place the whole unit in the box, with the lid open.  I live in a dry climate.  Still, some kind of brown mold or ooze forms on the sides of the wheel in droplets.  Is it mold?

[RichColvin]

Derek,

This came up before on the knife page, and my memory is that everyone said it was no problem.  I see it on mine too, and just ignore it.

Rich

[cbwx34]

How do I keep mold from forming on my wheel?  When I'm done for the day, I discard the water and place the whole unit in the box, with the lid open.  I live in a dry climate.  Still, some kind of brown mold or ooze forms on the sides of the wheel in droplets.  Is it mold?

If you're putting it in a cardboard box... it probably doesn't dry out quick enough before mold can grow a bit.

If it bugs you, try adding a very small amount of bleach to the water... (doesn't take much)... should get rid of it.

[Ken S]

I contacted support. Here is the response. When I first purchased my SB wheel, I wanted to store it in the original cardboard box. What seemed dry to the touch was not dry. My 3X wheels were the same way, as I suspect the SG probably is. I tried storing  them flat on top of a couple layers of paper towel. Even after several days, the paper towels were damp. I store my wheels vertically in a way that air can circulate. I have some photos of this, and I believe I posted about this before. If someone can find that post, maybe Rich Colvin would add it to his Sharpening Handbook, a most useful quick reference source.

Ken

Here is the support reply:

Ken.
It would be really nice to see a picture, but I think I know what it is.

If its brown it's not mould. Mould requires biological material,  cardboard box can contribute to  that. Usually when you put a stone in storage you think its dry, it probably is dry at the surface but not always on the inside. When you put the stone on cardboard small cellulose fibre stick on to the stone. Then mould is going to grow. This mould is often seen as black spots.
This is brown so my guess is that it is rust from microscopical metal particle in the water that comes  out I droplets shape.
This is caused by the metal particles is transported by surface tension to form droplets of rust when the water evaporates.
This is nothing to worry about and its perfectly normal.

[darita]

Thanks Ken.  It does look brown and sorta like rust.  Unfortunately, I  don't have the space to store the Tormek out in the open, so at least for now, it always goes back in the box.  I'll have to make an effort to find the space for it.  At least it's not mould. 

[Ken S]

Derek,

The Tormek itself can be stored in the box. Only the grinding wheel needs time to dry out. If you store your Tormek with the wheel removed, be sure to place a spacer to keep the shaft from sliding.  Ashort piece of plastic pipe or plastic conduit works fine if you have misplaced the original Tormek piece.

Ken

[RichColvin]

Derek,

I've seen a few pictures, I believe from Wootz and RickKruger, how they store them from a dowel rod over an old milk crate.  Very innovative approach.


Ken,

Interesting and really great point about storing the grindstones.  I'm working on some updates now, but will add that to the list for improvements.

Kind regards,
Rich

[RickKrung]

Derek,

I've seen a few pictures, I believe from Wootz and RickKruger, how they store them from a dowel rod over an old milk crate.  Very innovative approach.


Ken,

Interesting and really great point about storing the grindstones.  I'm working on some updates now, but will add that to the list for improvements.

Kind regards,
Rich

[RichColvin]

Ken,

As requested, I've added it to www.SharpeningHandbook.info , with the picture from Rick (thanks, Rick!).

Kind regards,
Rich

[Sharpco]

I use plant saucer and non-slip mat.