I like to do weird experiments. (Well, this one was for a reason, but that's another story.)

Aluminium blanks (to which stones are attached) come loose from the paddles in water at about 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) if they are glued with "ordinary" hot glue.

When attached with the 3M tape WE uses, they can stand water of about 70 degrees C (158 F) before they come loose.

Even the Wicked Edge tape rules .

Enough said, it's luke warm water for me.

I've had one of the stones fall off again, the other is solid still. So it appears junk 2 sided scotch tape works...for a while. I'm not going to assume this will be a permanent fix, but it's interesting to see how long the one lasts. Once it falls off, I'll compare and see if I can figure out why.

Clay, if you see this, when buying a set of blank handles, do you provide some tape, or perhaps will you put the tape on the accessories list? Worst case you never sell much, so you don't have to stock much, but we can compare and maybe find a local source. (just a thought)

I just had the exact same problem. Clay I sent you an email but I haven't yet to get mine wet. I took it out of the box that i keep all my stones in and it just fell off. My sharpening had to wait. But on a positive note i received the updated arms and I'm super stoked about it!

DKamp wrote:


Dustin, great about the arms, I'm sorry about the stone. We'll get you some new tape. Elmer's glue actually works best of all things I've tried

I've never used it on WE stones, but I've used 3M 77 spray on other waterstones I've attached to aluminum blanks that were soaked (a lot), without any issues. Have you tried that?

Looks like elmers the next time one comes loose..
I wonder if it holds because it plugs the screw void holes....

FredHermann wrote:


The times I've seen the ceramics come off, the tape stayed on the handles, not the stones, so I think it's more about what will stick to those stones... I think the glue does a decent job of getting up into the pores of the stone maybe.

wickededge wrote:

Wow, that's completely the reverse of what I would expect. I would have thought the handles would be the issue, being what is essentially a self lubricating plastic. But if the tape isn't staying stuck to the stones, it probably needs more "creep" in the adhesive. 3M VHB is supposed to have generous amounts and is toted as being able to replace mechanical fasteners.
I am probably telling you something you already know, but I thought I'd throw it out there...

[/quote]The times I've seen the ceramics come off, the tape stayed on the handles, not the stones, so I think it's more about what will stick to those stones... I think the glue does a decent job of getting up into the pores of the stone maybe.[/quote]

Nice observation Clay. That is exactly what is happening. The tape stays on the paddle, not the stone. Elmers...*chuckles*