Honing oil question

knzn

knzn

Joined
Jul 20, 1999
Messages
683
I was wondering if anyone used something other than what you buy in a bottle marked "honing oil"?
Is there some trick recipe to make your own?

Is something like "3 in 1" oil the same stuff?

My bottle is getting low, so I was just wondering if there are any choices.
Thanks
 
If you must use oil, try a 20 or 30 weight oil cut by 50% with varsol. I have used plain water or water and dishwashing detergent with success as well. Some people maintain that an oilstone should be used dry if it has never been charged with oil. Once oil has been added to a stone, apparently you so need to use a lubricant.
 
I had an old timer collector that told me he used a combination of kerosene and mineral oil. Anyone heard of or use this combination?
 
I used 3-in-1 Oil for many years. It works very effectively in the honing process. The trouble is that it is messy and a pain to remove. Something lighter like diesel fuel might be a nice change of pace and at $1.25/gallon is certainly cheaper. You might soak your hone in diesel to clean it first and scrub it with a brush to get the stone unloaded.

As a transition fluid between using oil and switching to water, I used rubbing alcohol on my oil stone. It has a slight lubricating property like oil yet is clean like water. It wet my oil impregnated stone reasonably.
 
WD40 would probably work just fine, as it's light, and penetrates and cleans nicely. I don't use the stuff up that quickly so I just buy whatever is labeled honing oil. Also, I tried using a new Arkansas and carborundum stone dry, and I much prefer using oil.
 
The purpose of oil on an oil stone or water on a waterstone is to keep the metal pieces from the blade in suspension so they won't clog the abrasive. The purpose is not to lubricate anything. Most any liquid will do the job-mineral oil, water, dishwashing detergent are a few if the things I've used successfully. Stay away from anything really heavy like motor oil. Remember, it isn't a lubricant, it's a cleaner. My favorite, of course, is honing oil. Take care.

------------------
Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com


 
While I primarily consider oil or water as a cleaner and particle lifter, I'm not convinced that you don't want a lubricant. If I was doing my metal removal by a surface adhesion process (like galling of bearing surfaces) I would think that lubrication must be avoided at all costs. Every other metal removal process I can think of works better when lubricated. Since honing has been observed to work for centuries, even in the presence of oil and water, I would guess that friction itself is not necessary to do the job.

I am not persuaded that lubrication is not useful in order to do an optimal sharpening job. I would not be surprised if the microserrations in the edge left by a hone were more distinct when you use a lubricant. This could be an advantage for common cutting jobs. We may have inherited the oil stone from something like old saddle makers who found the oil stone edge optimal for cutting leather.
 
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