Lets beat this dead horse a little more : Honing Oil ?!?

lex2006 said:
r8shell r8shell
Have you used the glycerin with the Spyderco medium brown stone, I find it loads up pretty fast but have only used water and dish soap on them ,
I've even soaked the medium to see if that helps but it doesnt seem to, but it will soak up water for a bit and doesnt dry out as fast .
Next time I am going to try the glycerin because I like that stone if it would stay crisp longer.
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Yes, I use it on pretty much any kind of ceramic, diamond, or Arkansas stone. I took pictures of the fine white because it best showed off the results.

Also, if it feels too viscous, you can add a few drops of water as you go to thin it out.
 
I've really been enjoying this thread, thanks to all of you who are posting.

For those of you who are considering using kerosene, smell it first before you try it. Just sayin'....
 
At home its honing oil all the way with arkansas stones. At work I don't bother with any of that. I am a shift operator at a factory and work in the boiler room/engine room. The first hour + I do water chemistry for boilers, cooling towers, feed water, condensate etc. In the cabinet that has the reagents in it there are several old chemistry pariphanilia such as beakers, graduated cylinders and several old porcelain casseroles. The casseroles have an unfinished top edge and handle - that's the set up. We have a young guy getting trained in. I carry a little Benchmade mini-barrage in CPM3 as my work knife (I like the assist when I'm on a ladder with gloves trying to cut some insulation to get at a pipe e.g.) So I'm talking to the youngling and casually take out the casserole and sharpen my knife on the lip. That's all the touch up I need until I bring the knife home for a good sharpening once every couple of months or so. You don't need anything special for a touch up at work unless your really abusing the knife. The bottom ring on a ceramic coffee mug works just as well.

I don't think it matters if you use oil or water or dry on a stone as long as it is consistent. don't use oil and then try to use water, you'll just muck up your stone.

Jim
 
sodak said:
I've really been enjoying this thread, thanks to all of you who are posting.

For those of you who are considering using kerosene, smell it first before you try it. Just sayin'....
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I hear you. That's why I don't use it. I sharpen in the kitchen mostly.
However for those who have to leave their stones in a shop / shed that gets bellow freezing water stones just are not going to work and kerosene can be just the thing.
 
annr said:
Wowbagger Wowbagger i thought you were talking about a pocket stone.

After you oil it the first time, or few times, it will still be “oily.” So, I don’t know how much oil you intend to use or what your technique is, but I can’t imagine it taking more than a drop or two to lubricate a pocket stone. If you overdo it, the oil just scrapes off with the first couple of passes of the edge and you will be wiping up (messy) excess oil.
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Yes I was / am.
You are quite right.
I do have this nice 10 inch Translucent I have been trying to use water with.
Who knows I might get all crazy and put some oil on it as well. :)
Link to photo>>>>
 
BigJim2x said:
I don't think it matters if you use oil or water or dry on a stone as long as it is consistent. don't use oil and then try to use water, you'll just muck up your stone.

Jim
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Actually, it does matter with some stones. Not so much with vitrified synthetics or most natural stones, but splash-and-go water stones can be ruined if you get oil on it. The binder used in them is designed to break down in the presence of water, and is quite hard otherwise, and if you get oil blocking the water, that makes for some real problems. However, it's a bit of a myth about not being able to use water on an oil stone. Give it a try sometime and you'll see. Not all such stones will respond the same way, but in most cases it's totally viable, if you don't have oil available.
 
Actually I was referring specifically to Arkansas Stones when I posted about using honing oil, water or dry as long as your consistent. Water stones, diamond stones, ceramics etc are an entirely different ball game. I am full aware there are other problems with an arkansas stone dry but that's another issue too, you can work them dry with good effect as long as you keep it clean. My further point is at work for a touch up, even on a daily basis, can be done with any found object that has a bite to it - edge of a cup, sandpaper, file, emery cloth etc. You don't need a stone although they are nice if your in a machine shop or such.

Cheers
Jim
 
short answer.
  • 204-freehanding with whateveroil (e.g. leather oil or mineral oil)
  • ruixin-freehanding on RUBY3000 or GREEN10000 with whateveroil
  • ruixin-freehanding on ADAEE3000 or anything lower grit (ADAEE2000, RUIXIN1500, etc) with water!
summary. if the stone is porous or easily absorbs water, then i use water. if the stone is dense as ****, then oil comes in very handy and also doesn't frustrate. i usually do 204-freehanding, which means i resharpen blade edges with oil all the time. as a beginner i needed the Ruixin device and water-presoaked RUIXIN stones. those times are over. I'm officially not a beginner anymore.
 
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Spideyjg said:
As has been said many times oil is about maintaining the stone not the blade. In my yewt I always used oil and never had a stone issue. Started trying dry or soap and the stones glazed. After I lap them oil from then on.
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This has largely been my experience. I find some stones that work best with oil can work with water (after being boiled), but over time they almost always glaze and load up.

IMHO only diamond plates are truly bi in this regard, all other stone compositions have a preference for one or the other and most are designed/manufactured that way. Some of the super dense silt stones might be used either way, but those are a rarity - most are far better used with water.
 
HeavyHanded said:
This has largely been my experience. I find some stones that work best with oil can work with water (after being boiled), but over time they almost always glaze and load up.

IMHO only diamond plates are truly bi in this regard, all other stone compositions have a preference for one or the other and most are designed/manufactured that way. Some of the super dense silt stones might be used either way, but those are a rarity - most are far better used with water.
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That's what I've found as well. I used to believe my oilstones (porous stones from ACE, Norton, Sears, etc) worked just as well with water, and I exclusively used them that way for a while. But I eventually found out they were more prone to clogging and glazing, used that way, and it didn't take very long for it to happen. Spent more time cleaning and resurfacing those stones to keep them cutting, else they'd slow down quite a bit. I've since come around to using oil with those stones, and all those issues have been rendered essentially moot since then.
 
BITEME said:
Does metal/swarf float ?
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Swarf doesn't float, but since the swarf particles are so small it does suspend. Better in oil than in water - due to a couple of factors. First, oil has higher viscosity than water, and second, oil is less dense than water. So the action of honing/sharpening itself stirs up the oil/swarf into a suspension, and due to the viscosity it takes a while to settle back out.
 
DeadHorse.gif
 
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