Drugstore bought mineral oil on stones?

M

mykem

Joined
Feb 23, 2001
Messages
294
I've been meaning to ask this for a long time.

As a matter of fact, i've been meaning to ask it since i ran out of the "honing oil" in a little bottle that came with some stones i bought long ago. When the honing stuff ran out, i just started using mineral oil that comes from the drugstore.

I've never noticed any ill effects. Is drugstore mineral oil okay for ALL stones? Are there any stones that should NOT be treated with mineral oil?

I don't have any waterstones. But if a waterstone is first introduced to mineral oil and never "waterered," not even once, is mineral oil okay for a waterstone?
 
As I understand it, mineral oil is safe for all oil stones: Aluminum Oxide, Silicon Carbide, Arkansas, etc. The drug store stuff is generally a lot thicker than mineral oil from other sources. But man you can't beat the price can you? :)

Waterstones are said to have terrible effects if you use oil on them, but I've never seen what happens. I assume they start to disintegrate, but that's just a guess.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
As I understand it, mineral oil is safe for all oil stones: Aluminum Oxide, Silicon Carbide, Arkansas, etc. The drug store stuff is generally a lot thicker than mineral oil from other sources. But man you can't beat the price can you? :)

Waterstones are said to have terrible effects if you use oil on them, but I've never seen what happens. I assume they start to disintegrate, but that's just a guess.

Brian.
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Thank you.
 
It would be a risky adventure.

Oils are said to break down the bond of abrasives in the waterstone. It can also create a ultra slick surface that the blade just slides across.

I know with my Shapton Glass stones that just touching the surface with your fingers can create slick spots on the stone. That's and extreme example of stone sensitivity but you get the picture.
 
mykem said:
I've been meaning to ask this for a long time.

As a matter of fact, i've been meaning to ask it since i ran out of the "honing oil" in a little bottle that came with some stones i bought long ago. When the honing stuff ran out, i just started using mineral oil that comes from the drugstore.

I've never noticed any ill effects. Is drugstore mineral oil okay for ALL stones? Are there any stones that should NOT be treated with mineral oil?

I don't have any waterstones. But if a waterstone is first introduced to mineral oil and never "waterered," not even once, is mineral oil okay for a waterstone?
Click to expand...

Pharmacy oil works fine for oil stones, diamond plates etc, do not use it on waterstones under any circumstances. It will soak into the stone and prevent it from breaking down, causing it to hopelessly load up unless the stone is completely saturated. Even then it still won't work as well as with water.

To fix it and remove the oil that has soaked in, will have to be cooked out - boiling will not be hot enough to remove it. It will release a bunch of wretched smoke as it does. If its a resin stone it will probably not survive the process. Do not ask how I know all this in such detail...Water for waterstones and oil for oil stones.
 
I use house brand generic drug store mineral oil on my oil stones. It's thicker than "Nathan's" ( lansky) honing oil. But I swear it's the same as the Norton oil, which I prefer. I cannot tell the difference.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Pharmacy oil works fine for oil stones, diamond plates etc, do not use it on waterstones under any circumstances. It will soak into the stone and prevent it from breaking down, causing it to hopelessly load up unless the stone is completely saturated. Even then it still won't work as well as with water.

To fix it and remove the oil that has soaked in, will have to be cooked out - boiling will not be hot enough to remove it. It will release a bunch of wretched smoke as it does. If its a resin stone it will probably not survive the process. Do not ask how I know all this in such detail...Water for waterstones and oil for oil stones.
Click to expand...

Now that was interesting. It sounds like waterstones need a lot of care.

And don't worry, there's no danger of me oiling a waterstone. I doubt if i'll ever own one. I try to get by with cheap stones. :)
 
Drug store mineral is better, in my view, than thinner oils....I've used it for years
with Norton Fine India stones and have elected to avoid the special purpose oils ....
 
Russ Andrews said:
Drug store mineral is better, in my view, than thinner oils....I've used it for years
with Norton Fine India stones and have elected to avoid the special purpose oils ....
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If it's good enough for Russ Andrews (i just looked at some of his beautiful work online) it's good enough for me!
 
I've used, and use, drug store usp mineral oil and even leftover baby oil we had in the house. They are both 98% pure pharmaceutical mineral oil. The drugstore oil has a 2% vitamin additives for its laxative use which makes it a bit thicker. The baby oil has 2% fragrance (usually another oil anyway). Both work well and will not damage a stone. Most thin or light oils are just 90%+ mineral oil anyway with additives. For example ballistol.

People have been using mineral oil, canola, olive oil, atf and motor oil and I've rarely heard of damage to a stone. I use the mineral oil because it's cheap and safe.

I've used it on Norton crystolon and India stones, and Arkansas soft and hard.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Pharmacy oil works fine for oil stones, diamond plates etc, do not use it on waterstones under any circumstances. It will soak into the stone and prevent it from breaking down, causing it to hopelessly load up unless the stone is completely saturated. Even then it still won't work as well as with water.

To fix it and remove the oil that has soaked in, will have to be cooked out - boiling will not be hot enough to remove it. It will release a bunch of wretched smoke as it does. If its a resin stone it will probably not survive the process. Do not ask how I know all this in such detail...Water for waterstones and oil for oil stones.
Click to expand...

Im sorry but I have to hear the rest of this! What did you do? :p
 
I use Lansky oil on my Lansky Arkansas stones... very cheap to buy. I'm on my 3rd bottle since Christmas.. but I've sharpened almost every knife in 4-5 house holds... :P
 
Megabassx7 said:
Im sorry but I have to hear the rest of this! What did you do? :p
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It was an experiment on two hard ceramic waterstones. Loaded with petroleum jelly under heat until saturated and then used with mineral oil as oil stones. It actually worked pretty well all things considered. The stones went from releasing a little mud to releasing next to none. They would load up a bit and after that any additional swarf would come off in the oil - so they were never 100% clean and never really dirty.

Also reduced the amount it was prone to dishing. However grind speed went down, and ability to cleanly work steel with very light pressure was reduced - burr removal etc. Decided to switch em back and realized the composition was too dense for the oil to completely boil out, even with long boil times and addition of dishwasher slugs.

Heated in the oven and nearly smoked the house out - once it hit about 350 degrees smoke was billowing out of em. Had to finish it on the side burner of my propane grill - raised off the bottom of an old baking sheet wrapped in foil and let em cook at the far end of my yard. I could have put them right in a camp fire to do this. Smoked for over 30 minutes and went another 10 for good measure. Washed in soapy water, rinsed well, lapped flat. A resin stone or one with weaker vitreous bond maybe would not have survived the process.

Aside from the discoloration they work better than ever (no smell even), and I only had to wash every surface in my kitchen twice to get rid of the stink, including the ceiling. I could have replaced both stones for what Hibachi out with the family cost me the night it happened... :o
 
On my oil stones (Norton Crystolon, India, and Economy, Arkansas, and no-name from Ace Hardware). I have used any or all of the following: drug store mineral oil USP, Norton Honing Oil, some unbranded mineral oil that came with the Arkansas stones, and Howard's Cutting Board Oil.

Of those I found the drug store (Rite-Aid) oil to be more viscous than I like, but it worked ok with the Norton Economy stones which were not pre-loaded and were rather thirsty. I like a thinner oil for the Arkansas and the other Norton stones, but not that big of a deal either way.

I would never use oil on water stones. The manufacturers clearly explain in the product documentation that it will ruin them. I am careful to avoid cross-contamination when using both types during a sharpening session. I usually use only one or the other depending on what I am sharpening in the first place.

For diamond, I usually go with a little spritz of water, or just dry for quick touch ups. Ceramic stones I always use dry and clean up with water and Bar Keepers Friend when they get loaded up.

Water stones are not expensive per se. You can find inexpensive combo stones in the $30-50 range and use sheets of drywall screen on a flat tile or sheet of glass to flatten them. They may not be what the top sharpeners use but would allow you to get your feet (hands) wet so to speak if you are interested in learning about them.
 
I've been using baby oil, it works just fine with no ill effects to the stone.

Edit: To add, I think I remember reading Phil Wilson uses Windex on his oil stones.
 
Here is what he wrote;

"The Norton stones can be used with water or oil but I have found that the best lubricant is something like “Windex”. You can pick up a house brand window cleaner cheap at the Dollar stores and as a bonus you have a spray bottle that makes application easy. This fluid lubricates cools and does not leave an oil residue on the blade. Just rinse the stone in water and it is clean and ready to use again. Keep the stone very wet so that metal particles will float out and not imbed in the stone."
 
I've read that kerosene or unscented lamp oil are good for use on oil stones. I've never tried either of those myself.

There's a limit to how much I want to experiment versus just sharpen knives. I don't fancy myself to be vastly more clever than the people who make the stones so I tend to follow manufacturer's directions. Though the "only use our brand of oil" directions can usually be safely ignored as long as you know what their magical mystery oil is made of. Which in general is food grade mineral oil.
 
I've tried Windex as a lubricant on diamond hones. Being here in the dry desert southwest (NM), it evaporates off in about 2 minutes or less. The above suggestion from Phil Wilson to 'keep the stone very wet' with it would be a challenge here, not to mention how much Windex I'd use up trying to do so. Might work out better in a less dry environment though. It's also pretty tough on the hands, as it does a nice job 'degreasing' the skin as well.

I do still use it to clean diamond hones after each session; it works well for that, used with a microfiber towel.

And on the original topic, I've generally liked Norton's honing oil, when I've chosen to use any at all; I've preferred its lighter, thinner consistency for the sake of feedback coming to the fingertips from the stone. I've also noticed the lighter oil cleans up a bit easier when washing the hands and cleaning the stones, whereas the heavier stuff is a little more stubborn to wash off. But the grocery store laxative-grade oil will work fine if it's the only thing available.


David
 
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Anything that will 'float the swarf', and keep the stone from clogging will work. Personally, I like a lighter oil than pharmacy mineral oil... baby oil is lighter and works well (if you don't associate the smell with something bad...). :eek: Also have used Simple Green after seeing it recommended... works pretty well. And no oil on waterstones.
 
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