Natural Stones - Oil, Water or Dry

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.45acp

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May 25, 2002
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Oil, Water or Dry?

What to use or not use on honing stones.

I have free sharpened with stones for years; oiling the stone was the standard since I was presented with my first Buck 110 in 1968 along with a set of Buck stones. Recently I have been reading a great deal about the use of oil, water or nothing on stones. I still use oil, but recently, I purchased new stones and was trying to decide what method of lubricant to use or to use any at all.

What do you use and why?
 
Air costs less than oil or water and is easier to clean up. Using a sharpening rig (Sharpmaker), I've had good results using nothing and the Razor Edge folks say that oil reduces abrasive friction and floats steel particles into the path of the edge you're sharpening which they believe acts to slow what you're doing and damage the edge. I'm not so sure that's true, so I recommend air on the basis of cleaning up afterwards.
 
I have about decided that plain old kerosene is my first choice. It lets the stone cut aggressivly, which is why some don't like oil, but it still keeps the blade residue soft for easy stone clean up. I know there are going to be lots of votes for the dry method, but give kerosene a try.
 
Dry. I think the trick (IMHO) is to keep the stones free from shavings that will clog the pores. A wire brush works nicely. Wet stones always seemed to clog faster in my experience, and no amount of scrubbing could get them completely free from debris. A dry stone seems to wipe clean very easily.
 
Shane45-1911,

Supposing you've already clogged a stone with particles and oil leftovers and are finding it hard to scrub the pour bubby clean, would the wire brush help or would it be an exercise in futility that only future applications of oil can solve?

Knzn,

Kerosene sounds like a good choice, but I just like the smell of air better.
 
Water will cut better than oil (generalisation) if you decide to use water, use running water (messier & a bit of a pain, I know, but, it will wash particles away & cut much better & more uniformly)

Don't mix your lube mediums (one set for oil, one for water)

Oh, & a pair of ceramic sticks & a steel (use either depending on type of blade material/type of edge)
 
I go dry with all my hones now. Why don't you try dry first you can always go with a lube after if you don't like it. But once you use oil it's hard to go back to dry on the same hone.
 
All good points:

I think I´ll try the dry metheod and see how that works. DB is right in the fact that you can switch to oil anytime. Anyhow, the new stones in question are hung up in customs right now, no telling when they will be released.

Coonskinner: you go to great lenghts to keep your wife from messing with your stones.:D
 
.45 ACP.
Hall's hard Arkansas stones has a good website with lots of information about Arkansas stones. They also have very reasonable prices. <www.hallsproedge.com>.
Natural stones need cleaning and lubrication. It is up to the individual to choose the medium to use. I have a surgical black Arkansas stone that I have used almost daily since 1982 that I use cutting oil on and it doesn't show any sign of wear. I use it to put the final polished edge on, usually following diamond honing or after the final grind on a new knife.
 
When I was in trade school we were taught to use kerosene on our stones, stinky, but it's always worked for me. Kerosene with a stiff bristle brush is also good for cleaning stones.
 
i have several types/brands of stones, and i use something on all of them 'cept my spydie ceramic ultra fine, which i use dry, imho ya should use oil on ark stones, and i like to use water on DMT's, though they work ok dry, i think the H2O helps, i guess ya could use kerosine/etc on the ark, but i dont think they would work great dry

greg
 
This may seem strange to some, but I do what the manufacturer recommends. Most stones come with information as to what lubrication media, if any, to use. I've never had a problem following the instructions. If there is a choice between oil and water, I choose oil. Why? Because the residual oil on the knife helps keep rust away, which water certainly would not do.
 
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