new stone break in or conditioning?

E

Exibar

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Mar 21, 2011
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HI all!
I'm new to this forum so please bear with me :-) I'm scoutmaster of my local boyscout troop 31 here in Rochester, Mass. I recently purchased a box full of, I assume, Arkansas sharpening stones for each of my scouts from Ebay. The stone all appear natural, and have a sticker on the bottom stating "made in Austria" with some numbers on the label as well. The stones are all brand new as well.
I've tried to sharpen using one of them, as soon as I put my oil on and spread it out a bit, it gets absorbed into the stone pretty quickly. Should I keep applying oil until it's no longer absorbed? I usually use a cutting oil on my other stones and that seems to work ok, perhaps I should use a thicker oil on these stones?
Do brand new stones have to be soaked in oil overnight in order to be conditioned?

I'm not new to sharpening knives, but certainly I'm not an expert like many on this forum, but these stones are absorbing oil quicker than I remember my other stones absorbing.

Anyone have any advise for this this ScoutMaster?

thanks all!
Mike B
 
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I'm only viewing it from my phone but those look more like a aluminum oxide oil stone than a Arkansas. They are probably coarser maybe 300 grit? so the structure of the stone is more open and will soak up oil quickly. I'd probably soak the stone in oil before use or skip the oil and use soapy water, both will do what's needed.

If you could post a better close-up it would be helpful.
 
absolutely, I'll take some close up pics tonight when I get home for ya.

Would a soak in 30 weight motor oil work ok? I can't easily get Kero for a mix of oil and Kerosene. But I'll hunt down a gallon if you say it's worth the effort. I want to start my scouts off on the right foot with these stones and judging by the amazing edges you've been able to put on your blades, I'm in good hands ;-)

thank you for the help!
Mike B
 
I don't think the kerosene is absolutely necessary, but there are several forumites who know a lot more about oil stones than I do. Kerosene **really** stinks, so make sure that you want to use it before you buy it....
 
Exibar said:
absolutely, I'll take some close up pics tonight when I get home for ya.

Would a soak in 30 weight motor oil work ok? I can't easily get Kero for a mix of oil and Kerosene. But I'll hunt down a gallon if you say it's worth the effort. I want to start my scouts off on the right foot with these stones and judging by the amazing edges you've been able to put on your blades, I'm in good hands ;-)

thank you for the help!
Mike B
Click to expand...

I would go with mineral oil. It's non-toxic, food safe and generally cheap at any hardware store.
 
Exibar said:
absolutely, I'll take some close up pics tonight when I get home for ya.

Would a soak in 30 weight motor oil work ok? I can't easily get Kero for a mix of oil and Kerosene. But I'll hunt down a gallon if you say it's worth the effort. I want to start my scouts off on the right foot with these stones and judging by the amazing edges you've been able to put on your blades, I'm in good hands ;-)

thank you for the help!
Mike B
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of catching myself on fire so I've never used kerosene on a oil stone, heard it works though...

A soak in 30 weight would probably be my method unless you can get 3-in-1 oil. Don't know if it would make a difference but I always liked 3-in-1.
 
Here are some closeups of the stone. The "wet" looking part is where I put some oil and it just absorbed it right up.
LOL, my son's half convinced that if he were to throw one of these stones into the ocean that it would suck up all the water in the ocean ;-)

Stone Closeup 1

Stone 2

Stone 3

thank you all!
Mike B
 
After looking at those pic's I'm going to stick with my original guess. To me they don't look like a natural Ark stone and much more like a aluminum oxide stone, and I'll also stick with the guess of about 300 grit.

If you want to keep one in oil to see how it works feel free but don't limit yourself to just that method. Those stones will also work dry or with water like a waterstone. For the scouts I'd probably show them how to use it dry or with water, that way if they don't have oil sharpening will not be a issue.
 
thank you very much for the help!

so these stones could actually be used dry? Won't they get clogged up?

I kinda like the water idea. Now, if I start them off with water, will they be able to switch to oil if they want to?

I do like the idea of dry sharpening too. I'm sure the scout parents will like that idea a lot as well ;-)

thanks again!
Mike B
 
Using the dry may clog them over time but because of the grit and type of stone I doubt it would be that much of a worry. Using them dry may produce a dust on the surface that needs to be wiped regularly though. If used with water that dust will become a slurry that aids in the removal of metal and cloging becomes a non-issue. If used with water the stone will need to be soaked for a few minutes and constantly be splashed during use.

The stones are going to leave a rougher edge but one that can still be very sharp with practice. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
Thank you very much for the help with these stones! I think I'm not going ot soak them in oil, I'll leave that up to the scouts.
I think they'll like having the option with these stones to just use a bit of soap and water with them instead of oil, and those scouts that really want the oil I'm now ready to answer their questions as to how to properly prepare them.

thank you again!
Mike B
 
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