No Oil or Water?

I never use oil, or water...I personally use, On SC or natural stones etc, Simple green soap. It’s in a spray. Squirt the heck out of your stones & it will float out the Swartz .. wipe off with an old t shirt or PTs and then squirt lightly to sharpen again.. Works far better than oil ..let’s the steel abrade nice & clean. Try it! You’ll like it!
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
Squirt the heck out of your stones & it will float out the Swartz ..
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This thread just gets better and better. :cool:

(I hereby move that swarf now and forever be known as "the swartz".)

Just havin' a little fun, Laurence.
 
I use my diamond stones dry. I have Sic stones that work way better wet. I tend not to use them as much.
 
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Rhinoknives1 said:
I never use oil, or water...I personally use, On SC or natural stones etc, Simple green soap. It’s in a spray. Squirt the heck out of your stones & it will float out the Swartz .. wipe off with an old t shirt or PTs and then squirt lightly to sharpen again.. Works far better than oil ..let’s the steel abrade nice & clean. Try it! You’ll like it!
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Interesting post, thanks. That's the kind of performance I am looking for.

Would you please explain why Simple Green spray works better than oil? I've read of others using Simple Green but don't know why or how it works.

I read a post, I think in this forum, some time ago where the person was concerned that soapy water may cause a residue build-up on his stones, like soap scum on a bathtub or sink. I don't know if this is true or not, since I've never read about it anywhere else, but since Simple Green is advertised to clean soap scum it wouldn't create it.

Thank you!
 
MtnHawk1 said:
Interesting post, thanks. That's the kind of performance I am looking for.

Would you please explain why Simple Green spray works better than oil? I've read of others using Simple Green but don't know why or how it works.

I read a post, I think in this forum, some time ago where the person was concerned that soapy water may cause a residue build-up on his stones, like soap scum on a bathtub or sink. I don't know if this is true or not, since I've never read about it anywhere else, but since Simple Green is advertised to clean soap scum it wouldn't create it.

Thank you!
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Because it allows contact directly with the stone instead of a slurry caused with oil that inhibits contact with the stone & will plug it up in time...Kerosene was used by many prior to WWII. It works Like Simple Green but really isn’t something you want prolonged skin/lung contact with..
 
Gritomatic said:
Water user --> choose stone, purchase stone, use stone, happiness
Oil user --> choose stone, purchase stone, use stone, happiness
Dry user --> purchase random stone on Amazon, use stone, clog stone, return stone, get full refund, repeat
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This pretty much sums it up. Whatever the mfg recommends is going to be the way to go 90% of the time. I've boiled plenty of oilstones dry and used with water, but they glaze over time.

They can be used with soapy water but that is not nice on the skin, esp in the Winter months. This also applies to Windex, gave it a try but decided soaking my fingers in Windex was not a good idea.

They can be used with no oil or water, but I find it then pays to wipe them off with an oiled rag to remove the swarf. If a lot of work is being done they'll need to be wiped off during the job. Using a SiC puck one can go a bit longer without maintaining the stone mostly because gravity is helping keep the stone clean. A quick dunk in water can keep a puck working well for a long time.

SiC benchstones used with oil will quickly develop an almost velvety surface that stays pristine and cutting well with minimal pressure. This is the ideal solution IMHO, and the one recommended by the manufacturer.

if you are determined to not use water or oil with SiC I would highly recommend swapping over to wet/dry sandpaper over a hard surface and clearing the swarf with an eraser or synthetic wine cork.
 
I'd tried Simple Green a while back. Seemed OK at first. But then I started noticing the drying effect of it on my hands, as it's a pretty aggressive degreaser and will strip oils out of the skin. It's also somewhat corrosive to non-stainless steels (alkaline pH of 8.5 - 9.2, by the MSDS); I'd noticed rust-spotting on blades in 1095 & CV, after sharpening them on stones with Simple Green as a lubricant.

I really wanted to like using Simple Green, as it provides good feedback on a stone and smells nice as well. But the above factors made me shy away from it in favor of using mineral oil instead, for sharpening. As a cleaner for stones, Simple Green works pretty well, and I can wear some rubber gloves to save my skin for that. Don't like to do that for sharpening though, as the gloves get in the way too much, for feedback's sake.
 
It's worth noting that the term "oil stone" typically means that the bond strength is high enough to necessitate the use of something with the lubricity of oil to prevent glazing. The better the lubrication, the less wear on the abrasive, and the longer it will continue to cut without requiring the surface to be refreshed, either by shedding grit in use or by dressing the surface. Oil stones typically use a very hard bond strength, which is what results in them being recommended for use with oil, as water will not provide sufficient lubricity to keep the surface cutting properly. It's possible one might come across a stone pre-loaded with oil that would be sufficiently soft to allow it to be used with water, but that would be an unusual find compared to typical commercial availability.
 
I always use mineral oil with my crystolon, but never any lubricant with my dmt fine or my sharpmaker rods.
I did use some of the honing oil when I was using my lansky. I think they actually tell you to not use it unless you're using the Arkansas kit, but they include it with all of them. I just put a few drops on the stones, wiped them off. Basically just to clean them. Worked great.
And I use mineral oil for my smith's tri hone. Especially on the fine arkansas stone. That thing is really great for kitchen knives!
 
HeavyHanded, Obsessed with Edges, FortyTwoBlades-

Wow! I thought after a few years of researching and studying knife sharpening, and doing a lot of it, I was starting to learn something, but your posts made me feel like a newbie again! :) You guys really know your stuff!

Thank you very much for sharing!

Even though I don't like messy lubricants, your posts about using oil with oilstones are overwhelmingly convincing and I will go back to that, this time knowing why, which makes a big difference.

It was interesting timing that after I wrote the above I needed to clean my coarse Crystolon stone. I had used this stone dry just a few times but was amazed how much swarf came off, and how black it was, when cleaning with food grade mineral oil. It took 5 coatings and wipe downs to get it clean! This definitely reinforced what you said in your posts. I now have no doubt that I need to use oil on SiC, for several good reasons.
 
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