OIL vs. WATER

J

Judge_Blackhawk

Joined
Jun 9, 2000
Messages
109
Can you use water on an arkansas Stone???

What is the benefits of oil?

What is the benefit of Water?

Which is the prefered method?

Can you use Arkansas Stone DRY???

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Government's ability to control is directly related to it's ability to disarm it's citizens. - Judge Blackawk
 
Judge; please see above regarding the Joe Talmadge Sharpening FAQ's, which answer these questions in full.

However, briefly:

I am not aware of anyone using water on Arkansas stones; water is generally reserved for Japanese water stones and diamond dust stones.

Benefit of oil is allegedly that it will float the particles of steel to the surface so that the pores of an Arkansas stone do not clog.

Benefit of water is to provide lubrication on the synthetic diamond dust stones; on the Japanese water stones, the surface of the stone actually wears away slightly, forming a sharpening slurry in addition to the sharpening action of the stone itself.

Preferred method? Try them out, and see which works best for you. Use the 'search' function, where you will find the numerous threads on sharpening, in which the relative merits of the different methods are debated.

Yes, Arkansas stones can be used dry; however, once you have used oil on an Arkansas stone, you must use oil thereafter, as the oil cannot be completely removed.

Hope this helps, Walt
 
I use water on almost anything. It doesn't work as well on an Arkansas stone as on some others. I use sink scouring cleanser and hot water on stones to remove oil residue. Generally oil works better, but it is messy. It seems to me that I get better microserrations on an edge when I lubricate the stone with something. I also suspect that the edge may stay harder if I keep it cool with lubrication when I work on it.

I like to hone under running tap water to thoroughly remove partical build-up as I work. The only drawback I have seen is that nonstainless steels can turn a little brown while you work. If I don't clean up properly I can leave rust in the kitchen sink.

I don't use Arkansas stones anymore. I use diamond hones for most of the work and finish with ceramic rods. Arkansas stones cut rather slowly.
 
Although I usually use waterstones, I have found that a mixture of water and dish washing detergent, which is fairly viscous,
seems to be almost as effective as oil in keeping the stone clear of particles. But as mentioned above, non-stainless blades will leave a rust trail if you don't clean up the residue.
 
I've found that oil seems to work better on Arkansas stones, in fact on the aluminum oxide and silicon carbide stones too. After hearing and reading about others preferring to use them dry I tried it, and while the stones cut better initially they clogged up much, much more quickly and were much harder to get cleaned up again. I find that as long as I keep the stones flushed with oil they don't clog up, but I also make sure that the stones have been well soaked with oil before using them. To clean the stones I just pour a bit more oil on and scrub and wipe them off with a cloth.
 
My answer is, it depends on the stone. The process I follow is:

1. Sharpen with stone dry. If it works out, great, because this is the most mess-free way to do things. I use both my diamond and ceramic hones dry. But many arkansas stones will clog much too quickly this way, so try:

2. Put water on stone. This is messier than dry, but if it keeps the stones from clogging and makes them cut better, great. I use all my water stones with water (of course). I used to use my ceramic stones with water, because that's what the directions said to do, but they actually work better dry. Anyway, if your arkansas stone is still filling up too quickly, then ...

3. Oil the stone. Oiling an arkansas stone is the safe method -- it is definitely messier, but pick a good oil and it always works well. Once you oil your stone, you'll be using oil forever, which is why I suggest trying the other methods first, at least once. I currently have one arkansas stone, and it must be oiled or it clogs way too fast to get any work done. On the other hand, I know a number of people who have natural stones that they're using dry, without the clogging problems I had on my stone.

Joe
 
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