Scrubbing Stroke

[HeavyHanded]

You can use water and it works, but water can only prevent the stone from clogging, not so much prevent it glazing. Oil in a very real sense floats the swarf and loose abrasive off the surface, while water cannot without the help of a binder as in a waterstone. For a number of years I used soapy water exclusively and slowly began to grudgingly run side by side comparisons with oil after noting that outfits like Norton sell honing oil and not small cans of soapy water, and not doing so well second guessing Norton when it comes to their products.

Aside from having to periodically lap my stones to relieve the glazing when used with water, I also noticed a slightly finer edge when used with oil, especially Silicon Carbide but also India stones. The abrasives stay that little bit sharper/less glazed and as a result can cut the steel/remove burrs with a touch less pressure. YMMV and both methods have their boosters and detractors, but sincerely try both before settling.

 

[Father & Son Traditional Sharpening]

Fred, where do you recommend looking for an angle guide?

 

[David Martin]

Angle guides are easily cut out of wood from molding and thin strips like that.
I don't think I'll ever figure out how guys come up with oil creating such a mess...? It never does when I use it. DM

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Fred, where do you recommend looking for an angle guide?

I cut them out of composite balusters, which are not effected by water or oil. I include them in my ERU package. PM me if you would like a set. 8-10-12-14-15-16-17-18-20 degrees.

Fred

 

[bgentry]

I don't think I'll ever figure out how guys come up with oil creating such a mess...? It never does when I use it. DM

It's not that oil makes some kind of giant mess. It's just that it's oil, so it's messy by definition. It gets on your fingers. It will get on whatever surface you happen to have the stone sitting on. There will be oil left over on the stone. Which all really just means that you need some cloth, like shop towels or old t-shirts or something to wipe your fingers, the table, the stone, etc. Plus it's nice to have the stone itself stored in some kind of oily rag to contain the excess oil.

It's not a big deal, but I prefer not to deal with it.

On the other hand, waterstones are MORE of a pain to use due to all of the setup, cleanup, and teardown. But water has less of a tendency to make a mess if you get a little bit on something you didn't mean to. <shrug>

Brian.

 

[David Martin]

My travel stone, a Norton combination India is carried in a hardwood box. The stone fits fairly snug in it and a boot lace secures the lid. When in use the lid is removed and oil applied to it's surface and rubbed in via my finger. Which is then wiped on the back of my dry hands or on ONE paper towel. The mineral oil usually never leaves the surface of the stone. When I'm done I use the same paper towel to wipe the stones surface. I'm done. No oil dripping on to the table, splattered on the walls or down in the stones box.?? DM

 

[HeavyHanded]

I find I'm a lot more accepting of water in the warm months. Once the temps fall and RH drops, I really appreciate working with oil instead of water. I do get spots on my shirt sometimes, but overall is a lot less mess. With my waterstones I need a soak bucket, spot clean bucket or tray, towels, the mud and swarf tend to stain my skin more than oil based mud.

All in all, both have their pros/cons, but I stick with oil for oil stones, water for waterstones - whatever the mfg recommends is a safe bet and if run side by side tend to outperform other strategies in my experience - and I'm a guy that likes to tinker and not take anyone's word for anything if I can avoid it!