Should I use Water or Oil on DMT benchstone or just go dry?

MTHall720

MTHall720

Joined
Sep 21, 2010
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I have read a lot and watched vids and
Am still uncertain if there is any general consensus. For those who have tried any lubricant and compared to dry, do you find the sharpening process either impededed or accelerated by this factor?

Thanks very much for All input.
 
I've used water,soapy water and dry. For several years I've been sharpening dry. And I don't see any difference. If your looking for cleaner scratch patterns I'm sure anything to lube it will improve that. But I'm all for utility. I don't care about scratches if the knife cuts the way I want it.
 
MTHall720 said:
I have read a lot and watched vids and
Am still uncertain if there is any general consensus. For those who have tried any lubricant and compared to dry, do you find the sharpening process either impededed or accelerated by this factor?

Thanks very much for All input.
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Dry. I use BreakFree CLP to clean the swarf off when it builds up.
 
I use regular glass cleaner on my 10" DMT DuoSharp diamond stones. It works great, and I just hose them off when I'm finished.
 
Depends ........... I use oil , because it helps the knife glide over the diamond plate ..
If the diamond is smooth , I might go dry .. But for grabby diamond , I will use oil .
 
Dry or with water works ... I use a little Simple Green if I am doing heavy sharpening or reprofiling. I like the feedback a little better with the Simple Green. I clean them with Bar Keepers Friend powder.
 
One of the major diamond stone makers said Krud Kutter was the best, so I tried it. I had already tried dry, plain water, water with dish soap, and water with lanolin.

Krud Kutter was noticeably better than anything else. Outstanding lubrication, and absolutely no clogging on the stone. Cleanup takes a minute, if you take your time. I mix a fairly strong solution in a big spray bottle, and it lasts a long time. It is cheap. I haven't tried to clean anything with it so I don't know if it is any good for that, but it kills on a diamond stone.
 
Khromo said:
One of the major diamond stone makers said Krud Kutter was the best, so I tried it. I had already tried dry, plain water, water with dish soap, and water with lanolin.

Krud Kutter was noticeably better than anything else. Outstanding lubrication, and absolutely no clogging on the stone. Cleanup takes a minute, if you take your time. I mix a fairly strong solution in a big spray bottle, and it lasts a long time. It is cheap. I haven't tried to clean anything with it so I don't know if it is any good for that, but it kills on a diamond stone.
Click to expand...
Never heard of that but sounds great
 
MTHall720 said:
Never heard of that but sounds great
Click to expand...

I got "The Original Formula" or something like that, at the hardware store. Some water based, organic concoction, it doesn't smell bad, it cleans everything up really easily. It is probably similiar to dish soap for our purposes.

I used a lot more than the "couple of drops" folks recommend for dish soap. This probably has a lot to do with how any of these water additives work. More might be better, it might make the diamond stones feel more friendly. Diamond stones don't feel good, to me, compared to natural stones, they feel industrial. Natural stones feel friendly with just a little water.
 
I use mineral oil for heavier grinding tasks. Just a few drops spread around with a fingertip - just enough to give the hone a 'sheen' - no more is necessary. Part of my preference is because anything water-based evaporates too fast in my climate, including things like glass cleaner, Simple Green, etc. And I feel it does a better job in keeping swarf of some simpler stainless steels from clinging so tenaciously to the hone's grit and makes wiping the swarf away peridically with a microfiber towel very easy. Some low-alloy stainless swarf can really stick to the hone if it's dry or if the lubrication dries up too quickly in use.

But most anything can work fairly well. And for light touchups, dry use is OK. I still use a microfiber towel with some Windex to wipe down the hone afterward.
 
I forgot to mention that I also use a little food grade mineral oil (same stuff I use on my cutting board) when I use my KME system. The stones are upside down, so the oil clings better than glass cleaner. Plus, I sometimes use the KME inside (rather than out in my garage), and I sure don't want metal dust floating around in my house.
 
Been using water for a few years now on DMT or Atoma stones. It does improve the feel a bit but mostly keeps the metal dust in control. I mostly use lower grit diamond stones for reprofiling so that can create a lot of swarf.
 
With water - keeps dust down and just feels like the right thing to do.

Besides, it's fun to play with the swarf.
 
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