SiC stone dry, water, oil

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Papilio

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As I needed another faster cutting synthetic stone I bought a Silicone Carbide a couple of months ago. One side medium grit, the other side fine: ComboStone medium fine

Works good before finer, slower cutting stones like Arkansas stones or sintered ceramics.

Description says: Can be used dry, with oil or water. Does that make a difference?

I know that I am not the first one to asked a question like this.

I don't want to use oil. I prefer water. Maybe soapy water. But this stone is not splash and go. I tried that, water vanishes immediately when spayed on the stones surface. I would have to soak it, what I do not like.

Lubrication will prevent the stone from clogging, as far as I know. What about the cutting performance? Finer? Faster or slower?
Until now I used it dry and cleaned it thouroughly after use. The fine (white) side has some black marks on it, even after scrubbing it with a scouring agent.
 
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I went round & round, experimenting with SiC stones using different means of lubrication (or none at all). The following conclusions are what I came to, after some time:

1. Oil will do a better job suspending the swarf so it can be wiped away easily. In terms of keeping the stone in the best working condition with minimal clogging, and for easier cleanup, oil is the way to go.

2. Water won't suspend the swarf at all. So, swarf tends to sink into the stone and clog it faster, and also makes cleaning (unclogging) the stone more tedious. Water-based lubrication also evaporates more quickly, so the stone will need more frequent re-wetting to keep it from clogging.

3. Dry use is OK, if doing light touch-up work. Any heavy grinding will produce a lot of swarf, which will clog the stone faster.

4. If the stone is VERY THIRSTY, i.e., if it really drinks up any water or oil applied to it, you can 'mod' the stone to fix that. Some vaseline (petroleum jelly) applied to the stone and heated, so it melts into & fills the pores of the stone, will make the stone a lot less thirsty for oil. If doing this with a SiC stone, it'll be best to use oil for lubrication thereafter. The vaseline will otherwise make water bead up & roll off, which won't work very well to lubricate the stone.
 
Thanks for your detailed, comprehensive answer.

If I try oil, can I still use the stone dry (afterwards)? If I do not like oil?
Using water after oil is not a good choice, I know.
 
Papilio said:
As I needed another faster cutting synthetic stone I bought a Silicone Carbide a couple of months ago. One side medium grit, the other side fine: ComboStone medium fine

Works good before finer, slower cutting stones like Arkansas stones or sintered ceramics.

Description says: Can be used dry, with oil or water. Does that make a difference?

I know that I am not the first one to asked a question like this.

I don't want to use oil. I prefer water. Maybe soapy water. But this stone is not splash and go. I tried that, water vanishes immediately when spayed on the stones surface. I would have to soak it, what I do not like.

Lubrication will prevent the stone from clogging, as far as I know. What about the cutting performance? Finer? Faster or slower?
Until now I used it dry and cleaned it thouroughly after use. The fine (white) side has some black marks on it, even after scrubbing it with a scouring agent.
Click to expand...
Most stone descriptions tell you what is recommended for that product. If it says it can be used dry, wet or oiled I'd start out using it dry, then soaked in water, probably with an occasional plunge or flush while using. Impossible to say until you try - it might work fine dry, it might hold water OK once its saturated. If used with oil it will probably have to be boiled before using only with water or dry, or its liable to clog.

Something like a Norton silicon carbide stone should only be used with oil for best results, but I have other SiC stones that work better with water (spec'd on the packaging as being OK water, oil, dry).
 
Papilio said:
Thanks for your detailed, comprehensive answer.

If I try oil, can I still use the stone dry (afterwards)? If I do not like oil?
Using water after oil is not a good choice, I know.
Click to expand...
You can. Keep in mind that after oiling it, it's best to keep using it that way. If you want to try it dry, I'd do that before using it with oil. The residual oil on and within the stone will tend to collect and hold swarf if the stone isn't kept lubricated with fresh oil over time.

There are ways to clean the oil from stones, like boiling them or washing with solvents or detergents. But sometimes those methods can be tedious. So, if experimenting with the variables, I'd first try it with water or dish soap & water, then try it dry, then with oil. A clearer picture of how things work will develop over time, using each method. Be sure to give it some time with each, to form a clear picture. After some time, it'll be easier to see (literally) if the stone is clogging or not, as it's pretty visible when it happens on SiC stones.
 
I will give it a try it with dish soap & water, but I will have to soak it some minutes at least.
It is good to know that it could work dry. But you are right: Why not to try other methods?

Thanks.
 
Papilio said:
As I needed another faster cutting synthetic stone I bought a Silicone Carbide a couple of months ago. One side medium grit, the other side fine: ComboStone medium fine

Works good before finer, slower cutting stones like Arkansas stones or sintered ceramics.

Description says: Can be used dry, with oil or water. Does that make a difference?

I know that I am not the first one to asked a question like this.

I don't want to use oil. I prefer water. Maybe soapy water. But this stone is not splash and go. I tried that, water vanishes immediately when spayed on the stones surface. I would have to soak it, what I do not like.

Lubrication will prevent the stone from clogging, as far as I know. What about the cutting performance? Finer? Faster or slower?
Until now I used it dry and cleaned it thouroughly after use. The fine (white) side has some black marks on it, even after scrubbing it with a scouring agent.
Click to expand...
I have a Norton butcher setup with 3 stones (2 1/2 X 1/2” X11 1/2”) arranged as a triangular prism suspended over a mineral oil bath. The 2 coarser stones are SiC. The finer stone is Al2O3. I twirl the stones in oil to coat them, loosen the swarf with an auto parts cleaning brush, and squeegee the dirty oil back into the bath with a rubber spatula. The solids fall to the bottom of the bath leaving the oil quite fresh. The stones are fairly clean and dry when prepared this way. The blade should be wiped between stones to avoid getting coarser grit on finer stones.
 
Thanks. Good idea. I will try the water method first. If that doesn't work, I'll have to think about oil.
 
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