To Lubricate or Not

G

Gautier

Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
461
So, after hearing both arguments to use water/oil and not to, they both seem to have their validity. Which is it? Use lube and risk floating steel particles in the slurry that dull the edge, or use none and risk clogging the pores of your stone thus reducing it's "cutting efficiency"?
I've sharpened dry and with water, and can't really tell the difference as far as results are concerned. I'm curious what some of you more knowledgable sharpeners have to say on the matter though. Thanks in advance.


Gautier
 
i use lubes as follows:

norton india stones - WD40

DMT diamond stones - water

ark stones - honing oil

corburundum stones - WD40

why? because it works better for me when lubed.

& yes, i have tried them dry/with other lubes than mentioned.
 
It really depends on the stone. Water for me on most of mine.

Sometimes creating a slurry can be a benefit. Use the slurry to build the edge and then rinse off the slurry and just use water for a few strokes. Follow up with a few dry strokes and you can really put a polish on an edge.
 
I lubricate. Water for diamond and water stones. Oil for others. I doubt that a floating particle has enough mass or resistance to damage the edge. If the edge is that delicate, what is the first cut of something firm going to do to it?
 
I guess that depends on a person's definition of firm. Most people wouldn't consider hair to be a "firm" material to cut, but when you consider that human hair is about on par with copper wire of the same diameter it starts to put things into perspective. At any rate, a knife will dull over time no matter what you cut with it, but the sharper you get it the longer it's going to take to truly dull the blade to the point that it's no longer usable.
So, maybe I'm a little anal, but if I can squeeze an extra cut or two out of my blades before stropping or sharpening, then I'm for putting in few extra seconds of effort while sharpening. The problem is that without a high power jeweler's loupe or some form of magnification I can't tell what either method is doing to the final edge. Was hoping someone here knew definitively which method produced the smoothest edge.


Gautier
 
for my bench stones, i store them covered in diesel, i use the same for lubricating while sharpening.

for my DMT hones i clean em with engine cleaner spray, and use the same for lubrication.

for my ceramic hones, i clean em with carb cleaner, and use em dry.

my strop gets treated with Obenaufs Leather Preserve (LP) and gets used with green tripoli on one side, and white diamond paste on the other.
 
I do most of my sharpening on DMT DuoSharp hones (the ones with the dots). I have used them dry, with water poured on and laying there, and under running water. I have found that under running water gives me the best results both for finish and cutting speed, followed by wet use, with dry use coming in last. The finish difference is visible without magnification on the coarse hone and visible with a thirty power loupe on the fine. At extra fine, I can't see the difference even at 30X, but I can feel it when cutting.
 
Lubricating gives me better results. I still like my old Norton's and various oil stones, but pretty much refuse to use them because water with duosharps and waterstones is so much easier and cleaner. I need to soak one or two of the nortons in degreaser and give windex or similar a try.
 
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