Recommendation? Wet vs. Dry Sharpening on Arkansas Stones

[Buzzbait]

I would add oil but lighter than mineral oil. I found mineral oil too thick... a lighter oil (baby oil works well if you can tolerate the smell), or an actual honing oil worked better for me.

Thanks for the tip. I'd been using thick mineral oil from the pharmacy, and having some issues. The mineral oil worked fine on my India and Crystalon stones, but gave me issues on my soft and hard Arkansas stones, as well as my Spyderco fine bench stone. I never put 2 and 2 together, and figured out that it was the thickness of the oil. I picked up some CVS baby oil over the weekend, and it made a huge difference on my finer stones.

 

[willc]

On my Arkansas stones lately I've been using glycerin on them.
It is very thick so I thin it down with water and so far I have been happy with the results.

I have some in a small amber bottle with a dropper and on a 6" translucent I do one or two drops at full strength then lightly spray with water to get a good consistency.

I use mineral oil too but some stones seem to work better with the glycerin.

 

[jc57]

thick mineral oil from the pharmacy

I prefer to use Norton Honing Oil for this very reason. It is a less viscous oil. Another good choice is the mineral oils that are sold for cutting boards. Howard Cutting Board Oil is good for that too. The clear stuff, not the butcher block conditioner which also contains waxes.

 

[David Martin]

Plus 2 on this ^. DM