Would you use an Arkansas with water or not?

[Blop]

You should use oil, but i wonder what happens, if used with water.

Anyone tried it out or has a thought to share?

 

[MelancholyMutt]

I don't think there would be too much damage. The edge might be a little rougher than with oil, but think of a time before mineral oil was commonly available...

 

[allenC]

On my first Arkansas stone I used oil just but I discovered that I could'nt get the stone as clean as I liked.

So now I sharpen with water (actually under the kitchen tap) and I have no problems.
The stone does'nt seem to suffer any excessive wear and tear, and the knife gets extremely sharp, and the stone is a breeze to clean--what more could I ask for.

Good luck,
Allen.

 

[zinn1348]

This has always been a debated topic! I started using oils years ago (Buck oil and the like)

If your hone (any hone) comes to you pre-soaked in oil you're going to either have to use oil or go through the mess of boiling the stone to be able to use it dry or with water.

I have been using all of my stones DRY for many years (india hones, soft and hard arkansas, and black hard and translucent arkansas)

I stop occasionally and wipe the fines and grit off with a damp paper towel, and when the job is done, I scrub the hones off with a wet paper towel.

This method eliminates the mess involved with oil, does not show any more wear and tear, and gives me just as good a result as with oils.

When the arkansas hones start getting too smooth, I lap them with water on a coarse diamond hone(8") which trues them up and re-establishes the "bite" that I like a hone to have.

Godd luck,

Thomas Zinn

 

[Jeff Clark]

The problem with water is that it doesn't help the breakdown of the stone so the stone tends to wear itself smooth. Oil helps the surface of the stone to breakdown a little to expose fresh grit. If you have a stone that is free of oil residue you can hone with water, but periodically you may want to rub the surface of the hone with some abrasive grit like a diamond hone to restore the bite.

 

[rev_jch]

Water is fine. Im quite familar with arkansas stones. Use to live there for about 10 years near hot springs where many quarries are. You can use either water, or oil. Ive used both. If you use oil, after you use it, you will need to soak it in hot dishawer soap in the sink for about an hour or two, to help get rid of as much "excess" oil as possbile. You can also use a scrub brush after its soaked to help remove as much oil and grit as possible.

The thing to remember is that the oil, or water, is to help cut down on "blade drag" (scratches, etc.), and to make a nice "smooth" uniform edge.