nopomo
feels hard on the stones
That was unexpectorated.
I’ve tried using a drop of “personal lubricant” on stones before but it never became a habit. I like being able to easily flush the swarf.
Using thickened water on whetstones.
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I’ve tried using a drop of “personal lubricant” on stones before but it never became a habit. I like being able to easily flush the swarf.
BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
5.99/mo
Not a problem but convenience. The way the Silver Gel coated the stone without a mess was very nice. Once I started to hone the blade it liquified on the stone surface almost creating a slurry, and would have had I used it on one of my King soaking style whetstones. I looked up the conservation water thickeners and they are designed to also be used with acrylic paint. The Gel used with the silver gel is food grade. I suppose I should have posted a photo of what is looked like in the 12K Shapton. I had plenty of feedback on the 12K stone, and unlike adding straight water to the stone the stone stayed coated and you could see and feel the blade being honed. It was almost like using oil, and It cleaned up nicely afterwards.
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aporigine
The slow blade penetrates the winter squash
Couldn’t even swallow it.
A for effort
Dr, Matt has a straight razor honing video where he recommends using a few drops of Smiths Honing Solution on his finishing strokes on the finishing JNAT. The Smiths is probably some kind of glycerin as it is water soluble. Being that the JNAT is already wet only a few drops of Smiths is needed.
I’ve tried this and can confirm is works really well. I also use this with knives, just a few drops put onto a wet stone adds a bit of lubrication. This works well on the finer grits and knife finishing stones.
Adding a few drops to a wet stone is also quite economical. One $9 bottle will last a very long time. Ad of course it washes off nicely.
What does “really well” mean in this contexts? What is better compared to regular water?
For razors on really fine hard stones, water sometimes isn't a viscous enough lubricant. The razor will skate across the stone and catch on any kind of little inconsistency in the surface. Standard pharmacy grade mineral oil is too viscous. The slurry can get gummy and keep you from achieving a super fine finish. Over the years people have used shaving foam, dish soap, sewing machine oil, spit, glycerin, kerosene, transmission fluid, propylene glycol, and many other things to change the sharpening properties of their honing tools. Getting a really nice smooth fine non aggressive polish on the apex requires something in between water and thick oil to get the right glide across the stone and through the slurry. Way overkill for me for chef knives where I'm going to bang them against cutting boards for thousands of hours between sharpenings. But getting that perfect edge matters a lot when the knife is going to be used to shave my throat.
You probably know Jayson but FWIW, true honing oil is highly refined and much, much thinner than pharmaceutical grade.
Yeah, I was saying that the pharmacy stuff is about as viscous as I would go. Anything thicker than that would have a difficult time doing its job of flushing particles from the cutting surface. Sewing machine oil, honing oils, neatsfoot oil, there are a lot of in-between oils that work very nicely. Hit that Goldilocks zone.
Olive oil works well to. Stole that one from @cotedupy. Probably way more expensive than other options. But you only need a tiny bit. And olive oil is packed with anti-oxidants, so unlikely to make the stone go "rancid". Especially a finishing stone. And it's convenient. I always have a squirt bottle of olive oil at hand in the kitchen.
*spits on coochiegumori
Is there one that is odor-free?
These are the kinds of fringe details that most folks don't pay much attention to so I don't know. I did just take the cap off my jug of Norton's Honing Oil and there's very little, if any odor.
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I pay close attention to this too. I can't stand a lot of those smells that don't seem to bother other people. They give me a headache. Dan's, Ballistol, WD-40, and I think Smiths are a problem. Neatsfoot oil doesn't give me a headache, but is way too stinky to consider.
Norton Honing oil is no problem at all. Essentially odor-free, nothing volatile hits me at all. So that's what I use.
Desert Rat
Senior Member
I use mineral oil from the feed store, about $17gal. I don't need anything thinner for knifes or edged tools.
It's probably the exact same stuff as some are selling as honing oil.
It's probably the exact same stuff as some are selling as honing oil.
I tried the thickened water - nectar thick to be exact. Used it with an aebl Marko, SG500 and SG2000. It felt good, very smooth. Did not inhibit burr formation (very light on SG500), did not make a mess, liked that it's food safe, cleaned up easily. I'll do it again - but likely not every time.
Dr. Matt shows it here, at the 7 min mark:
A straight razor is a bit of a different ball of wax than a knife, admittedly, but the last little bit of lubrication gets the edge just a tad sharper and smoother. I’ve also noticed this on my razor strops, that a small amount of leather wax steps the edge up just a little more.
I also like to use the Smiths with water on my Arks when working knives. Arks benefit from lubrication and I will use either soapy water or water and Smiths. I’m sure oil would also work to add lubrication but I prefer soapy water or Smiths for easy clean up.
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I like that there are people out there doing different things. Oil and my Arks seem like a match made in heaven, but if I ever get the itch to try something else, I like the idea that it's out there.
I kind of enjoy the cleanup, because it's unusual and vaguely Roman. Wipe stone (I use some sort of thick coconut-based cloth I like, I could come up with a link if pressed), add more oil, wipe again, done.
If I wasn’t doing nearly all my work in the kitchen and had my own workshop, I’m pretty sure I’d be on oil for just about everything.
I had the opportunity to set the initial bevel on a couple of straight razors a friend had made. It ended up being A LOT more work than I was expecting. As these were new and for sale, they had to be kept pristine. Water was kinda no bueno so it added to the work as the razors needed to be dried and buffed repeatedly throughout the process. If I had to do that again, I would keep it all oil until the final finisher. This is actually why I originally bought the Smiths as it claims to have anti-corrosion agents, I wanted to give it a try. I will probably use oil for any future bevel setting on new knives or razors if they come my way.
aporigine
The slow blade penetrates the winter squash
Olive oil goes off after a couple of years. It turns to varnish like other unsaturated fats. I’d stick with non-vegetable oils. Whale oil would probably work, but ~shrug~.
In US, “low-odor mineral spirits”
would be my preferred fluid.
I just rinse the stone off with soap and water when I'm done. Not too worried. Mineral spirits is an interesting choice. I would be far more worried about using something toxic like that that could cause skin and respiratory issues than a vegetable oil.
I may be completely wrong about this… But my understanding was that stuff like honing oil, 3-in-1, &c., whilst being refined mineral oils, also then had thinning agents added to them. Whereas pharmaceutical or food-grade mineral oil is equally very highly refined, but doesn’t have thinning agents. Meaning it’s thicker, but also safe to consume.
Tbh - I don’t know where I got that idea from. And I’m more than happy to stand corrected!
Not saying your experience is wrong, but this shouldn’t happen with olive oil, unless it has impurities or other types of vegetable oil in it. Olive oil is considered a ‘non-drying’ oil, like mineral oil &c. Whereas stuff like sunflower oil will certainly dry to a slightly sticky, varnish-like coating.
You can see it quite clearly when using old Turkish/Cretan oilstones. Which are fairly porous, and were used, soaked, and transported in barrels of olive oil back in the day. There is no ill effect and it doesn’t dry into a residue on the stone.
Here is the stuff I use with my razor finishers. Pharmaceutical/food grade propylene glycol.
Completely safe for skin, eyes, inhalation. Non odorous. You can literally eat it and rub it on your skin FDA approved.
Works great with hard or soft stones. Natural or synthetic. I get the stone wet with water and then add several drops of propylene glycol. I suppose it would work for coarse and medium stones too but in most other cases I will prefer either straight water or straight mineral oil.
Completely safe for skin, eyes, inhalation. Non odorous. You can literally eat it and rub it on your skin FDA approved.
Works great with hard or soft stones. Natural or synthetic. I get the stone wet with water and then add several drops of propylene glycol. I suppose it would work for coarse and medium stones too but in most other cases I will prefer either straight water or straight mineral oil.
Obligatory H&S post...using oil or lubricants chock full of hydrocarbons like WD-40, motor oil, or transmission fluid without gloves is a bad idea. It will be absorbed through your skin in short order. It is carcinogenic.
Anyways I'm off to buy another can of dip.
Anyways I'm off to buy another can of dip.
can I rub it on my ballz.
me, I just talk dirty to my stones prior to rubbing hard object on it.
*laughs in hydraulic fluid.
Absolutely. Real miracle stuff. Very few substances you can use as a base solution for antibiotics, jet engine coolant, honing fluid, and testicle moisturizer.
