Sharpening Oil or.......

[jeepinerdeep]

My Dad always used 3in1 oil for a sharpening stone oil. I have nothing on hand, but would like to know if that's OK. I would prefer it be my all around light utility oil with a small spout if there is some other recommendation. I have Ace and Amazon handy to me.

 

[RTM]

Mineral Oil is user a cheaper example, by a factor of about 6. My sharpener setup supposedly came with mineral oil, and I still refill the cool little squirt bottle with that.

Nothing wrong with 3 in One that I know of.

 

[larry_g]

The machinists at work always stored their stones in a small box filled with kerosene.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[jeepinerdeep]

Nothing wrong with 3 in One that I know of.

I grabbed a 2 pack while I was ordering some pliers on Amazon, one each for house and shop.

The machinists at work always stored their stones in a small box filled with kerosene.

lg
no neat sig line

I bet that smelled good. Haha.

 

[timgunn1962]

The sharpening specialists will sell you tiny amounts of their recommended oils at grossly over-inflated prices.

Mostly what is needed is something that'll keep the pores in the stones from clogging.

Kerosene works. 3-in-1 works, mineral oil works. The modern low-viscosity synthetic multigrade motor oils work.

The stuff I used to use for preference was Liberon Lib-Net, which became Liberon Wax and Polish remover, and is/was probably only readily available in the UK and/or Europe: it seemed to have just about the right amount of lubricity, didn't dry or polymerize, kept the stones nice and clean, and was available in 1l (quart) tins at reasonable cost.

I went over to water stones for most things a decade or more back and hardly ever use oilstones now. When I do, it's with either 3-in-1 or Wahl clipper oil simply because those are what tend to be handy.

I'm only slightly **** about sharpening and I'm sure there will be someone along shortly who is deeply obsessive about it. My experience has been that it doesn't matter much what you use on India oilstones or Arkansas stones, so long as it is a fairly thin oil.

 

[dscheidt]

Pretty much any light oil will work just fine, use what you have or what you can stand the smell of. The oil serves two purposes, it keeps the stone from getting clog with the steel you take off the edge, and it makes a mess.


I switched to diamond stones because I want sharp tools, not another hobby. I use them dry, or with very dilute soapy water. once a year or so, I clean them thoroughly with barkeeper's friend and a stiff nylon brush.

 

[JradM]

Like others have mentioned, I don't think the oil does anything other than help move the tiny metal particles. Any oil will do that. I don't like using oil because it's messy. Water is my preference and I hardly ever use my stones that require oil anymore.

If the stone does get clogged a flattening treatment is usually due anyway. If not, a stiff brush and some soapy water works pretty good. I've even tried putting my stones in my ultrasonic cleaner with good results.

What are you sharpening by the way?

On my knives I use diamond stones for the coarse stages, then ceramics and finally finish up on the strop. I occasionally get jealous of the people with the fancier stones, but those high-grade stones can be $100+ each and my knives are already SHARP.

Diamond stones are also useful for sharpening really hard materials - like carbide-tipped tools or ceramics.