Oil Stones

[Dustin Irby]

Is it true that oil stones don't require flattening and will last "indefinitely", whereas water stones will eventually be used up and you'll have to buy another? If that's the case, that may sway me to oil stones over water. Feel free to talk me out of it :).

[Terry Beadle]

Oil stones require maintenance and that includes flattening. They don't wear as fast as waterstones but they don't cut as fast as waterstones. Waterstones are also easier to flatten. Oil stones need to be flattened with a good abrasive ( duh! ) like a carbide grit on a steel plate or they can be flattened on a granite plate with sandpaper ( takes a while ).

Hard Arkansas black oil stones do not wear quickly and don't require much flattening because they are used in the final polish stokes and hense don't see as much action as the white stones.

For me, water stones are my primary sharpening method. I use ceramic stones, diamond stones, and buffing compounds for some types of steel that benefit from the particular strata.

Weather you use oil or water stones, both will do the job and have their pluses and minuses. Some folks say oil stones are not as messy as water stones. I don't agree as I've set up a sharpening table/station for the water stones and it works quick and easy.

I hope this helps.

Happy Shavings and holidays!

[Robert Rozaieski]

If you use the entire surface of the stone, they shouldn't require any major flattening. In about 10 years, you may need to do a little flattening, but they don't require the continual maintenance/flattening with every use that waterstones require. Carborundum (silicon carbide) stones will dish but good India (aluminum oxide) stones shouldn't and natural Arkansas stones should stay flat almost forever. My Arkansas stones have been in continuous use for a few years now and are still dead flat as the day I got them. This (and the mess of waterstones) was the reason I got rid of my waterstones and went to oil stones. They stay flat and are way less of a mess.

[Mark Stutz]

There are pros and cons to both media, but longevity is probably the least important difference. For the average hobbyist,it would probably take at least 2 gerations of steady use to wear out an oilstone. I seem to recall Bob Smalser mentioning he is using stones that were his father's and he uses them a lot. They will eventually require flattening, though by using the entire stone surface it will be a while. There are lots of old oilstones found at flea markets, though that are very dished from always using the same spot. Might be good for gouges;). Water stones do require frequent flattening, but it really isn't a chore...a few seconds on a granite plate with some sandpaper is all it takes me. I have worn away about half of a Norton 220 in 3 years or so, but the 4000 and 8000 likely will go to my kids.

IMO longevity isn't an issue. Some people are turned off by the "mess" of waterstones, but with a dedicated sharpening center this hasn't been an issue. I don't use oilstones much, but for me they don't cut as fast. If I had a nice hard Arkansas for light touch ups though, I might feel differently about them.

Mark

I guess I don't type as fast as Terry and Bob!

[Paul Saffold]

Dustin,

Interesting timing, I just came up from the basement to take a break from flattening oil stones. I have a Carborundum that was my dad's and 2 Arkansas
that were an uncle's. I searched this site and am following Bob's suggestion of 80 grit on a flat surface. I'm using mineral spirits and a granite floor tile from Lowes.

Check out the link for other ideas.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31938

Paul

[Frank Drew]

I gladly switched to waterstones because of their faster cutting (as Terry notes) and because I consider oil stones a lot messier.

Sandpaper wears out, too, and a lot of people here throw away their jointer/planer blades rather than getting them sharpened; consider having to buy new stones every now and then a cost of doing business.

[george wilson]

There are different types of oil stones. The cheap old gray stones that used to cost a few dollars in the local hardware store,and which are still made,wear pretty quickly. The orange india stones are much harder,and might take a long time to get hollow. Sooner or later,just about every old style stone will need flattening.

Now that you have had this magnificent revelation,your woodworking knowledge is complete!!!:).

[Harlan Barnhart]

I vote for water stones because they cut so much faster, I feel like I am wasting my time on oil stones. Perhaps patience is a virtue I could improve on...

I don't understand the "messy" argument against water stones. When I used stones that needed to be soaked, it was a little sloppy but there are great stones out there that only need a few drops of water. I sharpen on the kitchen table and usually wipe up only a few drops.

[Frank Drew]

And the water stone slurry is much less of a problem than oil if you're handling unfinished wood soon after sharpening, in my experience.

[Johnny Kleso]

For those that like the faster cutting action of a waterstone how much time are you saving with a well preparded blade?

10 strokes versus 20 or 10 seconds vs 20 ?

If your bringing back a damaged edge use a coarse waterstone and switch to an oil and if you want a really fine grit finish use a waterstone as oil stones dont go as fine as waterstones I do it all the time..

I use both and a diamond stone to flatten them both.......

[Richard Niemiec]

What Johnny said. There are oilstone guys and waterstone guys and guys that go both ways. Count me in the third camp, but for higher grits. Try not to confuse yourself too much, its only sharpening.....

[Johnny Kleso]

PS:
Never use a Diamond stone for metal and flattening stones I only use my diamond for flattening as it may get a belly and is also bad for the diamond grit to use both ways, I have read some place :)

[Harlan Barnhart]

For those that like the faster cutting action of a waterstone how much time are you saving with a well preparded blade?

10 strokes versus 20 or 10 seconds vs 20 ?

This is a good point. The "faster cutting" advantage really only applies to the 1000 grit since the higher grits only need a couple of strokes. I keep trying to get all my cutting tools "well prepared" so they only need maintenance but about the time I get close, another blade or chisel arrives on the scene...

[Dustin Irby]

How 'bout I just send one of you guys my money and you surprise me with either water or oil stones? Thought I had a reason to go with the oil stones, now it looks like a toss up. I'm looking at one of the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Norton-Oilstone-Sharpening-Kit-Arkansas/dp/B000XK5YSA/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3RBOVC2JCXLKF&colid=2RZLB8Z5GSRFC

http://www.amazon.com/Norton-Waterstone-Starter-Kit-flattening/dp/B000XK0FMU/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3QC0DGYZ840I7&colid=2RZLB8Z5GSRFC

Thanks for everyone's help!

[David Gendron]

You should have a look at " The Best Thing" web site under sharpening, they have a special kit put together for them by Northon and they talk a bit about stone in general!

[Jim Koepke]

I have used both and mostly use water stones.

The water stones also get down to a much finer finish.

I find a bit of water is easier to clean off a bench than a bit of oil.

jim

[dan sherman]

I just got my first set of waterstones, after about 6 months of using the scary sharp method, so take my advice with a grain of salt. If you decide to go with waterstones get yourself some Naniwa super stones or Shapton professional or glass stones, as neither requires you to soak the course grits before use. You can pick up 1k, 5k, & 8k Naniwas stones for about $130 delivered to your door if you know where to look.

[John Almberg]

I'm a newbie boat builder and have just gone through the whole oil stone vs water stone vs scary sharp debate, myself.

For me, the deciding factor was cost. I just couldn't justify the expense of a water stone system, or even the 15 grades of sandpaper needed for the scary sharp system. I'd rather put my limited budget into boat lumber.

I ended up with 3 old oil stones (coarse, med, fine) that I picked up at a garage sale for $5. They are old, but well cared for and flat. They work fast enough for me. I use an old leather belt (free) for a final honing.

For a honing guide, I borrowed an idea from a Brazilian woodworker, Diego de Assis (http://diegodeassis.wordpress.com/). There's a picture of his home-built honing guide on my blog:

http://www.unlikelyboatbuilder.com/2009/11/micro-inventions.html

I made a version with two bolts for chisels, too.

The one thing I need is a grinder. Still looking for a bargain!

Re: flattening stones, my wife had an old oil stone that she inherited from her grandmother that must have been used to sharpen knives for 50 years. It had a deep curve in the fine side. After getting some good stones, I realized how bad this stone was and decided to flatten it for her.

http://www.identry.com/downloads/master/oilstone.jpg

Basically, I just took it outside and rubbed it on concrete for awhile. Actually, I rubbed it in figure 8's and turned it around a lot, so it would grind down evenly.

You can see the results after 1/2hr of work... there is still a small dip in it. It took another 1/2hr to finish the job. But this was a deeeeep dip.

Kinda dumb, actually, since I could have gone to Home Depot and bought a new stone for $5, but I wanted to see how the flattening worked. It worked fine and that stone is now as flat as a new one (only thinner!)

-- John