Sharpening stone id

[Paul Incognito]

I know I've sse plenty of these threads in the past, but my search didn't turn up the ones I was looking for.
Anyhow, here's what I have. They are in order of my percieved grit, with the black being the coarsest, then the white, then the orange.
I assume they're all oil stones. Water beads on them and doesn't soak in at

179426


The black and orange came to me in these really nice boxes, so I assume someone thought they were nice.
179427

So should I sell my Shaptons?

Thanks for any help,
Paul

[Jim Koepke]

So should I sell my Shaptons?

In my experience, I can get a good edge with an oil stone, but a bit better with the 8000 Norton.

On cold days when there may be freezing temps in the forecast, my water stones will stay dry and the oil stone has its place on a different bench.

They are also great on gouges since they do not deform like a water stone might.

My feeling is one can not have too many sharpening stones.

They are needed in the shop, in the kitchen and back in the woods. Not to mention the one for my scythe for in the meadow.

jtk

[Paul Incognito]

Well that answers that question. Thanks Jim, and I couldn't agree more. I could use a good set to keep in the truck.
Paul

[Jonathan McCullough]

I've been giving oil stones particular attention myself lately. Waited till I had a batch of $1 to $5 wonders and scrubbed them with some old Scotch Brite kitchen pads to scour the bigger grease chunks down to a workable level. After banging around in a tool box for decades, I think they tend to accumulate an oil/swarf/dirt combo that closely resembles the impenetrable gunk on the outside of a crankcase. Then I boiled them up with some TSP (on advice of the Nordic Woodsmith web site), wrapped in some old dish towels to keep them off the flame at the bottom of the pot, and flattened them on a DMT diamond stone loaded with water and a drop or two of soap. The cleaning and resurfacing unclogs the surface and allows you to better see what you've got, but even then these things can seem mysterious. Mine worked out really well and I rather like them; unlike a water stone they'll likely never need to be flattened again. Rather than worry about which grit is appropriate to any situation, I'd recommend just experimenting. The polishing or buffing action seems to me to be more variable than with synthetic sharpening materials, but the result is an edge as sharp as from any other method. The Norton food safe oil is really good stuff too. Just the right consistency and non toxic in case you want to give your kitchen knives a pass (some people use kerosene--doesn't seem right for food handling). After use I like to wash them in warm soapy water with an old Scotch Brite pad. It's probably overkill but it seems to complement the properties of the oil to get rid of the swarf and keep the face fresh. Definitely try them in your arsenal--they're useful things and will come in handy.

Funny side note--wherever you find oil stones you will often see old barber's hones. You can use these with soap and water. I polished up a paring knife with one of these, which scared the hell out of my wife when she used it. Sailed through a carrot and halfway through the cutting board!

[Jim Koepke]

I am using some honing oil that came with some stones many years ago at Woodcraft.

I find the food grade mineral oil hidden away at the local super market seems to be about the same viscosity and much lower priced.

jtk

[David Weaver]

So should I sell my Shaptons?

Not a chance.

But, the oilstones are nice to have around. They're nice to use with older carving tools. Shaptons are nice, but I still gouge mine from time to time, never with oilstones.

But a shapton cuts much faster, cuts much finer if the cutting speed is the same, and the sharpening particles are much harder (at least when considering natural oilstones), so it will sharpen steel too tough for oilstones to sharpen properly.

For someone who has only oilstones, if you make the last step something that cuts anything, like chromium oxide powder or diamond powder, then it doesn't matter as much, you can still sharpen tough steel if you can slog through the earlier grits.

[Paul Incognito]

Thanks for the insight guys.
As I said, I'm going to let these live in the truck for job site sharpening. It's nice to have stuff that you don't have to worry about freezing.
I forget to take my caulk and glue to work almost every day because it needs to be taken indoors every night...
Paul

[Zach England]

In my experience, I can get a good edge with an oil stone, but a bit better with the 8000 Norton.

On cold days when there may be freezing temps in the forecast, my water stones will stay dry and the oil stone has its place on a different bench.

They are also great on gouges since they do not deform like a water stone might.

My feeling is one can not have too many sharpening stones.

They are needed in the shop, in the kitchen and back in the woods. Not to mention the one for my scythe for in the meadow.

jtk

Do you seriously have a scythe and a meadow?