Translucent Arkansas Stone

[Kees Heiden]

Arkansas stones aren't exacly numerous overhere, so I jumped on the chance to buy a translucent Arkansas stone today for 20 euro. Someone had bought it for the kitchen knifes, but hadn't used it much at all. It is 8" long, 1 3/4" wide and 3/4" thick. Because I bought it for sharpening gouges and such, I don't mind that it's a bit narrow. After digging in my small stash of old stones, I also found a combination India, and I have plenty of leather. So I guess I have enough to start on a new adventure, sharpening with oilstones! Yeahaw!

Many silly questions will be asked. The first one, what is a good honing oil for these stones? I remember that the india stone was always very thirsty. Every bit of oild teneded to drown deep into the stone. Is that normal or does it ever get saturated?

A bad phone picture demonstrating the translucensy of my new stone.

258818

[Zach Dillinger]

I use a trans Ark as my final stone. I like WD-40 on it. My stone is not very "thirsty" for the oil. A small puddle from my mini oil can and I'm good to go.

[David Weaver]

I also use wd 40. Anything like that would be fine, I got a container of it loose though so I could dribble a drop or two on a stone instead of blasting WD40 mist that may also land on the waterstones. If it's a weak cutting stone, you can use it with the surface almost dry and then add a drop only when you want to clean off the surface of the stone.

My old favorite oilstone is also a bit narrow, and it's got chisel chunks taken out of the back all over the place. Narrow stones are easier to keep flat without having to abrade their surfaces.

You will grow to love that stone if you use it for a while. 20 euro is a *spectacular* price for a novaculite stone that passes light easily ...if it even has the remotest cutting power. Responds extremely well to clean bare leather stropping, much better than a waterstone does.

[Kees Heiden]

Yes, I am pretty excited about this one. I had looked around for a while for something like this.

I can only get WD40 in spray canisters, so I will look for some other light oil. Don't like a mist of WD40 in my shop either. How about baby oil?

[Todd Burch]

I use mineral oil.

[Zach Dillinger]

Kees, I have a spray can of WD as well, I just stick the spray tube into the oil can (outside, mind you) and spray until it is full. This works well and is easier, perhaps, than trying to pour the liquid into the tiny little oil can I use for sharpening.

[Zach Dillinger]

I use mineral oil.

Surely you must thin it out?

[Chris Griggs]

Surely you must thin it out?

I use mineral oil too. I don't thin it out, but I should find a way too. It is less nice to use than something thinner like Norton honing oil. I just hate stinky things and work in a basement with zero ventilation so I'm nit sure what to thin it with. I've used 3&1 and WD40 too and while they work well, the fumes get pretty bad in my workspace.

[Todd Burch]

Surely you must thin it out?

No, but like Chris, I should.

[Kees Heiden]

And what do you use on an India stone? The fine and the coarse one?

Now I got the stones so cheap, I am probaly going to spend a fortune on oil and all that stuff :eek:
Waterstones are expensive, but at least the water is cheap and never runs out on a saterday night!

[Zach Dillinger]

I use WD on all my oil stones. I used to Marvel Mystery Oil, which also works well and smells very nice. I just prefer the thinner WD.

[Gary Hodgin]

I use honing oil(Norton's and some other that I bought from naturalwhetstone.com) on both my India and Arkansas stones. Oil stone users are all over the board when it comes to what they use through. I'm not sure if any one mentioned mineral spirits and kerosene but some use them along with light mineral oil and WD 40. I doubt it matters a great deal as long as the stone is kept clean and unclogged.

My India stone is more "thirsty" than my harder Arkansas stones but still not that bad. However, several years ago I bought a cheap combination oil stone at Home Depot and it would drink a quart an hour. I think maybe the better stones come "presoaked" and better stones aren't as porous?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've only one oilstone - a rather coarse combo stone I got years ago from the hardware store that I use only occasionally, I've been using some sort of honing oil I bought at a small hunting/fishing store - it's pink; I don't think it's Norton, maybe Smith's?

In the past, I've thinned mineral oil for honing with mineral spirits. I don't know if that's proper, but it's worked.

[Brian Deakin]

kees, please see the links below

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?194051-Norton-honing-oil&p=2003106&highlight=#post2003106


http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/pdfs/MSDS/Norton/Norton_Sharpening%20_Oil_ALT003.pdf

and
http://www.chemicalbook.com/ProductC...4111739_EN.htm (http://www.chemicalbook.com/ProductChemicalPropertiesCB4111739_EN.htm)

Norton honing oil
SUBSTANCE DESCRIPTION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hydrocarbons, mineral oil 100.000 8042-47-5
OTHER
This product is a fully refined white mineral oil meeting the
requirements of the National Formulary XVII and the requirements of
the Food and Drug Administration as per 21 CFR 172.878.

The CAS. code 8042-47-5 is the key to the composition and the density



density
0.85 g/mL at 20 °C



should further assist in identifying a suitable product

After some research and help from other members I concluded that in the United kingdom Norton honing oil is light liquid paraffin which you may be able to order from a pharmacy and is likely to be much cheaper (500ml plastic bottle)
Further because it is food safe it should be more suitable for honing knifes I would still wash the Knife before use

regards Brian

[Jim Matthews]

Lamp Oil (http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1275455&cp=2568443.2568448.2626062.2627662.2627638) is an inexpensive substitute.

Bob Van Dyke of the Connecticut valley woodworking school uses it to sharpen his favorite tools.
Note that the pricing listed is for a 12 pack of this paraffin based oil.

It bears mentioning that this stuff is flammable, and any rags used in the process must be stored in an
airtight canister (I wrap rags used with any petroleum distillate in a double plastic bag and squeeze out what air I can)
these will combust, spontaneously if left unattended.

In a shop full of sawdust, shavings and expensive lumber this could be disastrous.

[Mel Fulks]

For years I didn't use any oil stones but my interest was renewed by this forum. Saw some reccomendations on line for using Ballistol ,which is mainly mineral oil,mixed one part to twenty parts water. Works well.

[Russell Cook]

I personally use food grade camellia oil on my India oilstones. I've heard this carries the danger of going rancid, but it's been OK so far. Also, I like the fact that it's not made from fossil fuel :-)

[Jack Curtis]

I personally use food grade camellia oil on my India oilstones. I've heard this carries the danger of going rancid, but it's been OK so far. Also, I like the fact that it's not made from fossil fuel :-)

Ah, but how many fossils died in the production of that camilla? :)

[Todd Burch]

Ah, but how many fossils died in the production of that camilla? :)

The answer to this is the same answer for the question "How many parachute jumps must be successful for you to become certified?"

All of them!!! :D

[Kees Heiden]

I have a bottle of cheap Camelia oil. But I understand that it is in fact mostly mineral oil with a little bit of camelia for the scent....

Anyway, I have enough ideas now. I'm going to experiment a bit, starting at the lighter end of fluids. Thanks everyone.

[David Weaver]

You can still use light mineral oil on the fine stones, you just have to wipe most of it off and use the stone fairly dry.

I get mine a gallon at a time at kitchen supply places. If you have enough to not be sparing, you'll find other uses for it. A gallon costs me about $14 here.

[george wilson]

All the time I was musical instrument maker,I just used lock oil because it was available in the museum's warehouse. It is oil thinned with a thinner that evaporates.leaving the oil in the lock. The thinned oil worked fine,and didn't evaporate by the brief time I was honing. Then,I wiped it off.

The millwork shop kept their stones soaking in a can of kerosene. Might not be the best thing for close environments,but it worked fine for them. WD 40 is fine,too. Just wipe it off your tools well as it eventually can leave a varnish that is hard to remove,so I don't use it on my lathes or milling machines.

For about the last 20 years,I've used ceramic stones,with water,with a few drops of dish detergent,and a few drops of water soluble cutting oil (like Aqua Cut) in it. Still works fine w/o the Aqua Cut. But,if your stone WAS used with oil previously,you are sort of stuck using oil since it's in the stone.

The only thing the cutting medium does is float the particles off so the stone doesn't get clogged,so it's no biggie. There is nothing magical about the cutting medium.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Seems to me, I vaguely remember reading that Norton "vacuum impregnates" their india stones, making them permanently lubricated, thus needing only light weight oil at time of use. This is done by placing in a sealed vacuum vessel, drawing all air out by use of a vacuum pump (includes air in the stone, since these are man-made and porous) and then flooding the vessel with oil, filling the porosity.

Personally, I find the above a bit hard to understand, mainly because when I've used an india stone, I've found it readily absorbs oil. Maybe that method was used for the stones in their "Mulitstone" that woudl reside in an oil bath?

Regardless, I use Marvel Mystery oil on my oilstones (vintage washita & black arkansas). If anyone uses compound on a strop, a couple of drops of the same lubricant helps distribute the compound. However, in my everlasting quest for the perfect edge, I'm finding a couple of licks on an uncharged strop gives me results that are hair popping.

[Mel Fulks]

Agree it doesn't really matter beyond viscosity. Some special expensive honing oils I bought decades ago were just too thick ,consequently I decided some good stones were not worth using. Unlike the oils the stones don't have advertising written all over them.

[David Weaver]

Regardless, I use Marvel Mystery oil on my oilstones (vintage washita & black arkansas). If anyone uses compound on a strop, a couple of drops of the same lubricant helps distribute the compound. However, in my everlasting quest for the perfect edge, I'm finding a couple of licks on an uncharged strop gives me results that are hair popping.

I agree...a *clean* bare strop is really nice, and maybe more satisfying because it doesn't half arse anything on an edge that wasn't finished. veg tanned leather is usually cheap on ebay, about $12 a sq foot for 8/9 ounce cowhide, and for those who like horsey stuff, horse butt strips are somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 a butt strip. Having a little extra around is nice as opposed to buying single strops. Storing strops hanging or in a drawer where they won't accumulate landing particles is also nice.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Barber strops are readily available. The barber strop I picked up ($20.00, last summer at a flea market) is about 2-1/2" wide by about 2' long. Have it stretched & fastened to a hunk of MDF.

Why did I migrate to uncharged????? Primarily because of a few weeks, or longer back, after reading one of the many sharpening & strop threads, I took a couple of knives to my charged strop. Knives were dull, but after about 30 to 40 strokes each way on the charged strop, they were very sharp. My reasoning is a strop is only to refine the edge and not sharpen the edge, as what happened to my knives.

[Mike Siemsen]

I use lamp oil

[Mark Churay]

I use mineral oil also. Why thin? The oil is to keep the metal particles in suspension and not clog the stone. I also use liquid Palmolive dish washing soap although any liquid soap will do. Works great and the stone comes out real clean when I wash off the soap. Mark