Filling oilstones (Aluminum Oxide)

[Luke Dupont]

Hi guys.

I recently found a company selling Aluminum Oxide ("India" style) oil stones in the weird dimensions that I like to keep in my portable tool-sets (1.5" x 4-5"). So, I picked one up.

But, it has one major "flaw": it wasn't prefilled, and oil just soaks through.

So, I gave it an oil bath over night and it soaked up all the oil it can hold, but it's still terribly porous and oil mostly just soaks through to the bottom, making a mess and not lubricating the stone.

I have had similar experiences in the past trying to fill carbon stones, without any luck.

I'm using a mineral oil / all purpose "3-in-1" style oil. I've tried both lighter and heavier oils of this type with the same messy results.

Perhaps I simply need oil that will dry into a wax? Norton's India stones come prefilled and don't exhibit this behavior; what do they use?

Maybe I should just order some along with a few Ark's from Dan's... Shipping to Japan is really expensive though

[bridger berdel]

Use warmed up Vaseline

[Kees Heiden]

And warm up the stone too. Not hot, 60 degree C or so.

[Luke Dupont]

Ah, right! Vaseline!

Now I remember making a similar thread before and receiving the same answer (along with some warnings about catching the Vaseline on fire). I didn't try it before because of the hassle, if I remember correctly.

I just ordered a coarser stone in the same size along with some vaseline, so when it arrives in a few weeks I'll give it a shot and report my findings.

[Luke Dupont]

Hey guys! An update:

I finally got around to picking up some Vaseline and gave this a try, and it works!

Here's what I did, for anyone who might come across this in the future and benefit:

I put my unfilled oilstones along with petroleum jelly into a ziplock bag, which I put into a second ziplock bag to help prevent against leakage. Then, I put the bags into a pot of water I heated on the stove; it just needs to be hot -- don't bring it to boiling and keep the temperature low as you don't want to start a fire or melt the plastic bags.

And, after about 5-10 minutes the petroleum jelly was completely melted into an oil and filled the stones. I then lifted it out of the hot water, and ran cold water over the stones, turning the oil back to a semi-solid.

The surface of the stones need to then be washed off with soap and water vigorously as the pores of the stone will be caked in waxy petroleum jelly, but once that's done the stone works beautifully -- just the same as my prefilled norton oilstones!