Oilstones, Oil & Dishwashing Liquid

[AUSSIE]

I know that most people here, including myself like to use only water on our sharpening stones, however I do know that some like to use a more viscous fluid such as honing oil. I could never figure this out as despite the theory you will always end up with a part clogged, gunk filled stone right from the first use and on forever! Many bushies in Australia use plain old dishwashing liquid on their stones instead of oil as this way the stones clean up very well with no oily gunk leftover! Just wash them in warm water after use! No need to add soap it's already in the stone!

 

[running bare]

i did this recently. with my oil stone that ive used for years with oil and it was clogged so i got a 5 ltr bucket some warm water and washing up liquid and let it soak for a few days giving it a shake around every now and again and it cleaned up well. changed the water a few times as the gunk came out now i just use it with the water mix works no probs.

tom

 

[Celt_Ginger]

I never thought of using the old Fairy Liquid. I changed to water stones precisely because my oil stone was so clogged up. I do like the water stones though, but none the less, a good tip.

 

[TallMikeM]

good tip. I have an old stone that I ruined by soaking in oil. It was relegated to sharpening garden implements, but maybe I'll be able to restore it to proper use.

 

[Razorback-Knives]

I've heard of that method before. I've always used mineral oil when I sharpened on a stone. These days all my knives are convexed so I don't use a stone anymore. I strop or use the slack belt on my grinder.
Scott

 

[TAZ]

At work we have used a 50/50 oil water mix with a decent splash of washing up liquid . Obviously these elements will seperate but just shake them before using on oil stones and they will need to be unclogged less often. It does work, honest.

 

[addyb]

You're right, dishwashing liquid on oil stones works quite well. I have a small set of mounted Arkansas stones that I used for quite a while, and I used to clean them with dish soap when they would become too clogged. I found that even with using mineral oil, they would still clog. Isn't that odd?

But now, just like Razorback, my knives are convexed. So I use the "Hoodoo Stone" mouspad with wet-dry paper.

So the Arkansas stones are wrapped up somewhere in my garage.

Adam