To oil or not to oil?

[KAE1]

Guys,
I have recently bought a Gatco 5 stone kit and am having reasonable success with all of my blades, all now shave forearm hair but I am not at the fag paper level yet. Interestingly my cheapest knife - opinel no 7 - is taking te best edge.
My question is wheter to use honing oil or not? I have tried with and without and get equal results.
I have read that unless you get continuous flushing oil it is best to use none at all as it will hold hard particles in suspension on the blade and stone and make sharpening more difficult.
What do ya think????

 

[addyb]

I personally don't oil. I find that the results a dry stone produces on a blade far exceed one that has been oiled. John Jurnatich's book is what sold me on keeping my stones dry. Unfortunately, the drawback of using a dry stone is that they need constant cleaning and upkeep as they tend to get clogged quite easily.

http://users.ameritech.net/knives/Juranitch1977Feb.htm

Check that link out, the man makes a very strong case. I didn't believe it until I tried it but I'll be damned if I ever go back to using oil on my stones. (And yes, this excludes Japanese waterstones. But that's self explanatory)

Cheers mate,

Adam

 

[KAE1]

Yep I've got the book, interesting tests in the butchery industry. But this guy can sharpen anything.How do you clean your stones?

 

[addyb]

Yeah, the butcher tests were certainly interesting as were the carbon vs stainless tests.

Anyway, I use large silicum carbide bench stone for setting the edge/re-grinding the bevel and a set of smaller arkansas stones for fine honing. As soon as I'm done with them, I flip them over and gently knock them into a clean paper towel. This lets me view how many metal particles fall out of the stone's pores. If they're really clogged I gently take some hot soapy water (but not too much soap) and scrub them with a stiff brush. Then I rinse the heck out of them and gently pat them dry.

I hope this helps, man. Everyone's got their own methods. I'll just never use oil on a stone again.

Adam

 

[KAE1]

Thanks for the advice. I have tried tapping but nothing seems to come out, maybe 'cause I used oil initially. I will try brush and soapy water.

 

[addyb]

Yeah, if the stone has been oiled previously you'll really need to scrub it out with some soap. Good luck.