Good Lube for Diamond Stones?

[Andrae Covington]

I've used water for a long time or just dry, tried WD40 for a bit, now mostly use mineral oil.

From the DMT FAQ:
While we recommend you use DMT® products dry or with water only, it is acceptable to use a variety of lubricants when sharpening with DMT® products. Mineral oil, mineral spirits, kerosene, WD40 can all be used without harming your DMT® sharpener.

[David M Anderson]

I have DMT diamond plates, also was in lapidary for awhile.
In lapidary, water and dish soap was always recommended for the diamond discs to aid in cooling and keep the residue from embeding
around the diamonds.

Jet dry works real good or any kind of dish soap, not much is needed just a few drops in water and a spray bottle.

If your plates or discs become rusty looking, it's not the plates but the iron particles imbedded between the diamond coating.

Solution to cleaning is pretty simple.

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Just immerse it completely in lemon juice

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Just did half of the disc for comparison

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Simple wash off outside with a garden hose and a little dish soap.

Edit:
Should of stated...was left in for about 8 hours.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Thanks David! I always suspected the rust was from embedded particles. I am going to soak my stones in lemon juice.

[glenn bradley]

Just water here on DMT plates. Over a decade and doing great.

[Stanley Covington]

After a battle with cancer, I try to avoid getting petrochemicals or chemicals like WD-40 or solvents on my hands. Rubber gloves are a pain when sharpening. Water is ok, but I find myself using either a non-toxic cutting fluid, or the mixture I use on my water stones, which is distiller water with either Borax or washing soda added (depending on what I can get my hands on.) I use DI water when available.

[David M Anderson]

Stanley, hope you beat it forever, thumbs up to you.

There might be a misconception going on using diamond plates
You can use them dry, but the preferred method is using water to keep the diamond grit from clogging up.
Metal filling become suspended and pushed away from the cutting surface using a liquid.
Soap is sometimes added to aid in the suspension of the fillings.

Also have heard unscented baby oil is a liquid to use, maybe I will try that out today.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I use Krud Kutter degreaser in their spray bottle (which I refill from gallon jugs -- I use a fair amount of the stuff for lots of things). The detergent seems to help, and I think they include some sort of rust inhibitor.