Sharpening idea that has not been discussed here! new breed of oil stones...

[Matthew N. Masail]

ok, that's a big title. but I mean every bit of it! Yesterday and today brought quite a remarkable discovery for me. it started when I
watched this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VCo1_fozD0 I highly recommend watching it.

What struck me the most about the video was that he literally made a thirsty 1k clay type king stone into a no-soak stone, yet he says it still works just as it did before. today by any chance of coincidence my wife mentioned that some kitchen knives had gotten dull. so I reached for my Sigma Select II 1200 which is what I use for kitchen knives. I paused with impatience looking for something to soak it in when it hit me (!) this would be the perfect stone for me to experiment with this on.

(A quick note about the 1.2k sigma, it is such a fantastic stone, cuts like a ceramic spyderco, stays amazingly flat yet it's not a pain to lap it. it is consistent, fine and fast and doesn't release slurry so the edge of it is already very well defined needing just a little refinement. you can make the jump to a 1micron stone from this sigma without trying hard at all. yet I never use it for tools because it need soaking, water won't sit on the surface. it's only negative is that it loads, but it still cuts very well that way so it doesn't really bother me anymore, I can do a lot of work before cleaning it with a small dmt diamond hone)

So I just grabbed the baby oil and started sharpening! it worked fine! the stone absorbed the oil much slower than water but it still dried up so I had to keep adding oil. I kept adding oil and it works just great. I got so excited that I took a few chisels to it. I think this might become my go-to stone, it just works so well and now it's no-soak too. water doesn't suck in either, I can still use water, but I prefer oil. I imagine it will get more and more soaked as I use it, but I did soak it face down in some baby oil for a while.

So really, this to me is like finding a large perfect vintage washita! (as in the sigma + loaded strop will easily make a VERY sharp edge, pops hairs)

and one can get them in other grits..... lol

I was just about to order a sigma select II 10K, but now I'm thinking maybe I'll get one of the harder sigma ceramics and turn it into an oil stone another thing is that with oil stones loading doesn't seem to bother me nearly as much as with water stone, maybe it's just Psychological.. . I have choseras, which are fantastic and I wouldn't do this to them for many reasons, but the oil stone set-up is becoming more and more appealing to me. I really enjoy my Arkensas stones too, but this sigma 1.2 oil stone is just so capable practical.

so what do you guys think?

[george wilson]

Don't be ridiculous!!!! BREAD is NOT made of oil stones!!! It would wear your teeth down to the stumps !!

[Jim Koepke]

Don't be ridiculous!!!! BREAD is NOT made of oil stones!!! It would wear your teeth down to the stumps !!

That made me chuckle on the first read. English is such a difficult language with all the spelling anomalies even for those of us with English as a first language can't always agree on things like color and colour.

jtk

[george wilson]

A cause of early death among the ancient Egyptians(and probably others,too),was the presence of stone grit in their bread. It did wear their teeth down to the nerves and caused infection.

[Steve Voigt]

so what do you guys think?

I think that I would be very careful about recommending this until I knew what the long term effects would be. As far as I know, waterstone manufacturers recommend water and discourage oil on their stones. From Dieter Schmid's website: "Waterstones do require water to perform their magic! Never use oil, for it will ruin your stone."

In general, large manufacturers (and even some small ones) do hundreds of hours of testing on their products. The manufacturer's recommendations should be taken seriously; I know people often disregard them with impunity, but people often come to regret that decision. If waterstone makers don't recommend oil, then I would be cautious, and I would be more inclined to listen to them than to some random guy on youtube.

[Harold Burrell]

Don't be ridiculous!!!! BREAD is NOT made of oil stones!!! It would wear your teeth down to the stumps !!

Awww, man...

I was going to try and sharpen a chisel on a slice.

Perhaps...if I let it sit out for awhile and get all crusty, then maybe...hmmm

[Warren Mickley]

oilstone trevisa bartholomea 1398.png(1398)

[Matthew N. Masail]

Warren can you translate that ? Steve, that is why u would never do this to a chosera, but the sigma is close to indestructible according to Stu. Fine-Tools tend to make statements to cover them selfs, like they say that cerax stones must not be soaked too long, but Stu confirmed that they are soak tolerable as well as the fact that I had tei in water for 6 months and no issue. I tend to listen to logic and experience, so far my experience is that this acually works, but I still need to use it long term to see if there is any issue but I don't expect there to be.

As for my spelling (-: well.. I only lived in an English speaking country until age 6, so I think I'm excused

[Harold Burrell]

oilstone trevisa bartholomea 1398.png(1398)

Warren can you translate that ?

I'm not sure...but I think it is talking about sharpening with "wet manure".

Might work. Never tried.

[george wilson]

It seems to say that water makes the tools sharper than the use of oil.

Harold: Be careful what you say,after that 11 page bit on the new duck,from which at least one casualty resulted!!!

Matthew: Your English is better than my Israeli !! And,spell check had to help me there.

[Harold Burrell]

Harold: Be careful what you say,after that 11 page bit on the new duck,from which at least one casualty resulted!!!

Wait...what??? George? Are you saying that you don't want to lose me???

Why...that's the nicest thing you have ever said to me! **sniff**

[Jim Koepke]

Awww, man...

I was going to try and sharpen a chisel on a slice.

Perhaps...if I let it sit out for awhile and get all crusty, then maybe...hmmm

No, no, no... Wait until it turns green then it is excellent for stropping.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

I think it is talking about sharpening with "wet manure".

That was my thought after the first read. Then the old English "manere" became manner.

My guess is few of us would have been able to survive if we were dropped into a 14th through 19th century world.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Loading and glazing over is going to happen quickly. Made that mistake years ago by accident. Sat in the bottom of the box at work until tossed out.
jim

[Matthew N. Masail]

Matthew: Your English is better than my Israeli !! And,spell check had to help me there.

Well considering "Israeli" is not a language (-:

I'm glad everyone is having fun ...