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Thread: Tips on Maintaining Oilstones
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2nd January 2013, 01:36 AM #1Senior Member
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Tips on Maintaining Oilstones
Hi,
Today I lapped and honed a new chisel, using a 400# SiC stone, and then my 1000# and 6000# AlOx combo stone. For all I used camellia oil as the lubricant (it's quite cheap here and smells nice!). It seemed to go well, the chisel cut my test piece of pine quite smoothly.
As I was sharpening I noticed that black marks quickly developed on the surface of the stone. I took this to be evidence of the stone becoming loaded with steel and smashed abrasive.
To remedy this, I wiped the old oil off and added some fresh oil. This got rid of some of the black marks, but some were still on the stone itself. So, having finished the sharpening I rinsed the stone with water and gave it a scrub with a plastic brush. My aim here was to remove some of the swarf.
Any tips on anything I need to change?
Also, to deglaze/flatten an oilstone, can I use SiC grit on glass with water?
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2nd January 2013 01:36 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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2nd January 2013, 02:57 AM #2GOLD MEMBER
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Not certain that oil stones deserve soap & water.
I lap one stone against the other but dead flat all across isn't too important for me.
I hate to think of reasons why I'd have to use one for a carving tool.
My knot-busting chisels are 40 degrees, they get a coarse & fine oil stone
touch up if they get used a lot.
Swarf: I want to pick it up, suck it up, out of the stone.
I use 5W30 engine oil. I blot the stone with paper towel to pull up the swarf.
More oil and a gentle scrub with a cheap brass bristle BBQ brush and blot again.
Do it again, if I have to. What I see is a fairly clean stone surface.
Any of this useful?
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2nd January 2013, 11:56 AM #3Senior Member
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Hi RV,
Cheers for the response. Can I confirm with you what the verb "blot" means?
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2nd January 2013, 01:19 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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Here in the far north, "blot" usually means to soak up, commonly with a paper towel.
Water, snot, coffee, cat-yak, dog slobber, etc.
"Blot" can also describe the winter sled heads who soak up in the local bar and do get "blotto."
They are very careful to limit their capacity until well after dark.
"Chunder" is an OZ term, usually replaced here by "hurling chunks," "HERB!" or "RALPH" or "talking
to the big, white telephone."
Am I close? Can I have the prize behind door #3?
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9th January 2013, 03:37 PM #5Jim
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9th January 2013, 04:16 PM #6SENIOR MEMBER
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back in trade school, we used to clean the stones with steel wool packed into a 30mm length of 40mm pvc pipe & plenty of oil. These were carborandum stones.
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10th January 2013, 12:57 PM #7Senior Member
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I found this article with some different ideas on cleaning oilstones:
Cleaning an Old Oil Stone | Norse Woodsmith
I particularly liked the idea of boiling them in water with baking soda.
What do people think about boiling them in lightly vineagred water? I want to try on an AlOx stone, and I've heard vinegar doesn't attack AlOx. I had this idea having read that vinegar can be used as a degreaser.
I like trying to get the job done with the minimum number of tools possible, and since I already have white vinegar for rust removal, it'd be great to use it for oilstone cleaning too )
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10th January 2013, 11:09 PM #8
I don't know about your AlOx combo stone ... is it very modern? Photo please?
But at least in regard to old 'garage-sale' oil-stones ...
I can see the boiling treatment for very old and gunked-up stones ... 40 year old motor oil etc ...
but I cleaned up a very dark + gunky stone by sealing it in a plastic coffee jar (2litre?) with some methylated spirits (half-covered or so) ... I wasn't in a hurry with it, so every so often I would give it a shake and turn it up a different way. I think I changed the metho after about a week, and left it again. It is still quite dark, but you can see it is a natural stone with fine olive-brown joined to a medium dark-gray. It works perfectly and has no grunge on the outer surfaces. I am sure 'though that it would look quite different again if it had the stove treatment.
The other half is away ... probably i should try it.
Personally I use baby-oil for sharpening, and for lubrication and cleaning you want to stick with the organic compounds - Methylated Spirits, White Spirit, Kerosene, ... (You'd think Bob Smalser would have written about oil-stones, huh?)
Do you have a wooden box for your stones?
Cheers,
Paul
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11th January 2013, 02:42 AM #9Senior Member
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The oilstone is this one:
Aluminum Oxide Oil Stones - Lee Valley Tools
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11th January 2013, 05:18 AM #10
That ad gives the grit as 90/600 ... you mentioned 1000/6000 ...
Is that the actual stone in the LV page?
Cheers,
Paul
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15th January 2013, 02:30 PM #11Senior Member
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In my toolroom and any other I worked in we use kero for all stones.
Either the sharpening stones mentioned here or small polishing stones used for cavity work on injection moulds.
All my stones live in a bath of kero.
The old recomendation was neetsfoot oil ( spelling ) but I find any sort of oil on a stone causes it to clog.
I used to watch my father for hours sharpeneing his butchers knifes. He used water with dishwashing detergent.
Andrew's 2cents
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