Thread: To wet or not to wet.

Finally found the site that compares dry honed to wet honed . It really depends on the stone, but you can also see why eschers are regarded so highly.

Zowada Custom Knives - Razor Bevels

Originally Posted by dicharry

Finally found the site that compares dry honed to wet honed . It really depends on the stone, but you can also see why eschers are regarded so highly.

Zowada Custom Knives - Razor Bevels

This was not a comparison of wet and dry honing. In Tim Zowada's images, only the Spyderco UF was used dry. The rest of the hones were used wet, either with or without slurry.

I think the most important aspect pertaining to wet vs. dry honing is the stone's porosity, as Cliff above mentions. I know when I hone on my norton 4k if I don't keep refreshing the water the stone will get black! But I've tried using my pocket knife on my coticule dry just for fun. I can go nuts on the stone and get a lot of metal material off of the knife, but it'll come right off of the surface of the stone.

For final polishing stones I think dry will work very well. I've tried my little vintage thuringian dry and it polishes very well. But to be honest, it doesn't feel the greatest! Put a little soap in the water and splash a little on the stone....aaaahhh...feels SSOO nice to hone on now.

If I had a range of stone, i.e. 1000, 4000 and 8000, that were all non-porous, then I would give dry-honing a go. But since my lower grit stones clearly would glaze over without water, I think I'd leave dry honing to my final polishers (But I won't only because I don't like the feel!).

Originally Posted by dicharry

Finally found the site that compares dry honed to wet honed . It really depends on the stone, but you can also see why eschers are regarded so highly.

Zowada Custom Knives - Razor Bevels

The difference between Coticule - No slurry vs Coticule - With Slurry is just incredible.
I must learn to take pictures that well at 200X.

I stand corrected. Utopian is right . The comparison specifically states slurry vs no slurry.

I'm thinking that Rajagra has the right idea about using running water during the sharpening process.

Here's some more information I found:

Everyone knows you need to lubricate your sharpening stone with water or oil, right? So the question is which one is better. Neither. The purpose of a sharpening stone is to grind the edge and remove metal. Oil reduces friction and makes the process much slower.

Supposedly oil helps float away metal particles that would otherwise clog the pores of the stone. You can do the same thing by wiping the stone with a damp cloth when you’re done. Steve Bottorff reports that you can clean your Arkansas stones with paint thinner. Synthetic stones clean up with a scouring pad and abrasive cleanser.

According to Joe Talmadge, if you have already used oil on your Arkansas stone, you’ll probably need to keep using oil. But if you have a new Arkansas stone, a diamond stone or a synthetic stone, go ahead and use it without oil or water. It will work much better.

John Juranitch reports that in his company’s work with meat processing plants they discovered that the metal filings suspended in the oil on a stone actually chip and abrade the edge. Although these chips were only visible through a microscope, the meatpackers readily noticed the difference between the knives sharpened on a dry stone and those sharpened on oiled stones.

Waterstones are another matter entirely. Both Japanese and synthetic waterstones require water in order to cut effectively. Japanese waterstones can be damaged if used dry and must be soaked thoroughly before use. Waterstones wear very quickly, revealing new layers of cutting abrasive as the swarf builds up and is washed away. That’s why they are so effective. There is always a new layer of sharp abrasive cutting away at the metal of your edge. By the way, “swarf” is one of those cool terms you get to toss around when you discuss sharpening. Swarf is the slurry of metal filings and stone grit that builds up as you sharpen. Throw that into your next ****tail party conversation and just watch the expressions of awe appear as people realize that you are a sharpening God.

I have used my coticule dry to finish on occasion, but just for a few final polishing passes, no more than 10 or 12. I've not noticed any adverse impact on the stone, however I have a limited number of razors compared to some and have only done this on razors that just don't quite measure up to where I want them. I follow up a dry coticule with 100 passes on canvas and leather. Makes for a smooth shave.