Thread: Arkansas Stones - Oil or water?

Originally Posted by Utopian

The nice thing about Smith's is that you can vary its viscosity by adding less or more water to it right on the hone.

Yup. Exactly the same thing with Ballistol oil too. The thing I like about ballistol over Smiths is that I can buy it locally and I can get a 16oz bottle for much cheaper than Smiths and then use it all around the house. Wood knifehandles, leather, etc.

If you don't hone much on oil stones than it's not that big of a deal but I hone darn near daily on Washitas and Arkenstones and believe me the best water soluble cost effective solution is Ballistol oil.

All the other liquids work too just not for me.

Originally Posted by Steel

Yup. Exactly the same thing with Ballistol oil too. The thing I like about ballistol over Smiths is that I can buy it locally and I can get a 16oz bottle for much cheaper than Smiths and then use it all around the house. Wood knifehandles, leather, etc.

If you don't hone much on oil stones than it's not that big of a deal but I hone darn near daily on Washitas and Arkenstones and believe me the best water soluble cost effective solution is Ballistol oil.

All the other liquids work too just not for me.

Thats a new one on me,(Ballistol) Ill have to give it a try, looks like a good all around lube!

Originally Posted by CamMorris

Thats a new one on me,(Ballistol) Ill have to give it a try, looks like a good all around lube!

Yes and being one of the few water soluble oils it is very versatile in honing also.

Having tried a number of Arkansas honing solutions, I feel like I get the best edges and smoothest strokes with WD-40 on my surgical black and translucent.

I have had success with Andis clipper oil. My experiments with ballistol have been promising as well (as others have said)

I found Dan's just a little too thick for me.

Water only produced a ragged edge. I didn't have much better success with glycerin.

Just my opinion

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like Norton oil on the coarser arkies like Washita, Soft and Hard arkies. I like Smiths on trans and black arkies.

Got plenty of Ballistol but still haven't tried it on stones. I will soon.

Water doesn't seem to float the swarf off very well and the stones seem to get clogged. I use it when burnishing a new or re-lapped stone.

I have a lot of Ballistol for my gun but never have tried it on my hones. Maybe I'll get around to trying it some time. I don't have a lot of incentive though because the Smith's works just fine.

I tend to only use mineral oil on softer stones and WD-40 on harder stones. WD-40 is the bees knees on hard, black or translucent. I've never seen anything lift swarf out of a stone like WD. I even use it on Indias and Carbo's for clean up.

I like to mix mineral oil 50/50 with mineral spirits, helps it flow better, not so thick.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

i like balistol too. water solutable, so good mix between oil and water. the viscosity is on the thinner side and you can even thinner it further with water. no issues with the skin: over here in germany there are midwifes who use it for babies. relativly cheap.