Thread: Using Oil on Waterstones: a simple question

I too have read more than my experience can state, however with that said I will tell you of my one experience. I've never obtained a coticule that I could consider a true "finisher". I've had somewhere between 6-8 total, however I have yet to obtain the quality of shave that I can obtain with synthetics followed by a natural finisher like Escher, Asagi, or CF.

My only experience of oil (sewing machine oil from hobby lobby) on a coti: My coti with water is approximately 6-7K as a shapton gs 8k is finer per the scratch marks on steel: sheffield, german, and american steels tested. Add sewing machine oil to the dry coti and the finish I would estimate around 10K & the shave was just fine. Scratches were real close to Naniwa 12K scratches, but comparing a natural finish to a synthetic finish is real hard to do with just magnification and my face is not dialed in enough to tell the difference between 10&12K. Test was without slurry. Your question does bring up a good question...did I ruin my coti? I only cleaned the stone with dish soap and gave it a light rubbing under running water with my dmt325 & put it away...so I don't know if I "ruined" it as a waterstone or not. I will have to check & get back with you on that one. From what I recall, oil absorption was present, how deep...I don't know. How will that oil absorption effect the release of the natural particles/garnets? I'm not sure...I would "think" that it would slow their release some. How much so if a slightly soapy water was used?
I would "think" that if a coticule was used with the same viscosity as sewing machine oil for lets say a year & 100 razors later that it would be very much like a pasted strop as the oil would penetrate throughout the stone.

Will I use oil on a thuringian...heck no as I do feel that it would kill the stone...literally. Will I continue to use oil on this or any other coti? Probably not as a coti in the 6-8K range has a good use where it is. Would I recommend oil on a coti, no as I could have very well killed mine. I just wanted to try it to answer my own questions.

My hypothesis was that I thought oil would improve the edge & it did. I entered this experiment knowing that I could forever change this stone. How much it has been effected is yet to be known.

I know it's a long ramble Glen, hope you can make heads or tails of what I am trying to say.

The only experience I have had with oil on waterstones came as the result of leaving my King 1K in the sink soaking in a dish. Someone else innocently enough dripped olive oil in the sink and the container soaking the stone. When I reached in and picked up the stone it managed to bring one nice big drop of olive oil with it which proceeded to sink to the bottom of the stone. That was a couple of years back and the remnants of that stone still have a circle which will only yield to my flattener while every piece of steel ever pushed towards it skips cleanly past.

In my limited experience of honing razors, thus the beginning of my use of waterstones; I only use water on the waterstones because I want the "cleanest surface" against my blade. I wash/rinse the stone's surface after every 10 strokes to remove the metal transfer, slurry or not. I want the most cut/best performance out of that particular grit. I feel that oil on my waterstones would be harder to clean off between my 10 stroke sessions. I cringe at the thought of oil on my waterstones.

I don't use oilstones on my razors. I use oilstones on all other types of blades. I use WD-40 on my oilstones to flush the transfer from the stone's surface & give me a clean start on the next session. The thin, penetrating characteristics of WD-40 allow me to get the most performance out of my oilstone's grit.

I am not sure if this is what you are asking, Glen. I am just a beginner in this world of honing.