Thread: just spit on it

A world-class fly fisherman taught me to tie the fine tippets lubricating the knot with the very fine viscosity oils produced by the skin on/around our noses.

For heavier lines, i use saliva when water is out of reach.

Yes saliva is not all those other things you can expel via the mouth. Target shooting traditional black powder buffs quite often use saliva to lubricate the patch.

Originally Posted by jsmiff

"I don't see the benefits on any stone"......the benefits are two fold, spit is like oil, it is thicker so it picks up the metal filings and grit during honing. IMO what makes it better than water is after a couple of passes it becomes slimy and stays on the stone. try it before you knock it.

Its not a loogie or anything with snot in it. Its the clean saliva from under your tongue, like oil it only takes a little, and its not disgusting unless your mouth is a bacteria cesspool. BTW to be clear, this wont work on any manmade stone

Surely you know, that everything in life, yet to be experienced, does not fall into the "try it before you knock it" category.

PM me with a name & address and I will send you a bottle of Smith's Honing Solution for your Arkies,,,I have a feeling you won't be going back to spitting on them.

The average human's mouth, as a bacteria cesspool,,,well that's a topic for another thread & I think we have some medical doctors as members, who could shed some facts on that issue.

When I read the first post I was worried that I had to start spitting on my stones as I didn't like the idea of that at all. Luckily I don' seem to be the only one who prefers water.

Im not saying spit is the way to go, I just felt like mentioning a method I was taught that stayed away from water and oil, plus it can produce a sharp edge on anything. Keep in mind several readers of this forum have zero experience when it comes to honing, so IMO a basic primitive method should be worth mentioning. Does it fit in progressive honing? nope......but it can be used during single stone honing. the trick is to know when to wipe it off and start over.

its similar to the runner who spent $300 on a pair of shoes, its impossible to make them believe that running barefoot is just as fast.

Originally Posted by jsmiff

Im not saying spit is the way to go, I just felt like mentioning a method I was taught that stayed away from water and oil, plus it can produce a sharp edge on anything. Keep in mind several readers of this forum have zero experience when it comes to honing, so IMO a basic primitive method should be worth mentioning. Does it fit in progressive honing? nope......but it can be used during single stone honing. the trick is to know when to wipe it off and start over.

its similar to the runner who spent $300 on a pair of shoes, its impossible to make them believe that running barefoot is just as fast.

It may be just as fast but a lot harder on the feet First off, welcome to the forum. I'm a little squeamish when it comes to certain things...if I have water readily available for my stones, then that's what I'm gonna use or recommend. If I spit on my hones and did it that way then there'd probably be more bodily fluids on my hones that came from the mouth to deal with

Originally Posted by Baxxer

Note to self:
Don't let pixel hone your razors.

Pix, Bax - You guys are too funny! (Shouldn't have been sipping a cup of tea when reading your posts.)

Blood is a good lubricant and adds a nice patina to steel....

I always thought saliva was predominantly made up of water? Sure, there's some mucus in there which acts as a thickening agent, but yeah - just wikipedia'd it: 99.5% water, 0.5% other stuffs.

Maybe before everyone starts expectorating willy nilly, if you really need a higher viscosity honing media than just plain water why not try adding a little cornflour ...?

James.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

So does it work better as a finisher if you have a sinus infection, bronchitis, or just ate a snickers bar? Sorry, I'm really hard to gross out, but that whole idea sounds pretty disgusting.

Are you kidding. Every body knows that you it's not a snickers bar. It's beech nut or copenhegan tobacky

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I don't see the benefits on any stone, hard or soft & I've been around experienced men sharpening edged tools since I was a child.

It has not been mentioned, since it has no place in the foundation(the basics) of sharpening/honing.

People usually spit on objects to lubricate them in moments of desperation, no other available alternative or laziness.

You appear to have led a sheltered life!

Spit is even a good solvent. I have seen many mothers including my own use it to clean their kids face. Probably transfers some antibodies.

I would use my spit long before my dogs. I don't eat feces or lick my privates!