Thread: Soap On Stone?

When I finish my 8K I put a little bit of dish soap on my stone and stroke with just enough pressure to keep the edge in contact . My theory is that a mild lubricant will make slightly smaller scratches in the edge, perhaps mimicking a slightly higher grit. I also use the hot water side of my kitchen sink as it has the softened water that I prefer.

Am I out to lunch, or could there be validity to this?

Yes it will work in the same manner as using oil, or glycerin, or Smith's honing solution, or lather.

Just a heads up though for anyone else reading this. At least some of the Shapton hones specifically warn not to use any detergent on them as it will dissolve the binder.

I like the glycerin idea.

I think all the old school barbers use soap or lather on theyr stones
This explains why they favourite so much the coticules - they aways used to use them with a soap or lather or oil ,and get very smooth edges from them .
I personaly did not like coti edges but used with lather or liquid soap every stone became very diferent animal , indeed

Be careful using dish soap on synthetics. Many manufactures specifically warn against it.

I put a drop of Dawn dish soap on a Norton 8K and it ate a soft spot, depression in the stone. It is still there years, and many lappings later, though it does not affect honing.

Also do not use hot water on a stone if you are using tape, (which you should be, at least until you master honing). Hot water will heat the stone and the stone will heat the tape and cause it to slip and roll at the edges.

A good 8K, should not need anything but a good lapping to make the stone surface smooth, lighten up on pressure to finish. You might want to test on the side of the stone.

If your water is very hard, hone on bottled water, a dollar a gallon should last a while.

Another thing to keep in mind - it has potential to hang around on the surface a little while. I would use one side with soap, and the other without. All of my naturals and barber hones have a slick coat of dry soap on them from being used with lather. Not particularly bad for the ones I use exclusively as a finisher, and not that hard to remedy with a rubbing stone, sand paper, or good soak in water. But something to be mindful of because it does change how the stone behaves.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Be careful using dish soap on synthetics. Many manufactures specifically warn against it.

I put a drop of Dawn dish soap on a Norton 8K and it ate a soft spot, depression in the stone. It is still there years, and many lappings later, though it does not affect honing.

Also do not use hot water on a stone if you are using tape, (which you should be, at least until you master honing). Hot water will heat the stone and the stone will heat the tape and cause it to slip and roll at the edges.

A good 8K, should not need anything but a good lapping to make the stone surface smooth, lighten up on pressure to finish. You might want to test on the side of the stone.

If your water is very hard, hone on bottled water, a dollar a gallon should last a while.

Thanks for the heads up on the soap, I won't use dish soap, maybe glycerin in the future. I don't wait for the hot water to heat up, I can easily get a quart before it gets warm.

Well maybe the chemistry in the dish soaps in Bulgaria is diferent - i use every time a dish washing soap or hand liquid soap in the watter that i put my synthetycs I never felt any diferent .Only that the dish prevent clugging and can prevent hard feeling during the honing
I dont know
I have many synthetycs - many coarse and 4 or 5 finer
A Makitta 1200 wich is a King deluxe or Suehiro deluxe
A Suehiro 1k- 3k - wellow - blue stone
A 3 k Kai synthetyc
and n 8 K Taidea
All of them are resin bond . maybe the other type of bonding is unapropriate to use with dish soap

I really like the Smith's Honing Solution. It is glycerin based & works well on all my hones both natural & man made. I have wondered if Smith sells in larger containers like half gallon or quart sizes. I guess I should call Smith's!!

Dave Huffman

Originally Posted by Slawman

I really like the Smith's Honing Solution. It is glycerin based & works well on all my hones both natural & man made. I have wondered if Smith sells in larger containers like half gallon or quart sizes. I guess I should call Smith's!!

Dave Huffman

This. Smith's is my go to for non water honing. Clean, dilutable, and doesn't stink or stain.

I even use it on my glassy coticules and certain slates. Honing oil or 3 in 1 is nice and good for arks but I just don't like the cleanup or having stinky rocks. Smith's cleans as it goes.(allegedly)