Thread: Smith's Honing Solution for Oil Stones

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've been using Smith's honing oil on arks since the early '70s. Seems to work the way it is supposed to and no idea what is in it. I like it for pocket knife sharpening tho.

Glenn was talking about the water based honing solution not the oil.

In the last few years, I have used Smith's, Norton, Buck, Larsky, Larson, Ruko and Case on my Charnley and even a few of my Barber Hones, not to mention sewing machine oil, mineral oil and even Camellia oil. All have felt pretty similar and produced similar results. I still use oil exclusively with the Charnley and am really favoring the sewing machine oil. Great feel, easy to clean, nice results............Good Stuff. A little really goes a long way as well.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by Kingfish

Glenn was talking about the water based honing solution not the oil.

Thanks for the heads up Mike, I didn't know there was a different product.

OK, you guys pushed me over the edge talking about the CF. I was able to resist it since Dec. 9th and it wasn't easy, but after all this I bought nun2sharp's CF in the classifieds. Glen I told you in another post "No, not hooked". I meant not hooked on having to have a 30k Shapton. A natural stone, that's something else. I'm hooked on chasing that edge, for sure. Stone Crazy!!

Howard

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

OK, you guys pushed me over the edge talking about the CF. I was able to resist it since Dec. 9th and it wasn't easy, but after all this I bought nun2sharp's CF in the classifieds.

Howard

That was our plan all along .....

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

That was our plan all along .....

Nothing like good planning! I'm glad it worked. Pulling that trigger sometimes requires a little assist!!

Howard

I think you will find the CF to be a fine stone Howard, but they do IMHO, require a ton of tweaking until you get them really working right for you...
The only piece of advice I could give is get very light on this stone, I use I do believe the lightest touch out of all my finishers on my CF and the lap count you are just going to have to figure out Good luck

Ok Glen, you got me interested...gonna get some to check it out. I'm using sewing machine oil cut with Kroil right now...which works great by the way!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I think you will find the CF to be a fine stone Howard, but they do IMHO, require a ton of tweaking until you get them really working right for you...
The only piece of advice I could give is get very light on this stone, I use I do believe the lightest touch out of all my finishers on my CF and the lap count you are just going to have to figure out Good luck

Glen,

I'll be following your advice also on light pressure. Thanks for the help!

Howard

Originally Posted by Lynn

+1 on the Charnley. It can be a really nice finishing stone. I usually go to mine after an 8K and use 10 NO PRESSURE X strokes on it. It actually hits first time on about 7 out of 10 razors. I like starting with 10 strokes on the finishers as it will build up a knowledge base of whether too much or too little that helps you gain consistency with that particular stone. You can always go up or down with 3-5 strokes and normally you will end up with a decent shave in just a few tries. On the hardest stones however, it can take a lot more strokes and fiddling.

I did try building a light slurry a couple times with the Charnley. What a mess!! My Charnley has a grainy feel to it to begin with and the slurry was just not needed and was a pain to get totally cleaned off with the oil on the stone.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I think you will find the CF to be a fine stone Howard, but they do IMHO, require a ton of tweaking until you get them really working right for you...
The only piece of advice I could give is get very light on this stone, I use I do believe the lightest touch out of all my finishers on my CF and the lap count you are just going to have to figure out Good luck

I finally got to use the Charnley, phew! I touched up a 7/8 Friodur INOX and love the results! Since I couldn't start with all the recommendations on oil/solutions, I started with the seller, nun2sharp's, suggestion - 3 in 1 oil. Besides that should be the thickest of recommendations. Used 4 or 5 small drops and smoothed it over the surface. Wiped excess oil from the blade on the first 3 or 4 laps and smoothed the remaining oil over the surface again. Completed 10 light laps, checked arm hair. Did another 10 light laps and arm test again. Made 5 light as I could achieve final laps. Hair fell over above the skin at the slightest touch. Test shaved and it was smooth and very comfortable. I think the stone was faster than the Naniwa 12k, and smoother (shave) than the Shapton 16k which I find can be a little harsh even after paste. Anyway, I'm lovin the Charnley, which is good, because my wife's not going for a 2nd mortgage to get an Escher. Oh yeah! Have the Smith's honing solution in the mail.

Thanks to all of you who gave advice. Kelly, Scott, Glen, and Lynn, and Jimmy who helped push me over the edge!!

Best Regards,

Howard