Smith's Honing Solution for Oil Stones

So has anyone else tried this on their oil stones, I would guess it has some Glycerin and maybe a synthetic oil of some sort in it maybe some soap.. I just tried it on my Charnley Forest hone and was pleasantly surprised with it...

The feedback was very good and the edge came out as good if not a bit better then using soap.. I have hesitated to use a true honing oil because once you do the stones are hard to ever get clean again if you ever wanted to... I also don't like the smell nor the fact that the stones seep oil into anything they touch... This stuff washes right off with soap and water and leaves no residue...

I am going to try it on my Arkie next and see how that works out...

Anyone else used this???

Smith's Knife Sharpener: Smith's Honing Oil, Honing Solution, SM-HON1

I have used Smith honing oil, I bought a bottle in the eighties of last century, blue bottle. I'm not sure it is identical to yours. It is a very thin oil I used on my Arkies. The problem I have with honing oil is that it clogs the pores with a swarf/oil mixture that makes the edge glide over the stone without removing metal.

Since it's easy to clean and claims non-petroleum; then maybe it's some sort of vegetable base oil. ???

I've used it quite a bit. IME, it works really well if you don't have to do a ton of laps on the stone. It seems that the longer it is exposed to air, the stickier it gets and it leaves a residue on both stone and blade.

I use baby oil on all my oilstone its cheap and mostly mineral oil and it smells perty!!!! and with good results.

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Originally Posted by Theseus

I've used it quite a bit. IME, it works really well if you don't have to do a ton of laps on the stone. It seems that the longer it is exposed to air, the stickier it gets and it leaves a residue on both stone and blade.

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I just dipped the razor in water, just as I would like normal, and that seemed to keep it slick for 75+ laps, it said water soluable so I went with it :)
Don't know it that was correct, but it sure worked for me.. Will update with any problems I find...

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

Since it's easy to clean and claims non-petroleum; then maybe it's some sort of vegetable base oil. ???

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I was thinking the same, maybe one of the types that are food safe ???? and washable :shrug:

It May seem strange but using mineral oil on cotis is to die for,will get me a far better edge than traditional water,washes right off with dish soap and warm water.

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

I was thinking the same, maybe one of the types that are food safe ???? and washable :shrug:

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Looking at the fine print on the bottle, "Caution, Keep out of reach of children". Doubt it is safe or vege. I'm thinking silicone which is advertised as non-petroleum, i.e. TufGlide, but not sure how that correlates with water soluble. Howard

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

I just dipped the razor in water, just as I would like normal, and that seemed to keep it slick for 75+ laps, it said water soluable so I went with it :)Don't know it that was correct, but it sure worked for me.. Will update with any problems I find...

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I'll have to try this. :)

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

So has anyone else tried this on their oil stones, I would guess it has some Glycerin and maybe a synthetic oil of some sort in it maybe some soap.. I just tried it on my Charnley Forest hone and was pleasantly surprised with it...

The feedback was very good and the edge came out as good if not a bit better then using soap.. I have hesitated to use a true honing oil because once you do the stones are hard to ever get clean again if you ever wanted to... I also don't like the smell nor the fact that the stones seep oil into anything they touch... This stuff washes right off with soap and water and leaves no residue...

I am going to try it on my Arkie next and see how that works out...

Anyone else used this???

Smith's Knife Sharpener: Smith's Honing Oil, Honing Solution, SM-HON1

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I have this stuff sitting on a shelf for a couple of years and have suggested it's trial here as an oil alternative. It's viscosity is formulated to float off heavy swarf that would accumulate when bearing down on oil stones. For razors on oil stones that are on the finishing end it works better if thinned out a bit with water FMHE.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by Kingfish

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

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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

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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

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That was our plan all along ..... :rofl2:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

That was our plan all along ..... :rofl2:

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

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!

+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.

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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.

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Lynn,

Thanks for the advice. I've corresponded with several members and each has, let's say, mastered their stone, but each one is different. I'll follow your advice and after some attempts, I'll post my progress or lack thereof.

Thanks,

Howard

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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

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Glen,

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

Howard

[QUOTE=Lynn;897094I 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.[/QUOTE]

+1
I tried the slurry using a DMT325 with a bit of lather and totally agree, way to grainy.. I of course heard that it worked well from another Honer but it must be a case of YMMV and it varied to the NoGo side for me too :p

Slurry on my CF...no way Jose'. My stone is a lot slower than yours Lynn, I'm in the 60x to start range. Slow & light strokes...

New oil is on the way...

I have had good success with straight glycerin diluted down to the consistency of light oil on the Nakayama Maruichi. Glycerin seems to refine the edge better than plain water on the Jnat finisher. I ahaven't tried it on the Escher yet but plan to directly.

Jerry

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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.

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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

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I finally got to use the Charnley, phew!:rofl2: 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!!:bow

Best Regards,

Howard

Has anyone tried the Medallion, paraffin free Lamp Oil? I have found it to be thinner than K-1 grade Kerosene but not as thin as water & soap.