Thread: What stones do you use oil on

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Mineral oil on cotis,makes for a darn good edge IMO,and it washes right off with soap and water.

I have been wanting to try this as I have not been able to get what I would consider an adequate finish off any of my coti's. I saw this over on R&S ...plan on it next time I re-visit my coti. Otherwise, the only stone I use oil on are my CF & Special Stone.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I have been wanting to try this as I have not been able to get what I would consider an adequate finish off any of my coti's. I saw this over on R&S ...plan on it next time I re-visit my coti. Otherwise, the only stone I use oil on are my CF & Special Stone.

What is a Special Stone? ...actually, I'm not sure if you should tell me. I don't know if I need to add anything to my want list.

Originally Posted by Birnando

I only use oil on one of my stones.
That stone is a Charnley Forest.
I've only used one kind of oil on it, and that is a sewing machine oil.
The edges off of that stone is quite awesome on the right razors

I was thinking about my reply as I was scrolling down, only to come across B's post. Now all I'm going to say is "What he said...."

EDIT: Glen was testing some honing oil on his Charnely last week....I think it was called Smith's??? Washes off with soap and water too...

I have heard that once oil is applied, the stone is always an oil stone. I don't believe it, at least with hones I have used it on, or received in oily conditions, being able to rectify them to use as waterstones again. The Escher which I have has instructions on the box which state specifically not to use with oil. I like the Escher the way it is, so will not venture there, neither will I do so with the coticule, reason being regarding the latter, is that it wouldn't work as well with slurry and I never finish on cotis anyway.

I found it did improve CF and LI edges, but I also find it messy so in my opinion the marginal benefit gained does not justify the mess!

My two cents;
Getting into straight razors last year taught me how little I knew about hones and honing; even though I sharpened my own knives and the knives of my friends.
I only use oil on my Carborundums and Arkansas stones. I prefer WD-40 on these, due to the viscosity.( a big word I looked up in the dictionary.) It also cleans up easier and will actually displace the metal(clean it) from lower grit stones, with only a spray. Total clean with Simple Green and light scrub.
My natural stones are water only. My barber hones are also water only. I did refresh a razor with lather one time; so I could feel like a Barber for a few seconds. I can't actually say that the edge was better than if I had used water. They appeared the same. The stroke was smoother with lather.

Maybe because lather has oil content,as above I use simple green to wash my cotis after using mineral oil.
Water will not bead on them afterwards,just something that works for me.

Originally Posted by kamikazeproject

What is a Special Stone? ...actually, I'm not sure if you should tell me. I don't know if I need to add anything to my want list.

I became the recent owner of post # 26, top stone, not too long ago. It is indeed a special stone & quite rare. I only know of a handful of guys who have one:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...tml#post798973
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ial-stone.html