# soaking a bench stone



## glycerine (Dec 20, 2010)

I bought a new bench stone to hone my tools between sharpening.  When it says to soak the new stone in oil, does that mean literally or just pour alot of oil on top of it???


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## KenV (Dec 20, 2010)

I presume you are using a fine oil stone -  I have use the oil bath with some fine stones but the coarse ones just leak afterwards if saturated.  I use a mixture of Auto transmission fluid (synthetic whale oil) and mineral spirits (kerosene was used in the olden days).  Easy to add and easy to clean up.   Easy to clean the surface of the stones too.


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## Larry in Harrow (Dec 20, 2010)

Better than stinky old kerosene, try parafin oil, sold as lamp oil in most hardware stores.  Doesn't smell bad (can even get scented if you want), perfect consistancy, cleans off the stone great.  I use it on all my oil stones, arkansas and synthetics.


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## ssajn (Dec 21, 2010)

You can soak your stone in a container filled with just about any light weight oil. Gun oil or sewing machine oil works well. You'll be surprised how much the stone will soak up.


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## chrisk (Dec 21, 2010)

A furniture makers recipe here was to permanently soak the stone in a container filled with 1/2 petroleum and 1/2 light oil (see Dave's tip above).


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## Larry in Harrow (Dec 21, 2010)

*Oil?*

The use of the word "oil" in this case confuses the issue.  The only job required of the oil on a stone is to float the debris created in the sharpening process.  Lubrication is not required and is in fact detrimental to the process.  All lubricating oils reduce abrasion by maintaining a film between the moving parts.  Since sharpening is actually the shaping of an edge by abrasion lubricating oils are no help.
This is why kerosene was used.  Unfortunately kerosene has some other unpleasant properties so parafin is a good substitute and cheap besides.


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## glycerine (Dec 21, 2010)

KenV said:


> I presume you are using a fine oil stone - I have use the oil bath with some fine stones but the coarse ones just leak afterwards if saturated. I use a mixture of Auto transmission fluid (synthetic whale oil) and mineral spirits (kerosene was used in the olden days). Easy to add and easy to clean up. Easy to clean the surface of the stones too.


 
Yes, It's actually course on one side and fine on the other.  I plan on using the fine side.  It's a Norton brand that I picked up at HD.  Also grabbed the Norton brand oil to put on it as well.  Was just confused what the instructions meant by "soaking" the new stone in the oil.
How do you clean the surface?  Just wipe it off?


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## glycerine (Dec 21, 2010)

Also, will the stone have so much oil in it that it will soak into my workbench?  Do I need to keep the stone on something to keept that from happening?


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## Larry in Harrow (Dec 21, 2010)

Jeremy, if your stone is the black course/red fine sided stone (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=33018&cat=1,43072) then it should be preloaded from the factory.  You should not have to immerse it in oil.  All it needs is enough liquid on the surface to float the swarf.  If the oil disappears immediately when you apply it then you will have to load it.  During use wipe it clean when the oil gets too thick with crud (technical term :biggrin and after use.  I just made a fitted box for the stone to contain most of the mess and keep it dust free during storage.  Put cork sheet on the bottom of the box to keep it from sliding around during use for just hold it in the bench vise.



glycerine said:


> Yes, It's actually course on one side and fine on the other.  I plan on using the fine side.  It's a Norton brand that I picked up at HD.  Also grabbed the Norton brand oil to put on it as well.  Was just confused what the instructions meant by "soaking" the new stone in the oil.
> How do you clean the surface?  Just wipe it off?


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## glycerine (Dec 21, 2010)

Ok, thanks again.  This is actually the one I have: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


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## Larry in Harrow (Dec 21, 2010)

glycerine said:


> Ok, thanks again.  This is actually the one I have: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053



Oops! That one needs soaking if I remember correctly, been a while since I encounter it.  Probably messy and too coarse for our needs, more suited to sharpen lawn mower blades.  Also will develop a belly quickly as the grit wears off.  I would advise you to go for the other one to start with.  Save yourself some frustration.  I used to teach a sharpening course and when a student showed up with one of these I advised them to return it.  Home Depot was really good about it and there was no problem.
The black/red one is pre-loaded with oil and a lot less messy, finer too.  Sorry about that.


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## glycerine (Dec 22, 2010)

Larry in Harrow said:


> glycerine said:
> 
> 
> > Ok, thanks again. This is actually the one I have: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
> ...


 
Ok, thanks.


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