Yet many sharpeners find it tempting to use their stones without going through the time trouble and mess that comes with water or oil.
How to tell if sharpening stone is oil or water.
Magnesium for instance which responds strongly to water but is still very strong.
The other obvious advantage is the use of water rather than oil to remove the swarf from the stone.
I d like to hear your sharpening story.
For my needs water stones are a bit of a drag.
Some small ones for doing something like a pocket knife.
Are those the only two really.
The sharpening particles of a water stone are bound by softer material the particles of an oil stone by harder material.
So why use oil in the first place.
A larger grey brown one that looks like it had oil on it at one point.
I don t know exactly what kinds of sharpening stones these are.
They will have to be cleaned more often than their counterpart water stones.
Green with a gritty.
Your sharpening stone needs.
Some red ones of same size and texture.
So don t make that decision without some consideration.
For that reason you should never submerge magnesium bound sharpening stones.
Be as strong as you like but only if you give a good explanation.
Besides diamond which is relatively easy to identify those are the only ones i see advertised.
These types of stone are usually lubricated with oil hence the name although water may be used.
Generally stones used with oil hold their flattness better but also load up faster.
Fast cutting is clearly an advantage of the water stone.
Conventional wisdom says that using water or oil with a sharpening stone is better than sharpening dry because the fluid helps float away the swarf or waste material and prevents the stone from clogging.
Then get a couple 6 x 48 60 grit sanding belts and flatten those stones on these.
Additionally stones used with oil tend to sharpen slower.
Diamond stones don t need flattening or soaking in water.
Water stones are softer than india stones which promotes faster cutting because the old abrasive material breaks away and is replaced with fresh sharp material.
Flatten the finer side of your combination stones you should find they have a reddish color.
However the difference between the two is the binder that holds the abrasives in the water stone together.
Oil stones also known as whetstones are composed of a variety of materials natural and man made.
Oil stones loose out here as they re just too slow for hard and thick irons.
I recall reading about arkansas stones but that.
The one that says oil stone is probably a gray carborundum stone.
The softness that promotes.
However the water stone is not perfect.
I hope it now makes more sense for me to say that they are crap.