I am considering using an oilstone to do a bit of knife sharpening.
Online searches suggest that honing oil is just a light mineral oil.
Online is also asking around £12 a small bottle.
Peanuts in the great scheme of things, but is it worth the extra few pounds?
TIA
Dave R
We used 3 in 1 Oil.
Me too and I had a whole factory of tools that needed to be kept sharp.
We did the same... because it was handy and right next to the stone :-)
When my father was younger, he used a straight razor, and that may be why he had the stone. He also had the strop for finishing.
I think he got fed up with the straight razor, relatively quickly, and went through the usual progression on substitutes.
Paul
light mineral oil = baby oil
Another vote here for 3 in 1.
I've tried trumpet valve oil just because I had some available but I couldn't honestly notice any difference. In my opinion, what makes the difference is the quality of the stone.
Nick
The liquid is there to stop the stone clogging so nearly any liquid will work. Oil is only preferred because of it's rust prevention properties.
Baby oil is the same thing, and much cheaper.
modern synthetic car oil is typically very low viscosity, so ought (in theory) to be perfect.
So is automatic transmission fluid.
I was taught to use 'neatsfoot' oil (look it up) - however, I use whatever comes to hand, which is usually 3 in 1 or similar.
My school woodwork teacher said he was using a "drying oil" when sharpening a chisel on the stone. I think it was linseed oil.
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