Oilstones / Waterstones

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Whilst wandering around Lidl today, I picked up a nice-looking sharpening stone at a very reasonable price. I assumed – dangerous, I know – that it was an oilstone, but it turns out it’s a waterstone. No experience at all with waterstones, so can anyone tell me the pros and cons, and what makes a waterstone different? Or can I just use it with oil and there won’t be any difference?

Thanks,

Rob

[brickyParticipant @bricky]

The diference is that one only uses water on the stoneand care is needed not to dig in whilst sharpening.

Frank

[Charles LamontParticipant @charleslamont71117]

No, only use water. They are much softer than oilstones, so wear quickly and need flattening from time to time. They are great for putting really sharp edges on your wood chisels and plane irons.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Very odd – I thought I’d replied but it isn’t showing up. So, once again…

 

Thanks chaps, good to know.

Rob

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Yes, as above, the Lidl waterstones have a soft bonding agent, in a similar way to Japanese waterstones.
You need to be careful not to dig grooves in them, though when they do wear in the middle, they can easily be flattened/re-sharpened themselves. Be particularly careful when trying to use them for touching up small cutters, such as router bits.
A bit of fine sand on a thick glass plate will do the flattening job nicely, again using water only.

Synthetic hard oilstones, or natural stones such as Arkansas, do respond to the same method for flattening, but it’s much slower.
The traditional method to re-face them was to rub them on a paving slab.

Bill

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Rob,

Soak the stone before use in a container of water until no more bubbles can be seen.  When using, use plenty of water and try to build up a slurry.  Unlike oilstones, with waterstones the cutting fluid is not there to flush the grit away.  Yes they are relatively soft and wear quickly, but will cut pretty fast and can be re-flattened easily with abrasive paper on a flat surface.  If Waterstones work for you, they’re available in quite a few grit sizes with the finer ones capable of giving a very fine polished edge.

Having used them for years, I wouldn’t go back to oilstones.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

I had used an oilstone for years to sharpen my kitchen knives but always had difficulty getting an edge that would slice a soft tomato without squashing it.  About a year ago I purchased a set of Japanese water stones and followed a Youtube video explaining how to use them.  Since then I’ve had no difficulty getting a razor sharp edge. I certainly wouldn’t go back to using the oilstone.  Having said that I wouldn’t use them for lathe tools as they would tend to dig in.  Great for wider edged items like plane blades and chisels (with care).

Russell

[Charles LamontParticipant @charleslamont71117]

A small plastic storage box intended for bacon will most likely fit the water stone, and allow you to keep it wet. If it is a two-sided, coarse and fine stone, the fine side does not need to be kept wet. I also have a fair-sized diamond stone, and use that to flatten my water stones.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

Thanks again for all the information – it is two-sided and comes in a nice plastic container which, ironically, has drainage holes in the bottom so will need something else to soak it in. It actually comes with fairly decent instructions – I just assumed from looking at the box it was an oilstone as it was described as “2-in-1 Sharpening Stone” and material “corundum”.

Rob

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Morning Rob,

If it’s labelled as Corundum, then it’s an oilstone.  Corundum is just short of being as hard as diamond according to Moh’s scale.  Waterstones are made from a type of clay.  What makes you think it’s a waterstone?

[Bo’sun]

On Bo’sun Said:

Morning Rob,

If it’s labelled as Corundum, then it’s an oilstone.  Corundum is just short of being as hard as diamond according to Moh’s scale.  Waterstones are made from a type of clay.  What makes you think it’s a waterstone?

The best Japanese water stones are cut from a certain type of sedimentary rock.  They are used for final finishing and are very expensive, several hundreds of pounds.  Most water stones are made from proprietary mixtures of materials the abrasive component being corundum, diamond, silicon carbide, aluminium oxide, etc., mixed with a binder and fired to form a ceramic.  I guess some clay may be used as a binder?

For us mere mortals the synthetic ones are more than adequate.

Russell

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I bought a pair a while ago; 1000/6000 combinations. They do a different combo as well, which I recall is coarser.
The intention was to put them on the surface grinder to make a pair of precision stones for de-burring etc.
I too read the outer of the box, and assumed corundum meant that they were oilstones.
The printed paper instructions inside are very clear that they are water stones, so back to plan B; I’ve picked up a used India stone to re-grind.

The bond on these Lidl stones is quite soft, and reasonably open judging by the stream of air bubbles when you soak them in water prior to use, so they wouldn’t be suitable for precision stones.

That said, they work well enough when used for their intended purpose.
There is at least one video around, which suggests that, on some batches at least, they may have been mis-marked with the 1000 & 6000 writing reversed.

Bill

[paul1956Participant @paul1956]

I’d caution against storing water stones permanently in water. Unless being used very regularly water can go stagnant and make sharpening pretty horrible.
Once you’ve finished a batch of sharpening just let it dry off and re-soak it on next use.

I’ve been using waterstones for woodworking chisels and plane blades for more than 20 years, but they’re not great for every application.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

As Bill says above, the instructions inside the box clearly indicate they are waterstones – “Soak the sharpening stone in water for 10-15 minutes”. Mine is 400 and 800 grit, and is soft.

Rob

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